SeeCalifornia.com

ALL ABOUT SPRAYGROUNDS

When it comes to heat, California’s Central Valley and Desert Regions are equipped with the latest, greatest mechanisms to survive. Not all of California comes quite so prepared, however. Warnings about heat stroke have been issued in cities such as Long Beach this week, where a list of cooling centers was distributed to residents inviting them to drop by.

In cities where it’s normally hot in the summer months you’ll find a lot more municipal swimming pools and often added water features  such as spraygrounds. Sacramento, Elk Grove, West Sacramento, San Jose, San Marcos, Santee and El Cajon are some municipalities where you’ll find them. The features associated with spray grounds typically consist of water fountains, water sprays, dancing water jets, waterfalls, dumping buckets and shooting water cannons on a sloped pad that does not allow ponding of water. Typically, a spray ground has a high bather load and a low volume of water. Even so, the City of San Jose chose not to operate their sprayground system this year due to drought conditions.

Several seasons ago the State of California studied spraygrounds and crafted regulations to help citizens stay safe and avoid illnesses contracted in other states where spraygrounds made people sick. Thanks to those guidelines, Californians have some of the best spraygrounds in the nation!