Pool Filter Explodes, Leaving Man Permanently Brain Damaged

Synopsis

Shaffer Pools, a swimming-pool contractor, knew that pool filters operated under pressure, which posed a risk of serious injury or death to a person who leaned over a filter because its lid could blow off into the person’s head. Shaffer Pools constructed a swimming pool and hooked it up to existing pool equipment in the plaintiffs’ backyard, leaving the power switch for the equipment located where a person would need to lean over the filter to reach the switch.

In 2004, the plaintiffs’ Purex Pool Products CF 100 pool filter exploded. In the explosion, the filter’s lid rocketed into the plaintiff’s head, causing permanent brain damage. The filter was defective partly because the clamp which was supposed to hold the filter’s top and bottom together broke.

The plaintiffs sued Shaffer Pools, as well as the manufacturer of the filter’s clamp-RG Ray-and the manufacturer of the filter. The plaintiffs settled with Shaffer Pools and RG Ray but continue their lawsuit against the filter manufacturer.