Drowning rates in private pools have skyrocketed over the past year and a half, despite recent law reform in 2017.
After law changes in the 1980s, the rate of drowning in private pools was reduced to around three per year. In 2015 and 2016 there was just one death from drowning per year.
However, there was a drastic increase last year, with eight people killed in pool drownings.
This year there are already another five people who have died in private pools.
Safety advocates are especially concerned about the number of children drowning, with five deaths in the last 18 months.
At the start of 2017, National ushered in new legislation that included relaxing rules for fencing spa pools and automatic locks on gates around swimming pools.
However, safety advocates say it's too early to connect the spike in drownings with the law change.
Former Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith, who led the reform, said around 90 percent of child drownings in private swimming pools can be attributed to non-compliant or faulty gates or fences.
Newshub.
