Bacteria-busting next generation infant swimwear takes pool protection up a level

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A market-leading infant swimwear brand has redesigned its multi award-winning flagship product in a bid to help keep pools open and users safe.

Splash About’s Happy Nappy will now keep harmful bacteria and viruses – including Covid 19, cryptosporidium and E.coli, which can’t easily be killed by chlorine alone – out of pool water.

Billed as the most technologically advanced swim nappy in the world, it follows four years of scientific development and intensive testing, and is described as a milestone moment.

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Outbreaks of such pathogens are leading causes of sickness, which can result in facility closures and ultimately lost revenue.

The Stallingborough team’s Happy Nappy Duo will feature an innovative silver lining fabric inside which enhances the antibacterial action of chlorine.

Any water or urine mixing with faecal matter that leaks out of the nappy into the pool will now be virtually sterile.

Lesley Beach, finance and operations director at Splash About International Ltd, said: “We know that faecal waste carries pathogens that can cause severe illness to swimmers, especially young babies. For the past 15 years our market-leading Happy Nappy swim nappy has been instrumental in preventing solid faecal leaks entering the pool.

“Our aim was to create a completely watertight swim nappy, but this is an incredibly tough challenge because babies are all different shapes and sizes and even if a few drops of pool water penetrated the nappy, it wouldn’t be classed as watertight. Instead, we turned the problem on its head and focused on destroying any pathogens within the nappy, ensuring any liquid leaking out is far less likely to carry harmful diseases.”

The Duo’s effectiveness extends out of the pool too, eliminating single-use disposable alternatives if selected, and similar contamination issues as a waste stream.

Bernadette Spofforth, managing director at Splash About, said: “It is a milestone development; not only for the swimming industry but there’s also the environmental impact to consider. Millions of disposable swim nappies end up in landfill every year, they are one of the biggest global contributors to single-use plastic – it can take up to 500 years for just one to decompose. Choosing this reusable swim nappy means reducing our waste levels and lowering our environmental footprint and ensuring pool water is as clean as it can be – which can only be a positive thing.”

Five designs have been launched, with the product – aimed at the birth to three years market – priced at £17.

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