Some splash pads feature movable nozzles similar to those found on fire trucks to allow users to spray others.
Depending upon the strength and arc of the flow, the force of the spray can be relatively strong (especially close to the point where the water emerges) or may have more resemblance to rainfall or even a fine mist.
The area beneath a spray pool typically has drain openings so that the water it produces will not flood the surrounding landscape.
At the splash fountain at Dundas Square in Toronto, Ontario, the water is heated by solar energy captured by special dark-colored granite slabs.
People wearing regular clothing and street shoes, pets and young children may introduce pathogens into the spray pool when they cool off in it.
[8] In 2021, a 3-year-old child died after contracting primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) from playing in a Texas water park contaminated with Naegleria fowleri.
[9] Another fatal case of PAM occurred in 2023 in a 16-month-old child, with N. fowleri testing implicating an Arkansas splash pad as the likely source of the infection.