BACKGROUND

Twin 7-Year Old Virginia Graham Baker was the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker III. In June 2002 she became stuck to the hot tub drain and was unable to pull herself free and she drowned. After her tragic death the family lobbied Congress for a law to require anti-entrapment drain covers and other safety measures. As a result, The Virginia Graham Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act (“VGB Act”) was enacted in December, 2007.

The 2007 VGB Act changed everything for those in business of providing swimming pool and spa suction outlets or drains. Among one of the ways of complying with the Act was separating two drains by more than three feet, such that a single individual could not likely block both drains with his or her body and become stuck. This also led to increased popularity of channel drains, rectangular and longer than three feet, which accomplished this objective but looked unsightly.

Even before the VGB Act, pool manufacturers were concerned about the aesthetic appearance of drains and were developing products and methods towards making drain covers more attractive. Among products available were small approx. 12 inch diameter round covers having a recessed upper surface forming a cavity to receive aggregate material matching the aggregate surface of the pool. Among disadvantages of this product were that the aggregate material was retained inside a portion of the cover itself, such that changing covers requires filling the new cover with matching new batch of the aggregate material. And also, these small drains are subject to being damaged by being kicked by swimmers and users of hot tubs.

Pool drains or sumps, as currently known in the art, generally comprise a plastic or fiberglass body including a chamber into which water flows from the pool as it gets recycled through the pool's pump and filter. The chamber includes an opening, or outlet port, that connects to a pipe extending to the pool pump and filter apparatus. Pipes are typically installed in gunite or shotcrete material forming the supporting walls of the pool. The terminal end of a pipe is then encased in plaster along with the drain to which it is connected. The plaster covers the gunite or shotcrete and serves as a barrier between water in the pool and the gunite or shotcrete.

As alluded to above, elongate channel sumps are popular in view of their compliance with the VGB Act, requiring swimming pool and spa sumps to prevent a person's body from covering the entire sump intake and becoming entrapped. Anti-entrapment channel sumps generally comply with the VGB Act by providing multiple intake ports, and being of a sufficient length that the ports cannot be simultaneously blocked, i.e., if one intake port is blocked, the other intake ports allow water to continue to flow into the pump and filtering system.

A problem with pool sumps, particularly elongated channel sumps, is that the plaster into which these large sumps are embedded forms cracks over time. One area most prone to form cracks is where the pool sump and plaster meet. Water may seep into the surrounding plaster and then down into the supporting walls of the pool causing damage. It therefore would be advantageous to provide a pool sump that helps prevent water from migrating down cracks as they form between the pool sump and the plaster surrounding it.

SUMMARY

In a first embodiment, the present invention is directed to a sump drain for installation in a surface of a swimming pool or spa having a drain inlet. The sump drain comprises an annular chamber, at least one outlet port along a bottom surface of the chamber, at least one diverter plate configured to removeably couple to an inner surface of the annular chamber, wherein the diverter plate is placed over the outlet port, and a grid cover configured to cover the chamber, the grid cover having a multiplicity of openings.

Ideally, the outlet port extends downward from the bottom surface of the annular chamber.

Ideally, the sump drain further comprises an inner water stop and an outer water stop. The inner water stop is coupled to an exterior surface of an inner wall of the chamber and the outer water stop is coupled to an exterior surface of an outer wall of the chamber. The water stops are configured to collect water seeping into cracks between the drain and plaster when the drain is installed.

Ideally, each water stop has a bottom surface that is angled slightly inward from top to bottom, with bottom being proximate the drain, and a slightly angled side wall wherein a bottom of the side wall is proximate the drain and a top of the side wall is distal the drain.

Ideally, the sump drain comprises a plurality of outlet ports and a plurality of diverter plates.

In a second embodiment, the present invention is directed to the diverter plates alone. Each diverter plate has two opposed ends and a bottom surface having a plurality of louvers.

The diverter plate can optionally include a central opening in the bottom surface of the diverter plate, and the central opening can be in the shape of a cross.

Optionally, the diverter plate can be curved along its length and include a pair of side walls extending from opposed sides of the bottom surface.

Ideally, the first diverter plate embodiment further comprises two fasteners for coupling the diverter plate to the sump drain.

