What the rules generally require
Texas state law under Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 sets enclosure requirements for pools at apartments and other multi-unit properties, not for private single-family backyards.
For a home pool, the requirements come from your city or county building code, which in this area generally follows the residential code: a barrier of a specified minimum height around the pool, self-closing and self-latching gates that swing outward with the latch out of a child's reach, and restrictions on openings a small child could pass through.
Doors and windows from the house into the pool area typically need alarms or a self-latching mechanism when the house wall forms part of the barrier. Confirm the current requirement with your city — Leander, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown, Liberty Hill, and Hutto each enforce their own permitting.
Drain safety
Federal law requires anti-entrapment drain covers on public pools, and the same standard is what you want at home. Covers are not permanent — they carry an expiration date and become brittle in sun.
A cracked, missing, or expired main drain cover is a serious hazard, not a cosmetic issue. Dual drains or an equalized system greatly reduce entrapment risk.
This is one of the first things worth checking on any pool you are buying.
The layers that actually work
A compliant barrier and a gate that latches every time — a propped gate is not a barrier.
Door alarms and a pool surface alarm for the times the barrier is the house.
Constant, designated adult supervision when anyone is in the water. Not phone-in-hand supervision.
Swim lessons for children early, and CPR training for adults in the house.
Remove the ladder or lock the steps on above-ground pools, and clear toys off the surface so nothing draws a child to the edge.
Water clarity is a safety issue
You must be able to see the bottom of the deep end clearly at all times. A cloudy pool is a pool where a submerged child cannot be seen.
That is a real reason to take clarity seriously rather than treating it as cosmetic, and a real reason not to leave a green pool sitting.
