Problems With Shallow Water Depth Levels

Considering all the activities that take place on water, from sailing to swimming, it would seem likely that most people would know the level of water needed for a given activity. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Many problems, from property damage to physical harm, have resulted from incorrect assessment of shallow water depth.

  1. Diving

    • Swimming pools generally have sloped bottoms, so children can play safely at one end and adults can practice diving at the other. When the water depth is too shallow, diving becomes dangerous. Water helps to slow diver velocity. The recommended diving depth in a swimming pool is twice the height of the diver. According to Dr. Marc Green of the Visual Expert, most diving accidents occur in a depth of 3-1/4 feet or less. Only 13 percent of accidents occur in water between 3-1/4 and 9 feet deep.

    Fishing

    • Shallow water can interfere with the fish finders on fishing vessels. The bottom coverage on most fish finders is 1/3 the depth of the water. In 18 feet of water, your fish finder will only cover a 6-foot circle. It is usually fruitless to look for fish on your fish finder in water that is only a few feet deep, because the proximity of your boat to the bottom usually means the fish will see your boat coming and get spooked, before you see them on the finder, notes David Wharton of the Bass Resource.

    Ships

    • The larger the ship, the bigger the potential problems of shallow water depth. A ship does not have to touch the bottom to be affected. Even the close proximity of the bottom creates pronounced effects in the ship's handling. Some of the water displaced by a ship in a shallow area rushes under the ship and rises again at the stern, which slows the ship. According to One Voyage, this makes the likelihood of grounding on a rock or obstacle more likely, since the ship approaches the obstacle without sufficient speed to clear it.

    Wells

    • The United States Geological Survey says that many engineers have taken a well-digging shortcut by creating a driven well, which is simply a small-diameter pipe driven into soft earth, like sand or gravel. The bottom of the pipe has a screen to filter out particles. The problem with this type of well is that it can only tap shallow water, close to the surface. Shallow well water is much more easily contaminated by surface pollutants, such as agricultural chemicals, and the runoff from factories.