Five-year-old Abigail Taylor was playing in the wading pool at the Minneapolis Golf Club when she sat down on an open drain in June 2007. Before anyone could reach her, the vacuum created by the drain caused severe internal injuries, leading to her death nine months later.

The new pool drain safety law that takes effect today doesn't carry her name, but her incident caused Congress to strengthen a pending bill to require anti-entrapment covers for drains in all public pools.

But pool industry officials say thousands of facilities across the country will not comply by today because many pool operators don't know about the requirement. Those who do have had trouble getting the proper equipment because it didn't exist a year ago.

"Everybody is scrambling now," said D.J. Wright, president and chief executive officer of pool parts wholesaler H.C. Harrington in the Strip District and a board member of the National Swimming Pool Foundation.

"You'll find most people want to comply, but they have to find out how to comply. You have to have the equipment to make this work."

Scott Wolfson, who is overseeing implementation of the law for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said the agency initially will concentrate enforcement on wading pools, kiddie pools and in-ground spas. The law applies to more than 300,000 public pools, spas and hot tubs.

"We really need to focus on those areas that pose the greatest risk to children," he said, noting there are one or two drain deaths every year.

The law, passed one year ago today, is called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. It was named after the 8-year-old granddaughter of former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III, who died in 2002 when she was eviscerated as she was trapped in a drain in a private, in-ground spa.

As originally proposed, the law would have required all new pools and spas to be manufactured with drain safety covers. When the Minnesota incident occurred during deliberations, the law was amended to require all existing public facilities to be fitted with the covers, beginning today for indoor facilities and whenever outdoor pools reopen.

That's too soon, said Thomas Lachocki, chief executive officer of the pool foundation, based in Colorado Springs, Colo. The organization asked federal officials to delay compliance for another year and warned that thousands of facilities could be closed for noncompliance, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission held firm.

"No one wants entrapment to happen," said Mr. Lachocki. "It's the most ugly thing that can happen. The issue is, it takes time to design and manufacture new plastic parts and in some areas they just aren't available."

Alan Korn, director of policy for Safe Kids Worldwide, which supported the legislation, said he sympathized with the industry but congratulated federal officials for not delaying the law. More education is needed, he said.

"I think to this day, the majority of pool and spa operators do not know they have to comply," he said. "The problem seems to be the marketplace hasn't caught up with the needs of the pool operators. It's going to take a while for that to happen."

The consumer product agency, which has a broad mandate and limited staff, doesn't expect massive pool closings. It will rely on state and county officials for compliance information and will respond to complaints.

In this area, checks on pools will occur two ways. In counties like Allegheny, Erie and Philadelphia, which have their own health departments, inspectors may take note of drain problems if they are obvious during health and safety inspections.

In other counties, the state Health Department has asked swimming pool operators to fill out a form asking whether they have complied with the law, and those forms or lack of responses will be sent to the federal agency.

The 586 public pools and spas in Allegheny County may be safer than other places because the county established rules for pool drains in 1993, said health department spokesman Guillermo Cole. The standards aren't the same as the new federal law, but there haven't been any incidents in the county, he said.

"We feel this provides adequate protection," he said.

The county is sending letters to all pool and spa operators to make sure they are aware of the new requirements. The county inspects pools for water quality, equipment safety and lifeguards.

John Santucci, supervisor of buildings and grounds for the Penn Hills School District, said the district likely will upgrade the drain at Linton Middle School, built in 1968, when it does a major grouting project there this summer. The pool's drain recycles water from the top of the pool rather than using suction from the bottom, making it relatively safe.

Rich Strunk, executive vice president of the Greater Pittsburgh Hotel Association, said a survey of 10 member hotels yesterday found two of them in compliance and most of the others waiting for parts.

Across Pennsylvania, the state Health Department is responsible for about 4,400 public pools and spas. The department isn't responsible for enforcing the federal law, said spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman, but it will try to help with education and forward compliance response forms to federal officials.

"It's going to be enforcement by incident," said Mr. Wright. "It doesn't take much to make for a horrific event. Then the wrath of God is going to come down on them if they are not in compliance."