I live in apartment complex that has pool. The one time that I debated nominating to pool, I decided not to waste my nomination. Let me try to answer your question even though I am not with Niantic. Imagine the apartment complex has no knowledge that a Wayspot exists near the pool. If the person was at the pool playing Ingress and/or Pokemon GO and tripped, hit his/her head, fell into the pool, & drowned and was not yet 18, 1 or 2 (depending on the law) parents could successfully take Niantic to court. Niantic would not enjoy the liability.
That is an example I can give. If it was winter, other issues like the cold could cause other issues, I had a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) more than 30 years ago. Had people not seen that happen, I would not be able to type this. That had nothing to do with swimming.
The sort of tragic accident you describe if taken to its base level of a person not paying attention whilst playing a game, could apply to any place. You have described an incident at a pool, but the same could happen on a street, on a hike etc.
No one is compelled to submit a particular place so if you feel itâs not something you wish to submit then thatâs not an issue.
When you are reviewing you should use the criteria and answer the questions. You have the option to skip if you feel you donât feel comfortable to vote in a particular way.
literally every pool like this has a tall fence with a locked gate. no oneâs going in there to spin a PokeStop they can reach from far outside the fence unless they live there and have key access at which point itâs still not Nianticâs liability.
there are dozens of other types of wayspots which are at least as unscannable and we have zero evidence that such criteria has ever been applied in any way. I donât buy it.
I remember being told it wasnât for liability issues and that most could be accepted regardless of what was written.
I wonder where I heard that⌠
One could nominate a site near the summit of Mount Everest. It would require a satellite phone, but if the subject was interesting and appropriate it could appear on your gameâs map.
Nobody is compelling you to scale the mountain. That is not how liability laws work. I am sorry about your injury, but it is neither here nor there.
I believe Ingress used to particularly encourage adventurous locations ie mountain summits etc! And they certainly meet âexploreâ and âexerciseâ critiera! Not safe or accessible for every single person but definitely can be accessed by some pedestrians when taking appropriate care and with some common sense and preparation
Swimming pools are not nearly so hazardous
I have no idea why we made such convoluted rules for these places that are 100% a great place to exercise and socialise
There are good arguments. But this is not one of them. 
You could apply that argument to pond aerators. Niantic says you need to be able to stand on the Wayspot.
Lol, during the challenge i had my bonus set on the summit of Everest hoping to approve it.
Correct, which is why you put the POI for a pool at a reachable location, not in the water. I move pins out of the water while reviewing all the time.
Seems like this is still an issue due to Niantics use of the term, âcommunity poolâ as a catch all term for all pools not on private residence or on k-12 property. and most of my submitted pools have been rejected by the community, but niantic has accepted all of my appealed pool submissions
hopefully we will at some point get a more specific criteria from niantic, since the term community pool is still creating confusion and it sucks burning appeals on pools, but niantic is approving pools in apartment complexes as every pool shown in my attached pic is at an apartment complex.
I find it strange to accept pools at appartment complexes.
They arnât publicly accessible.
Ironically, wouldnât that mean that Aerators would be acceptable if there was a spot to place the pin where the water landed?
I get the new idea of placing a pools pin on the edge of the pool, fits in with how pins are placed for sportâs fields.
But Iâve always wondered when you nominating the Water Spray created by an aerator because of its looks and it was touchible without going into the water.
Why not.
being publicly accessible is not a requirement for a wayspot
What part of that is strange to you? There has been a long history of Wayspot eligibility of locations not generally âpublicly accessible.â
One of the tooltips introduced during the review user interface update helped make this guidance more upfront to reviewers:
Youâll note that the very first example includes gated communities as being appropriate.
Publically accessible and safely accessible are not the same thing
Ok thanks !
I thought the rules had changed on this subject. 
Then I have to make a few appeals 
Aerators are not anything interesting. They are utilitarian. They meet no criteria as well as having no safe pedestrian access. A pool area is encompassed by the âpatioâ around it. The whole area is considered the pool.
I would never suggest you âMustâ vote for an Aerator Created âWater-Spray fountain.â However, part of the point of Wayfarer is communities decide what is interesting. I find them interesting to look at, and do alter my walking route especially in summer for a nice mist effect
However, Aerator were deemed banned because they werenât safe to access. Yet if the definition, of safe to access for a pool includes placing the pin on the land, I donât see why the same logic wouldnât work for placing a pin on land the water sprays onto. As itâs the water spray I am nominating, not the aerator pump creating it.
Hence, my question is more whether they need to be âUnbannedâ and left to community judgement.
If people agree with you, they are utilitarian (bonus props for using a word that I dont hear often) and uninteresting and vote them down⌠Cool.
If they like seeing them and thumbs up on explore⌠okay.
PS: I just canât quite buy the patio is part of the pool, distinction. Just doesnât work for me.
The patio portion of the pool is physically part of the pool.
You can sit poolside and socialize.
You can use it to jump into the pool for exercise.
Itâs physically part of the pool. Thereâs nothing to buy, itâs fact.
Water aerators are inaccessible by foot. Itâs a physical installation in the middle of a body of water designed to aerate the water. Itâs not a great place to exercise, socialize at, or explore. Thus itâs not eligible.
Now if youâre talking about an actual fountain, that has a plaque or a seating area for people to gather at and enjoy the fountain thatâs another story.