OC Teen Wins Patent For Pool Safety Device She Invented In 5th Grade

January 26, 2012 6:29 PM
IRVINE (CBS) — A 17-year-old senior at Woodbridge High School is exploring manufacturing possibilities for a pool safety device she invented in 5th grade.

Allison Plette invented Safe Filter after her older sister pretended to be caught in the filter of their family pool.

“She would pretend she was caught in the filter, cause we’d heard about it on the news,” Allison said. “It scared me and she’s an older sister and so that’s what she does.”

Allison used that fear to create Safe Filter, a pool drain safety device that prevents drowning in a pool or spa when hair or a bathing suit strap is caught in the filter. The filter has a blade that cuts any hair that could get caught.


The device won Allison the Greenberg Traurig patent winner at the 2005 Astounding Inventions Competition, held each year at Irvine Valley College. Fast forward seven years, and Allison was awarded Patent No. US 7,996,931 B2.

“She’s the kind of student that goes out of her way to do the best she can,” math teacher Kent Metfessel said. “She’s always had an innovative way to go about things.”

Besides inventing life-saving devices, Allison likes to help people in her spare time. Her pet project is a clothing closet near campus for people who don’t have the proper clothes for job interviews.

“It is a program for disabled adults or financially disadvantaged who are trying to apply for job but don’t have interview-appropriate clothing,” Allison said.

Allison’s parents are now working on finding a manufacturer to explore how viable marketing Safe Filter will be.