Virginia Graeme Baker's family pushed for the change after the 7-year-old girl got trapped on a hot tub's drain and drowned. The force exerted on another child was so powerful that it sucked out her intestines. When the law went on the books in December, however, it kicked off a round of confusion and frustration.

Swimmers getting ready for laps may never notice the work done to improve safety here. That drain cover at the bottom of the deep end (to watch this story, click on the video player) costs $1,250. Getting it fixed has been costly and frustrating.

Ryan Fishel spends his days unloading parts and diving into pools with scuba gear, sometimes working on pools that have already been fixed.

"They keep changing the specifications on our manufacturers. We've had recalls on covers that we've just installed," said Craig Fishel of Fishel Pools.

All this work is to save lives. The drain covers meet the federal mandate known as the Virginia Graeme Baker Act.

Old-style flat drain covers could be dangerous and even deadly. The water is pulled in with such force that sometimes three men can't pull a toy off a drain after it's sucked into it.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 80 injuries and 11 deaths in the last 10 years from dangerous drain covers.

"There's no way to get sucked to this with all the ridges and its highs and lows," said Craig Fishel.

The YMCA moved right away to replace its old drain cover. It's now considered dangerous. The drain cover that replaced it is a safer one but a lot of gunk gets trapped in it, clogging it up, and preventing water from flowing through it. The Y's pool was getting dirty. Now the Y is on its third generation of drain cover in less than a year.

"We hope we don't have to do it again," said Ashley French of the YMCA. We want to keep our pools safe and clean. We just don't want to go through it again. Hopefully we won't."

Craig Fishel is frustrated. He blames the Consumer Product Safety Commission for the mess. He says it issued safety designs so late that it created a backlog of parts.

That backlog keeps Ryan Fishel in the pool changing drain covers nearly every day. He's dived into more than 50 area pools and hot tubs already this summer.

"We're putting them on just as fast as we can get them and as we can find something that will fit," said Craig Fishel.

There's no argument about one thing. The people we talked to believe the new drain cover will save lives. But getting there has been a real drain on resources for the downtown Y and for many others.

"Make sure the product works and the correction works before you make us absolutely do this," said French.

Just this month, seven months after the law went into effect, the CPSC asked for guidance on what can be labeled an "unblockable drain." They want that information by August 5.

Meanwhile, the director of the National Swimming Pool Foundation wants Congress and the CPSC to delay enforcement. It fears public pools will be forced to close.

Still, the CPSC's new director says it will enforce a zero tolerance policy. But that could be difficult because the CPSC says it doesn't have the people to enforce the law. It has just two field representatives for all of Missouri, for instance.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department isn't stepping in.

"This is a federal standard, and compliance will be administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We do not have the authority to enforce this federal law," said a statement from the health department.

By the way, the Springfield-Greene County Parks Department pools are compliant with the new law.