How do journalists fact-check splash pad claims?

Splash pad claims — about safety, water use, attendance, costs, or outbreaks — should be triangulated. Reputable journalists check parks department capital and operating budgets via city open-data portals or public-records requests, CDC waterborne-illness outbreak surveillance reports, NRPA Park Metrics, manufacturer specifications for water-flow rates, and academic literature for context. They attend council meetings and review meeting minutes. They quote named officials with their titles, not anonymous sources, for routine claims. They request actual water-quality testing logs under state public-records laws (FOIA equivalent). They confirm ribbon-cutting dates with parks-and-rec PIOs. Red flags: unsourced social-media stats, claims of 'thousands' without cite, manufacturer marketing material treated as fact, and over-reliance on a single advocate or critic. Good splash pad reporting also names water-system type (recirculating vs flow-through) since it changes risk and cost calculations.