It shocked us that we received so many ‘negative’ responses to the recent string of pool and pool water articles on our site… because millions of Americans each year get sick in some way, shape or form from swimming (or as some people call it bathing) in water that contained harmful biological contaminants.
Even worse, a good number of the sufferers contracted their illnesses not from public pools and swimming facilities, but rather from private pools at friends’, neighbors’ and family members’ homes.
If I can smell chlorine, the water is safe, right?
Not always and in some cases the powerful smell of chlorine in the air ought to tell you something may have gone wrong with the water recently. In general, with indoor pools excluded (for the most part), an intense smell of chlorine in the air tells you the pool may recently have received a dose of chlorine shock OR the water has very recently had a larger than normal biological load (i.e. people in the pool, someone had an ‘accident’ in the pool — see 1 in 5 Americans Admits Peeing in Swimming Pools), or the water has an overabundance of combined chlorine with little or no free chlorine available to combat bacteria, viruses, etc. in the water.
Pool water gets in eyes, noses, ears, mouths… and unmentionable areas areas each time you take a dip in the water. Allow us to repeat ourselves for the purpose of making our point:
Pool water gets in eyes, noses, ears, mouths… and unmentionable areas areas each time you take a dip in the water.
We hope this posting will teach at least a few folks the importance of carefully monitoring the quality and condition of pool water.
PLEASE don’t get us started on spa and hot tub water. 😉
As a final, and quite NASTY reminder, some folks out there DO use public (and private) pools as a way to clean themselves after a day (or few days days) out in the hot sun.
Gross? Yes. But STILL a reality. Remember that.
