Tek-Bull

Public swimming pools? More like giant public toilet bowls!

Public swimming pools and water parks are a large part of many people’s childhoods. I mean, what’s not to love about cannon balling into the deep end of a pool on a day that tops 100 degrees? All the splish splashin’ and water fightin’ just tends brings out the fun in even the most boring adult. And it goes without saying that accidentally swallowing a mouthful of water is a pretty common thing. But, how often do we stop to really think about what’s in that water? Well, we know that we’re in the water, and therefore whatever is on our bodies (dirt, food, sweat, etcetera) is in the water. And we know that it’s kind of a pain to get out of the pool all wet and have to drag our soggy selves to the nearest facility just to go to the bathroom, so most people just go to the bathroom in the pool. After all, we know from science that the chlorine in a pool will kill most of the germs from a person’s urine.

But what good is that chlorine really doing when the waters pH levels are more urine than actual water?

54 percent of public pools tested by the WQHC last year failed to provide the proper chlorine levels and 47 got low marks for pH balance. You can blame poor pool maintenance, but frequent urinators don’t help. “Anything foreign that gets in the pool consumes disinfectant and makes the pool less capable of catching the next bug,” Dr. Wiant tells Yahoo! Shine. So while chlorine is working overtime to clean up someone’s mess, it’s weakened by the time more serious bacteria dives in. That comes from the germs we carry on our body even before we get into to the water. While only one in five of us cop to peeing in the pool, seven in 10 say they don’t shower before they swim. As much as a cold pre-swim shower ruins that first dip feeling, Wiant makes a good case for why it’s crucial. The additional bacteria we carry on skin, in particular sweat and traces of fecal matter (yes even on adults), gets mixed in the pool, and suddenly swimmers are subject to serious bacteria like E.coli or salmonella.”

There just seems to be something about a body of water, that once we get in, our natural floodgates open and we forget that we’re potty trained adults. Bottom line? Be a good pool Samaritan and don’t pee in pools! Via: Yahoo