This topic grosses out some people but does not bother others. The debate surprisingly is still going on due to the fact that not everyone believes there is anything wrong with peeing in the pool. This includes mostly children, but adults as well! In fact, some Olympic swimmers have even come out to admit that they too pee in the pool sometimes. While everyone has different beliefs about peeing in the pool, there have been studies that show the effects of peeing in the pool and why it is not a good idea.
Why Peeing In the Pool Is a Bad Idea
Can You Identify Who Is Urinating In A Public Pool?
Other than a satisfactory look of relief on someone’s face, unfortunately, you can not tell if someone is urinating or has urinated in the pool. Parents use to scare their children with the little white lie that the public pools have a chemical in them that changes the color of the urine blue so that others can see who did it. While this would be a brilliant thing to have in public pools, unfortunately, it is all a myth. There are chemicals that could become cloudy, however, there can be more causes for that other than urine.
Urinating Reduces Chlorine Levels
Chlorine is the number one chemical that is at the front line of tackling unwanted germs and bacteria that private and public swimming pools come in contact with. When people pee in the pool, it uses up this valuable chemical that is trying to protect swimmers from so much more.
Chlorine removes bacteria, sweat, and even fecal particles from the water. Therefore, why would we want to do anything that kills germs in the water we swim in? Public pools are especially vulnerable to holding a wide range of bacteria and germs because of the large number of people that use the facility.
Risk of Swimmers Contracting an Illness
To add to the previous point, when there is less chlorine, it means more germs. When there are more germs there is a higher risk of people becoming sick. If the germ-infested water gets into someone’s mouth unexpectedly and is swallowed, the child or adult can experience illness and sickness. Germs in the water can also affect any open wounds or cuts on a person and hinder the healing process as they may become infected. The debate is not just about peeing in the pool. Instead, it is the fact that such actions increase the chances of illness and sickness for all swimmers.
Creation of Other Chemicals
When someone urinates in the water, the urine combined with chlorine has been found to develop other harmful chemicals. In indoor swimming pools especially, the chemicals can release a toxic-like gas into the air which can lead to individuals experiencing health issues.
It Is Not Fatal
While peeing in the pool can lead to health issues and other problems, it is not something to be completely scared of and make you never want to get in a pool again. A large majority of the time, peeing in the pool is not something that will be fatal. However, this still doesn’t mean it is not just plain gross!
Do not panic if you or your children have been to a public pool recently. Instead, just be aware of what could happen and let others be aware of the possibilities. Cleanliness is always a good preventative, and prevention is always better than the cure.
Will It Ever Stop?
Right now, it is safe to say that not everyone will stop peeing in the pool or teaching their kids why they should not pee in the pool. If someone is using their own pool and feels they have the freedom to do so, there is nothing stopping them. However, when it comes to using local community pools and pools in parks, people should think of how they would feel about swimming in someone else’s urine.
If you don’t want to be swimming in it, then, of course, you shouldn’t do it to others. People need to be kind and hold it in for an extra minute while they run to the bathroom nearby. By understanding the risks associated with peeing in the pool and letting other people know the risks as well, perhaps we can one day live in a world with pools that are urine free.
Additional Information: Clean It Up, Swimmers - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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