The Water Quality and Health Council’s Healthy Pools survey reports that your local pool is likely being used as a bathtub by swimmers. 48 percent of swimmers never shower before getting into the pool, according to Public Health Expert for the council Chris Wiant.
“You can probably presume that number is underreported as well as 40 percent admitted they peed in the pool," said Wiant. "Again, you probably figure that those are the ones that admit it and there are probably others that don’t admit it.”
Wiant says when swimmers don’t wash off before getting in the pool it can raise the risk of waterborne illnesses.
“They can fuse the chlorine disinfectant and so when the bacteria comes along there may not be enough disinfectant to kill the bacteria which is the real mission of the disinfectant,” said Wiant
A pre-swim shower is recommended, helping to remove dirt, perspiration, and personal care items like deodorant.
Wiant calls the risk a problem and says almost a quarter of swimmers surveyed would swim within an hour of having diarrhea.
“The recommendation is really don’t go in the pool for a couple weeks after having diarrhea. The problem with those kinds of diseases is the body continues to shed bacteria over quite a period of time,” he said.
