Public Pools Can Have Safety And Hygiene Dangers Lurking

22 Dec Public Pools Can Have Safety And Hygiene Dangers Lurking

7 Disgusting Facts About Dirty Public Swimming Pools

From Medical Daily

Swimming is a tremendous, vigorous activity that keeps millions of people healthy worldwide.  Unfortunately, the swimmer’s hygiene and behavior can drastically alter the safety quotient for the other swimmers.  This post from Medical Daily outlines some of the hidden dangers that can be lurking beneath the surface of your local swimming pool, and tells how you can protect yourself and your family from them.

Here is an excerpt from the post:

Summer. Hand-in-hand with vacations and beaches and public pool outings. Whether you’re a committed swimmer or a family looking for some pool-time fun, you have the right to know: are pools clean?

While swimming offers an excellent way to get physical activity to stay healthy, it’s important to understand the risks posed by dirty public pools and water parks. Too often, most of us assume that pool operators stick to strict standards to keep pools clean. But there’s no national uniform procedure in place for maintaining pools.

Before you leap in, find out what may be lurking beneath the surface.

1. Feces

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the average swimmer contributes at least 0.14 grams of fecal matter to pool water — usually within the first 15 minutes of entering.

And, a CDC report of routine pool inspections released in 2010 found that nearly one in eight pools posed serious violations that threatened public health, which resulted in those pools being closed immediately.

2. Bacteria – E. Coli

The CDC released a new study about what’s lurking in the pool water. And it doesn’t look so good. Water sampled from 161 pools in the Atlanta area showed signs of E. Coli — the bacteria most commonly associated with fecal matter.

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