As pools in the state have been allowed to reopen under Gov. Mike DeWine’s Responsible RestartOhio guidelines, Hamilton County Public Health has issued this very important tweet for anyone who has previously, or intends to in the future, drink their pool water:
Chlorine doesn’t work instantly—some germs can survive in pools for days. Don’t drink the water you swim in! pic.twitter.com/fs2lUdOs6t
— Hamilton County Public Health (@HamCoHealth) June 11, 2020
While this could be referencing COVID-19 and its survival time in chlorinated water, it should also be noted that pool water can contain other things like bandaids, pee, farts, poop, sweat and assorted body runoff.
In terms of COVID, the CDC says: “There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, or water playgrounds. Additionally, proper operation of these aquatic venues and disinfection of the water (with chlorine or bromine) should inactivate the virus.”
But here are some other disgusting facts about what can be found in pools (again from the CDC):
- Hair: 10 million microbes
- Spit: 8 million microbes in a single drop
- Poop: 140 billion microbes
- A kid brings 10 grams of poop—the weight of 4 pennies—with 10 trillion microbes.
- Skin products: Lotions, cosmetics, soaps
- Sweat: 1 or 2 soda cans
- Pee: 1 cup
An adult can swallow 1 tablespoon of all that in 45 minutes of swimming (kids can swallow 2 and a half tablespoons).
And swallowing that amount of water can give you all sorts of infections like E. coli, giardia, norovirus, shigella and other diarrhea-causing bacteria/viruses, or skin rashes, ear infections, eye infections and respiratory infections.
So, like Hamilton County Public Health says, don’t drink the water you swim in. It’s gross.
This article appears in May 6 – Jun 14, 2020.