Is it okay to pee in the pool?
Do you pee in the pool? Not everyone admits to it, but plenty of people do (watch above for proof!). If you have, you might think twice about it next time. Read on!
Darnell Franks, the Seasonal Pool Manager at the John C. Argue Swim Stadium in Los Angeles weighs in on the controversial topic, saying:
Don't do it. In addition to that, we also request that patrons take soap showers to rinse off contaminants. We do recommend people to take breaks when swimming. Basically, when your body gets into cooler water, it makes it feel like your bladder is full. And your body's natural reaction to that is to what? Urinate. There's a saying: We don't swim in your toilet, so please don't pee in our pool ... The only pee that should be in the pool is in the spelling.
If that's not enough convincing, here's what Professor Ernest R. Blatchley III from Purdue University has to say about the longstanding issue.
The urine itself is probably nothing to worry about, but the fact is that urine contains a lot of organic nitrogen that's gonna react with chlorine, and the products of those reactions are sometimes pretty unpleasant. They include things like cyanogen chloride, which has been used as a chemical warfare agent. The concentrations that are present in pools, and perhaps more importantly, in the air above pools, are obviously a lot lower than some military organization would use in a chemical warfare attack. There's a group of other compounds called chloramines that are responsible for the odor associated with chlorinated pools, and they also cause irritation to your eyes, skin and respiratory system.
If you're wondering how to tell if there's an abundance of pee in a pool, Professor Blatchley says you'll know it when you smell it.
"You can smell it at a fairly low concentration, and you can start to smell it at roughly the concentration where people have trouble. Some people are more sensitive than others, but you if you hear people coughing and hacking around the pool, there's probably a little too much pee in the pool."
So, as if it's a huge surprise, you shouldn't pee in the pool. That doesn't mean you should be scared to get in the water, though -- just take a bathroom break when you need one!
And if you're going to a pool party this Labor Day weekend, try your hand at making one of these summer treats:
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