Planning any big swimming pool parties this summer? Cipriano Landscape Design has advice to keep your swimming pool water as clean as possible. – Bergen County Northern NJ
If you’ve ever seen the movie Caddy Shack you know what kind of a scene bathroom mishaps can cause in a public swimming pool. But outside of Hollywood, did you know that 1 in 5 adult Americans have admitted to peeing in a swimming pool? A recent study by the China Agricultural University and Purdue University revealed that unfortunately the public swimming pools aren’t necessarily as sanitary as we may think. What’s more alarming is the study shows that when uric acid, a byproduct of urine, combines with chlorine it creates a new chemical called cyanogens chloride, which is a gas that can be harmful to the central nervous system, heart and lungs. Healthline News says that Cyanogen chloride is a schedule 3 controlled substance by the U.S. Chemical Weapons Convention due to the potential in being used in chemical warfare.
The study only polled adults, but I think we can safely assume that the percentage of children who urinate in a swimming pool is higher than the 20% of adults who do. But what about residential swimming pools, how can you protect yourself when you have a large amount of bathers in your swimming pool? If you are planning on hosting a large party over a weekend with a lot of children we have some recommendations for you. The best way you can prepare is to make sure your pool is running at its maximum sanitation level when the party starts. In order to ensure this, we recommend running your filtration system for 48 hours prior to the party to allow your pool to turnover several times. Turnover refers to how long it takes to filter all of the swimming pools water through the filtration system. If your pool is running at the maximum sanitization level it will be better prepared to handle the party.
After the party is over we would also recommend running the filtration for another 48 hours to filter any contaminants that may have entered the water. You can also slightly increase the amount of chlorine in the pool to help with the decontamination process. People have been safely using swimming pools for centuries so this isn’t meant to scare you but rather provide some advice to keep your pool as clean as possible. Obviously the best safety measure is to urinate in the appropriate place, the bathroom but these are some good precautionary measures that can be taken when you are planning a large party.