Let’s face it, for many Americans, a dream house includes a swimming pool. There’s nothing like a well-made one to spell fun and water anytime for family and friends. If you own one, though, it means you should be responsible for routine pool cleaning.
In case you find maintenance unnecessary, take a look at this list:
1. Your Pool Can Have Millions of Pathogens
Let’s begin with something gross. Your pool can look pristine, but it might already be home to harmful microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. Some of the most common ones include E. coli and salmonella.
How do they get here in the first place? They can find their way into the pool if:
- Your water supply is dirty or has contaminants.
- An ill person decided to take a dip in your pool.
- Someone peed or, worse pooped while in the water.
These pathogens can lead to gastrointestinal issues such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. Others can cause fever, vomiting, and respiratory infections.
A lot of people can eventually recover from these diseases, but some groups can be more at risk. These include children, who usually love to swim in pools.
2. People Pee in the Pool All the Time
Everybody knows it, but people don’t want to talk about it. This subject is peeing. In a 2012 survey, at least one in every five people confessed to doing it at least once. Meanwhile, U.S. swimmers peed 100% of the time. Other data revealed that a swimming pool can have as much as 75 liters of urine!
Granted, your pool might not be a practice area for athletes, and you’ll have significantly fewer users than a public bath. Still, it doesn’t change the fact it’s the norm than an exception for someone to pee there.
Urine is not exactly sterile, especially if the person has a bacterial or viral infection in their urinary system. As it passes through the organs, it picks up the pathogen, dumping it into the pool.
That’s not all. A 2014 study suggested that chlorine might not be as effective in preventing the effects of urine. Instead, urea, the primary component of urine, can mix with chlorine.
Together, they can form oxidants that can be harmful to one’s health. One of these is cyanogen chloride (CNCI), which can damage your lungs, central nervous system, and heart.
3. Dirty Pools Can Lead to Outbreaks
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States experiences at least 15 disease outbreaks each year due to unsanitary public pools.
Yours might not be public, but all it needs is the right environment for your bath to cause disease. Usually, illnesses spread when the pool doesn’t have proper chlorination or the pH level of the water isn’t ideal.
Cleaning and maintaining a pool is both time-consuming and tedious. Experts such as pool repair services in Keller recommend doing it every two months. It can also be expensive. The pumps, for example, should run at least 10 hours a day.
Fortunately, the rewards of proper maintenance are more than worth the spending: healthy bodies.
