People admit to unhealthy pool habits
As hundreds will soon head to a local swimming pool, a new survey finds that many swimmers are not aware they might be diving into potential health risks.
The annual Healthy Pools survey, conducted by the Water Quality & Health Council, shows that people have unhealthy pool habits and these bad swimming habits can make your loved ones sick.
63 percent of adults have never checked health inspection reports before swimming in a public pool .
“Like I’m concerned just because of all the different chemicals there are and different health hazards. But I would’ve thought that more parents definitely would check because when your kids are in there, they don’t know what they’re looking for,” said Khalee Lofton, a parent who lives in Yuma.
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The survey also asked people about their unpleasant swimming habits. 52 percent of those surveyed said they never shower before swimming, 17 percent of adults would swim within one hour of having diarrhea, and 27 percent admitted that they have peed in the pool.
According to Chris Gray with Green Valley Pool Services and Repair, another bad habit is swimming with your pet.
“Because they contain a lot of fur and say a German Shepherd jumps into a pool, that’s roughly the equivalent of 50 people jumping in at one time. Their fur has so much dirt and bacteria in it and so it absorbs a lot of the chlorine in the water,” said Gray.
Since most of us don’t carry a chlorine testing kit, you can contact your local or state health department. You can also ask the pool’s manager directly to make sure the pool is safe to swim in.
