Keeping your pool a fun and safe place to spend time with your friends and family can be a full-time job. Pool water chemistry can be a tricky thing let alone other people introducing their own contaminates to your pool. The iconic scene from the movie “Grown Ups” where the guys pee in the pool that sets off a blue cloud around them brings laughs and don’t we wish detecting contaminates in your water was so easy? Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to detect the presence of urine in your pool, but following these 5 Sanitary Pool Basics can help.

1. Maintain Perfect Pool Water Chemistry
2. Rinse Off Before Entering the Pool
3. Encourage Potty Breaks and Avoiding Urine in the Pool
4. See a Number Two? Get Everyone Out
5. Regularly Add Non-Chlorine Shock 

Maintain Perfect Pool Water Chemistry

This is hard and takes time to learn. If you are not already a pool water chemistry expert, I would hire an IPSSA Pool Water Chemistry Expert in your area first. We have a couple articles with tips on maintaining pool water chemistry, but this is a complicated subject and takes having a mentor, so I don’t advise learning on the job. 

Rinse Off Before Entering For A Sanitary Pool

An easy way to keep your pool chemistry looking great is by washing off with soap and warm water before entering the pool. Did you know that according to The Center of Disease Control and Prevention,  people that don’t rinse off before entering their pools spread the risk of introducing E. coli and other bacteria to their pool water.

 Taking the time to rinse off removes much of the sweat and body fluids from your body allowing you and your family to absorb fewer contaminates while enjoying a refreshing dip. Body fluids and waste will bond with chlorine and form chloramines. Chloramines are still disinfectants, but they are not nearly as effective as free, available chlorine for sanitizing. Chloramines are also irritating to the skin and eyes and are usually the culprit for smelly chlorine Pool Water.

Don’t Urinate In your Pool

Little kids and the occasionally drunk uncle can introduce fluids in your water that aren’t supposed to be there. Scientists have calculated that on average a normal size residential pool can have up to two gallons of urine in it. Ensuring there’s enough chlorine in your pool is an easy way to neutralize the foreign liquid and keep you healthy. Also, taking your kids on regular potty breaks while enjoying the water helps keep a sanitary pool. Another fun way to let people know to hold it while using your pool is to purchase a funny “We don’t swim in your toilet, so don’t pee in our pool” sign on the internet. 

See A Number Two? Get Everyone Out Of The Pool

Though it’s most likely to happen in a commercial swimming pool and not in your residential pool, a floating surprise might just ruin your summer time fun. 

This mainly happens with toddlers, so it is a good idea to use swim diapers.  Once the “floater” is identified, get everyone out of the pool as quickly as possible. After everyone has vacated the pool, the fecal matter needs to be removed. A net or bucket works the best and we suggest avoiding vacuums as they tend to make the problem worse. The next step is to shock your pool in order to raise the free chlorine levels, this will disinfect the bacteria from the fecal matter and sanitize the water.

Again, make sure the young ones use swim diapers and diaper covers as diarrhea and loose stool can be a big issue. In this event, better steer clear of your pool as it can spread bacteria and germs quickly to your other guests. Illness can also spread through your pool water to other swimmers and needs to be treated carefully. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests anyone who has had diarrhea in the past two weeks to stay out of the water as swallowing any water contaminated with fecal matter can cause serious illness.

For loose stool, spiking your free chlorine level to 20 ppm for at least 13 hours is necessary to kill potential threats. Super chlorination and proper filtration wil reduce the risk of spreading bacteria and Illness. Please follow the guidelines from the Orange County Health Care Agency to help prevent illness here.

Regularly Add Non-Chlorine Shock To Maintain A Sanitary Pool

We recommend to regularly add non-chlorine shock to your pool or spa. There are two popular ways to rid your pool of chloramines and other contaminates:

1. Super-chlorinate the pool or spa to 10 ppm and close the pool down for 24 hours while it filters.
2. Add non chlorine shock to pool water with ideal chlorine levels of 2ppm to 4ppm. We usually aim higher than lower on ideal chlorine levels.

The obvious disadvantage of super chlorination is the pool water becomes aggressive and the pool needs to be closed. Not ideal if you plan on using the pool or spa! We prefer using non chlorine shock and doing so regularly.The best solution to keep chloramines at bay is to add non-chlorine shock every week during the swim season to your pool or spa. Read our article ” Non Chlorine Shock Does a Pool Service Good” for more detailed information and just know that non-chlorine shock is much less invasive and you don’t have to close the pool down. 

Maintaining perfect pool water chemistry is an essential component in proper pool maintenance and will ensure that your swim time will be a safe and sanitary experience. Believe it or not, the type of chlorine you use regularly is important as well. Another good tip is to make sure you shower off after your done taking a dip in order to remove any germs or bacteria that you picked up. Following these 5 simple tips will help you enjoy your sanitary Pool Heaven!