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Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

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Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#191

Post by mbrameld »

nck4222 wrote: post #173
gambiting wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm constantly shocked and disgusted that people actually pee in pools and that it's not some joke someone made up somewhere.

I mean, what about all the other body fluids/debris that are in pools? Saliva, sweat, earwax, belly button lint, bird shit, insects, band-aids, small animal carcasses that get trapped in the filters but are removed before the pool opens? There's no avoiding other peoples/animals grossness, frankly whether your in a pool or just out and about. Urine may be gross, but it's sterile, and at least for me, there are grosse…

Your comment appears to suggest you would find it not unpleasant to swim in a pool entirely filled with urine. Or do you acknowledge the fact that a lower concentration of bodily fluids in a swimming pool is more attractive as a swimmer?

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#192

Post by microcolonel »

eloff wrote: post #100
keypusher wrote: post #47

Chlorine reacts with pretty much any organic compound (hair, sweat, skin, urine) to produce chloramine. And yes, while this is the thing that irritates your eyes, it's not to say that chlorine is harmless either. There is evidence for respiratory and organ damage from extended exposure to chlorinated pools. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4351252/

So safer to use outdoor pools if that's an option.

UVC sterilizers seem like another option I think, not sure how effective that is though, and I'm not sure of the availability of things like this.

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#193

Post by logfromblammo »

amelius wrote: post #77
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #12

I've always wanted a product that you could add to the swimming pool water that reacts to human urine by coloring the water immediately surrounding the pee-er. Say a neon orange or red. Over time, the colored water gets diluted and disappears. Maybe pee-shaming is what's required to stop people from doing it.

How bad is urine really, in the quantities found in a typical pool? Remember that doctors used to taste urine, to test for e.g. diabetes.

The problem is that the organic nitrogen in the urine reacts with the chlorine in the pool to form chloramine, which is more irritating to eyes and skin than what was in the pool before--probably hypochlorites (NaClO, Ca(ClO)2, or LiClO) with cyanuric acid UV-stabilizer--and less effective at killing bacteria.

By peeing in the pool, you are using up the sterilization capacity already present in the water. The water quality manager then has to increase the rate of chlorination far past what is strictly necessary for bacteria, sweat, skin dust, and sunblock, to account for all the pool-pissers. With over-chlorination and a good particulate filter, some amount of pee in the pool can be absorbed by the system. But if you have the capability to exit the pool and pee in a toilet, that is the civilized and courteous thing to do.

If you recognize NaClO above, you might also know it as bleach. And you might also know that it is very dangerous to mix ammonia with bleach, because it forms respiratory irritants like chloramines and cyanogen chloride. The same types of reactions can occur with the urea in urine.

Also, urine can fertilize algae growth in the pool and screw up your pool pH.

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#194

Post by partiallypro »

barkingcat wrote: post #111
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #12

I've always wanted a product that you could add to the swimming pool water that reacts to human urine by coloring the water immediately surrounding the pee-er. Say a neon orange or red. Over time, the colored water gets diluted and disappears. Maybe pee-shaming is what's required to stop people from doing it.

I support this but don't let the colour disappear. So that you know that you're getting into a pee pool or not.

That would be wildly expensive as it would require you to drain the entire pool afterwards.

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#195

Post by [deleted] »

kisstheblade wrote: post #154
amelius wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How bad is urine really, in the quantities found in a typical pool? Remember that doctors used to taste urine, to test for e.g. diabetes.

Urine is sterile. That's why it's good to pee on wounds. Edit: Wow, what harsh downmodding :) Yes I was wrong and learned something, isn't it still useful to keep my comment here for other's education? I literally heard this "urine is sterile" comment in the last couple of weeks. I stand corrected, thanks!

[deleted]

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#196

Post by kgwxd »

sizzzzlerz wrote: post #12

I've always wanted a product that you could add to the swimming pool water that reacts to human urine by coloring the water immediately surrounding the pee-er. Say a neon orange or red. Over time, the colored water gets diluted and disappears. Maybe pee-shaming is what's required to stop people from doing it.

I would think anyone running a pool open to the public wouldn't use it, it would require them to drain the pool every time a baby pees in their swim diaper. And if it became law, there'd just be no public pools.

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#197

Post by bregma »

rconti wrote: post #101
teekert wrote: post #9

"Approximately 58 per cent of Canadians admitted to peeing in the pool at least once in a recent survey of 9,500 people conducted by Travelocity." Never looking a Canadians the same ever again.

42% of Canadians are liars? or just don't visit the pool often?

The pool is frozen solid for half the year. You can pee on it if you want but it just sits there in a frozen yellow puddle on top until the spring thaw. It can be pretty incriminating.

Also it tends to dribble down your snowmobile pants and onto your mukluks.

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#198

Post by [deleted] »

tsmarsh wrote: post #86
illumin8 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would never swim in a pool like this. Every pool I've been to required toddlers to wear special swim diapers to prevent exactly this scenario. There are some really nasty diseases that can spread through human waste, and I would not want to come in contact with them.

Parent of two kids that have used swim diapers. I would be very surprised if those diapers were even 10% effective. Out of the pool they're basically 0% effective. And yes, I've read the instructions, and spoken to the folks who run the pool. Mostly I think they're just there to keep the poop in long enough to get the kid out of the pool.

[deleted]

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#199

Post by unwind »

luckydata wrote: post #150
illumin8 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would never swim in a pool like this. Every pool I've been to required toddlers to wear special swim diapers to prevent exactly this scenario. There are some really nasty diseases that can spread through human waste, and I would not want to come in contact with them.

And this is a dead giveaway you're not a parent, or have never dealt with swim diapers :) Swim diapers are designed to simply make sure the poop and the kid are in the same general area and that it's easy to remove them from the water as a self contained unit. It will still absolutely contaminate the water in some way, there's no escaping it.

Or, rather, there is a lot escaping it. :)

Re: Pee, Not Chlorine, Causes Red Eyes from Swimming Pools: CDC (2015)

#200

Post by davem8 »

alistairSH wrote: post #113
tastyfreeze wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swim diapers do very little to keep pee or dissolved feces in them. They are there to keep turds from floating away long enough for a parent to take care of it. Also, how many dirty assholes are getting cleaned by the pool water? That dude that was just grunting in the stall of the locker room likely didn't wash his ass before jumping in.

Iceland has solved that problem... https://icelandmag.is/article/wash-thoroughly-without-swimsu... Makes sense, not sure why other countries don't do the same. I'd much prefer fewer chemicals in the water and a required shower than the current system in the US.

That's what I do after spending time in Finland. The funny thing is, everyone else in the pool looks at me like I'm crazy for showering and using soap before I get in the pool, they just get themselves wet in their swimming trunks before going in.
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