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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)

#31

Post by crescentfresh »

ham_sandwich wrote: post #30

As a longtime swimmer and water polo player, my eyes have been absolutely wrecked by harsh pools many, many times. However, I don’t think it’s pee. First off, every swimmer pees in the pool. I have been a part of tens of thousands of man-hours in the pool and seen people get out to pee maybe three times. I have been in the first games of the day at water polo tournaments and have seen them chlorine shock the water fo…

> First off, every swimmer pees in the pool

A friend expressed this to me once when I caught her peeing in the pool and I was honestly skeptical that "everyone does it" as I would have never felt comfortable doing that. Still don't.

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

#32

Post by electriclove »

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.

'Grown Ups' Blue Urine Clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbkNt48cvsg

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

#33

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

ravenstine wrote: post #2

Why do pools still use chlorine? Is it just because it's really cheap? I've seen non-chlorine pool treatments advertised in the past but haven't been to a single pool in 20+ years that wasn't chlorinated. http://www.baquacil.com/ EDIT: Also, ewww.

The favorite pool I have ever been in had bromine instead of chlorine. The water was so silky and velvety and didn't sting at all. Totally different experience.

It was in Hot Springs, Arkansas and the specific chemistry of the water there made it where they couldn't use chlorination due to interactions with the unique water there. I wish all pools were brominated.

It was in the neat pool on the side of a hill here-

https://tinyurl.com/yyq4k6tb.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenlund/71854674

>Unlike chloramines, bromamines are disinfectants with activity that rivals that of either free chlorine or free bromine. In addition, bromamines do not produce the noxious odors and associated eye and skin irritation attributed to chloramines.

https://www.poolspanews.com/facilities/maintenance/sanitatio...

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

#34

Post by eesmith »

strangemonad wrote: post #20
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.

The quantity of urea would be to low unfortunately for any indicator compound. https://youtu.be/S32y9aYEzzo

And Snopes, at https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/piscine-of-the-crime/ :

> No matter what your parents might have told you, there isn’t any magical chemical that when added to a swimming pool will reveal the presence of urine in the water by producing a brightly-colored cloud:

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

#35

Post by [deleted] »

thom wrote: post #27
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 may be missing the joke here, but for many years swimming pools merely _claimed_ they had this, to discourage people.

[deleted]

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

#36

Post by trentlott »

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 vaguely remember this being a plot point in an episode of 'The Adventures of Pete and Pete'†. I'm sure there are plenty of chemists that have valiantly attempted to find something that could both stay stable in UV-blasted chlorinated water and react with a weak acid to give an absorption in the visible wavelength. . .but that is a very long and hard-to-fulfill wishlist.

Anyway, it's just any sort of amine reacting with chlorine that produces the chloramines that irritate your eyes. Even if nobody urinated in the pool, the sweat people produce would still be able to cause it. Obviously it wouldn't deplete chlorine as quickly, but it isn't that irritation only comes from urine alone.

Further, I'm more worried by this: > "We have a new parasitic germ that has emerged that's immune to chlorine," says Beach. "We've got to keep it out of the pool in the first place. We need additional barriers." - Dr. M Beach, Associate Director at Healthy Water, CDC

† See here: https://youtu.be/xQOePM_ewVM?list=PLBwI3kpp6F3Kk0_jpewLabhLT...

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

#38

Post by martin-adams »

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.

While nice in theory, it'll be bad for business for public swimming pools. Think of how many young kids are in the pool (under 3 years of age). Whether you like it or not, there's pee in the pool.

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

#39

Post by saagarjha »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #33
ravenstine wrote: post #2

Why do pools still use chlorine? Is it just because it's really cheap? I've seen non-chlorine pool treatments advertised in the past but haven't been to a single pool in 20+ years that wasn't chlorinated. http://www.baquacil.com/ EDIT: Also, ewww.

The favorite pool I have ever been in had bromine instead of chlorine. The water was so silky and velvety and didn't sting at all. Totally different experience. It was in Hot Springs, Arkansas and the specific chemistry of the water there made it where they couldn't use chlorination due to interactions with the unique water there. I wish all pools were brominated. It was in the neat pool on the side of a hill here- h…

Bromine is more stable at higher temperatures, so that’s why it’s commonly used in places like hot tubs.

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

#40

Post by mc32 »

braythwayt wrote: post #25
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.

To paraphrase a HaHaOnlySerious joke about diving: "There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who have peed in a pool. And those who lie about it."

Everyone as a kid who has gone into a pool is probably right, but I doubt all adults who’ve been in a pool have done so.
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