Originally publised in re:focus Berkshire and Surrey editions Summer 2011:

With local pools running special offers for children and many more of us making for the swimming pools, we need to know what  you might be sharing the water with!

It’s something most of us don’t want to give too much thought to: similar to who has slept on the hotel mattress before you!?  Nevertheless it is wise to know the facts…..

Grace Hall our complementary health advisor, shares with us some of the facts about swimming pool contamination and some of the people she has seen affected by the use of swimming pools.

Even though the water quality of swimming pools is regulated to environmental health standards, thousands of people every year suffer illness and discomfort from using pools here and abroad.

An independent study of pools and spas found evidence of bacterial infection in around 10%, and that 24% were under chlorinated and therefore containing parasites and bacteria.  Contamination of the water begins when organic matter from swimmers such as, sweat, urine, blood, faeces, mucous and skin cells, react with the chlorine used to clean the water and form chloramines.  These chloramines cause eye, throat and skin irritations.  When you enter a pool and notice a strong, overpowering smell, it is the chloramines you are smelling, rather than the chlorine. [Read more…]