User:NMS Bill/Swimming pool santitation proposed changes/Contaminants and potential for disease in poorly maintained swimming pools

Contaminants and potential for disease in poorly maintained swimming pools

Swimming pool contaminants are introduced from environmental sources and by swimmers themselves. Affecting primarily outdoor swimming pools, environmental contaminants include windblown dirt and debris, incoming water from unsanitary sources, rain containing microscopic algae spores, droppings from birds possibly harboring disease-causing viruses. Indoor pools are less susceptible to environmental contaminants.

Contaminants introduced by swimmers can dramatically influence the operation of indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Sources include micro-organisms from infected swimmers, body oils including sweat, cosmetics, suntan lotion, urine, saliva and fecal matter. In addition, the interaction between disinfectants and pool water contaminants can produce a mixture of chloramines and other disinfection by-products.

Pathogenic contaminants are of greatest concern in swimming pools as they have been associated with numerous recreational water illnesses (RWI's). Public health pathogens can be present in swimming pools as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and fungi. Diarrhea is the most commonly reported illness associated with pathogenic contaminants, while other diseases associated with untreated pools are Cryptosporidiosis and Giardiasis. Other illnesses commonly occurring in poorly maintained swimming pools include otitis externa, commonly called swimmers ear, skin rashes and respiratory infections.

Contamination can be minimized by good swimmer hygiene practices such as showering before swimming, not swimming or letting children swim with intestinal disorders. Because preventing the introduction of pool contaminants, pathogenic and non-pathogenic, into swimming pools is impossible, effective treatments are needed to address contaminants in pool water.

A well-maintained, properly operating pool filtration and re-circulation system is the first barrier in combating contaminants large enough to be filtered. Rapid removal of filterable contaminants reduces the impact on the disinfection system thereby limiting the formation of chloramines, restricting the formation of disinfection by-products and optimizing sanitation effectiveness. To kill pathogens and help prevent recreational water illnesses, pool operators must maintain proper levels of chlorine or another sanitizer.