You may not think about it when you swim at a pool at your vacation hotel, at the local YMCA or school swimming pool, but behind the scenes there is likely a swimming pool service contractor who is diligent about keeping the water free of bacteria and helping to keep you safe from any water borne illnesses. A recreational water illness, or RWI, could occur if you swim in water that isn’t free of bacteria and germs.
If you have a backyard swimming pool and work with one of our swimming pool professionals to address water cleanliness issues, you can rest assured that your water is free of bacteria and safe for friends and family to use.
Here’s a few steps you can take to help assure that the water stays free of bacteria between service visits:
- Did you know that most people have some sort of contaminant on their body? Whether it’s dry, dead skin or deodorant or even dirt on their hands and feet, they can bring this into the water with them and that has the potential to contaminate the water. Encourage individuals to hop in the shower before they hop in the pool.
- Keep the kids from peeing in the pool by instituting an hourly break-from-the-water time. Urge them to get out, use the bathroom, perhaps grab a drink or a snack and then get back into the pool.
- Ask us how you can monitor your water’s cleanliness levels between service visits. You can purchase a water test kit and we can show you how to understand the readings and explain what to do if you notice the levels are not within safe ranges.
If you’re swimming in a public pool you won’t likely know just how clean the water is, but if you notice that you’re starting to feel ill or have a stomach upset, it could be from the water. Stay out of the water if that happens because ingesting more unclean water or exposing your skin to it, especially if you have any open cuts, can get you even sicker. Germs in water come from other swimmers who may be ill or who may have brought in contaminants. This doesn’t mean you need to stay out of a public pool, it just means that you should be more aware of the need to shower when you get out of the water to rinse off contaminants and make certain you don’t ingest any water.
