There is an active thread in IMHO about peeing in pools. This question is on the specific health consequences of peeing in pools.
Are there any health consequences that can result from peeing in a pool, either to the person peeing or others who are in the pool or who later get in the pool? More specifically, are there either:
Specific cases where a doctor, medical examiner, or other health professional determined that a person came down with an illness or was injured specifically due to them urinating in a pool or being exposed to someone else’s urine in a pool, where the person would have been significantly less likely to have acquired the medical condition had the peeing or exposure not taking place. That is, either the pee directly and exclusively caused the condition or was a material risk factor in combination with others such as genetic predisposition, existing illness, or other pool contaminants.
Medical literature indicating a theoretical (with pharmacological or other mechanism of action on the body described) or statistical link between pool pee and specific medical conditions. For example, “A study at Johns Hopkins found that test subjects who spent 30 minutes in a pool with 10ml of pee per gallon of water were 30% more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes and 15% more likely to develop Swimmer’s Ear than a control group who spent 30 minutes in a pool certified by the Department of Health as urine free.”
Public pools run high levels of chlorine for just this reason. Chlorine is an excellent bug killer.
To cover the next Q: You scoop out the feces and “shock” the pool - raise the chlorine levels to too-high-for-prolonged-contact and hold it there for 24 hours.
That treatment is how dark green pools turn bright and clear and sparkling in 24 hours.
Next Q: the chlorine will “burn off” in direct (or not-so-direct) sunlight - the chlorine levels will drop to safe shortly.
I think you are more likely to have a problem in a public fountain, which people do play in but are not (necessarily) treated with chlorine like pools.
Wikipedia’s article on chloramines(formed by reaction between nitrogen-bearing organic molecules, including urine, and the chlorine) has two citations showing asthma and other respiratory problems caused by chloramines. Urine isn’t the only way to get chloramines in a pool, but it has to be a major contributor.
Sense About Science, a UK group dedicated to increasing public knowledge about science, addressed this recently as part of their year-end roundup on “Celebrities and Science”. On page 6 of this PDF, they quote a biochemist as saying that it would be effectively harmless. However, this statement isn’t based on the results of a controlled study, but rather on the properties of fresh urine and the dilution factor.
It should be noted that chloramines, as opposed to straight chlorine, are commonly used to disinfect drinking water (as Wikipedia states directly above the part of swimming pools); I doubt that urine would form any significant amounts compared to what comes out of the tap.