# How much % of a public swimming pool is pee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392 "2014-08-12T19:39:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/41 "2014-08-14T04:34:05Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I’m a bit skeptical that the filters do anything to remove dissolved chemicals – I suspect that they only remove particulates and gross stuff like hair and bandaids. Wouldn’t a reverse osmosis filter be prohibitively expensive for a public pool? > > Also, while urine is initially sterile in most cases, it doesn’t stay that way. Lots of wee microscopic beasties find it tasty and nutritious. The filters remove really small stuff. But my point was that filters are backed washed removing some of the water and urine from the pool. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/42 "2014-08-14T06:46:45Z")
At my local pool, at any one time you might have around 200 folk in an olympic size pool swimming laps. I’d bet that about 40% of those pee in the pool once per hour. So I’d say about 80 pees per hour. The pool is open for 10 hours a day that’s 800 pees At 500 ml each time You’re looking at 400 litres of pee At 2.5 million litres in pool that would make it 0.016% pee. Of course for kiddy pool, I’d say that at one time you have 100 people in 150,000 litres (if that). Same one pee per person per hour, but only 300 ml, 40 % people peeing you would get 12 litres per hour, 120 litres per day 0.08% pee ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/43 "2014-08-14T09:54:08Z")
Ars Technica [decided to do some math](http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/03/ask-ars-how-much-pee-in-a-pool-would-kill-you/) to figure out how much pee in a pool would kill you. You know, for science. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/44 "2014-08-14T14:38:43Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > At my local pool, at any one time you might have around 200 folk in an olympic size pool swimming laps. > > I’d bet that about 40% of those pee in the pool once per hour. So I’d say about 80 pees per hour. It sounds like you are talking about adults swimming laps (I rarely see kids swimming laps at pools). Are you telling me 40% of adults pee in pools and do it once per hour they are in the pool? As in 4 of every 10 posters on this board? How much would you bet? ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/45 "2014-08-14T15:14:19Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > I am reminded of the _South Park_ episode involving the water park that was 90% pee. When it reached 100% pee, disaster struck. If a pool reached 100% pee, it would still be 95% water. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/46 "2014-08-14T15:38:13Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > It sounds like you are talking about adults swimming laps (I rarely see kids swimming laps at pools). Are you telling me 40% of adults pee in pools and do it once per hour they are in the pool? As in 4 of every 10 posters on this board? How much would you bet? I’m at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. I get out of the ocean to urinate. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/47 "2014-08-14T17:59:00Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > If a pool reached 100% pee, it would still be 95% water. If the pee participants have been drinking American Lager style beers, it could be closer to 99% water. Could be a great conservation method for the arid parts of the US: LA pee pool filling parties. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/48 "2014-08-14T21:21:07Z")
I don’t even pee once per hour, no matter where I am. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/49 "2014-08-15T01:23:02Z")
According to [this highly scientific poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=550480), conducted by Dr. F. Gimpy, noted urine researcher, 28.6% of adult women and 33.6% of adult men pee in the pool. Numbers are higher for children of both sexes. ---
**Author:** ![littlespeedysuperbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@littlespeedysuperbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/littlespeedysuperbike)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/50 "2014-08-15T04:12:33Z")
500,000 gallons for an ordinary public pool. 500 users per day 200 days use per year (we don’t all live in Detroit and Chicago) 1 liter urine per person 100,000 liters (25,000 gallons) of urine per year 5% urine at the end of the season assuming that evaporation = rainfall and that the pool is not drained or topped-off. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/51 "2014-08-16T22:59:38Z")
Free chlorine (good) vs chloramines (bad) Free chlorine reacts to any organic material and pretty well kills it (it is a sanitizer, not an oxidizer). If there is not enough FC, the chlorine you add will react with, but not destroy, organics. Hence chloramines (“Too much chlorine!” Burning eyes and mucous membranes). They way you get rid of chloramines is to add more FC. Modern pools automated just about everything - someone has come up with a machine to analyze water, using proprietary petri dishes. As soon as they figure out how to do that analysis using a stream of pool water, we have another industry in which the sole purpose of the human is to maintain the machine. Sample Salt Water Chlorine Generators: it turns out that if you dump table salt in the pool to 3000 ppm, passing that water over titanium plates charged with 24vdc will break the salt down into FC and something. Once the FC has done its thing with the nasty organics, that something sucks the Cl out and it reverts to salt. At 3000 ppm, those with incredibly sensitive taste buds can detect a tinge of salt; most just notice the water is “softer”. Not surprising - all “water softeners” do is add salt to your potable water supply. The titanium eventually erodes (as I understand it - maybe they just get so crudded up as to be ineffective and the SWG mfg’s like to sell replacements). These started at $1000 for the unit and $7-800 for a cell. Then a maker of above-ground pools made one for $150 - and the In Ground people started adapting. Now there is a $500 unit, $200 cell being made for specifically for IG. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/52 "2014-08-16T23:09:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Free chlorine reacts to any organic material and pretty well kills it (it is a sanitizer, not an oxidizer). It is a sanitizer by virtue of being an oxidizer. Note that “oxidizer” does not mean “causes to combine with oxygen”: Oxygen is an oxidizer, but not the only one. And it isn’t really meaningful to speak of “killing” organic material. Chemical substances aren’t alive. You can break them down, or convert them to other compounds, but you can’t kill them. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/53 "2014-08-17T20:31:09Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Not surprising - all “water softeners” do is add salt to your potable water supply. No - what they do is exchange calcium ions and sodium ions, so you end up with soluble Sodium Carbonate in your water, not Calcium Carbonate which has a habit of precipitating into your hot water pipes and staying there. Salt is used as the source of the Sodium, and when you flush the column, you are flushing Calcium Chloride. People with a Sodium issue have to be careful of softened water, but it isn’t “salty.” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/54 "2014-08-18T00:22:33Z")
Even [one incident of urination](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/teens-pee-in-portland-water_n_5163976.html) is apparently enough to require draining 30 million gallons of water. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/55 "2014-08-18T01:33:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A homeopath’s nightmare. snort ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/56 "2014-08-18T02:50:40Z")
But all of the bird and deer pee and poop is OK, because it’s natural and not man-made. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/57 "2014-08-18T22:23:00Z")
I can understand small children peeing in public pools because they haven’t been properly trained, but that’s disturbing that there’s adults who are too lazy and selfish to go take a pee in the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/58 "2014-08-18T23:32:18Z")
Once I was at a hotel pool with my first wife. She said, “Hon, give me the key.” “Why?” “I need to go up to go to the bathroom.” “Well, just go in the pool. It’s a big pool. The dilution factor is huge. Won’t make any difference.” Five minutes later I looked up to see everybody jumping out of the pool, and somebody was yelling, “Hey, what idiot took a dump in the pool?” ---
**Author:** ![Quidam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecae2f/32.png) [@Quidam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quidam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392/59 "2014-08-20T00:57:57Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Free chlorine (good) vs chloramines (bad) > > Free chlorine reacts to any organic material and pretty well kills it (it is a sanitizer, not an oxidizer). ‘Free chlorine’ refers to the hypochlorite (OCl–) ion. Total chlorine is the sum of free chlorine and combined chlorine (chloramines) Hypochlorite is most definitely an oxidizer . Oxidation is how it sanitizes. > **[Hypochlorite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochlorite#As_an_oxidizing_agent)** > > In chemistry, hypochlorite, or chloroxide is an anion with the chemical formula ClO−. It combines with a number of cations to form hypochlorite salts. Common examples include sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) and calcium hypochlorite (a component of bleaching powder, swimming pool "chlorine"). The Cl-O distance in ClO− is 1.69 Å. > The name can also refer to esters of hypochlorous acid, namely organic compounds with a ClO– group covalently bound to the rest of the molecule. The principal ex... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-public-swimming-pool-is-pee/695392.md?page=2)