Greaseman: Hey, isn’t it great, just relaxing by the pool here in Acapulco? Let’s go for a dip.
Estelle: Oh, honey, give me the key to the room. I have to go up.
Greaseman: Why?
Estelle: Well, I have to go to the bathroom.
Greaseman: Oh, c’mon, the room’s on the 12th floor, you don’t want to go all the way back there. Just go in the pool.
Estelle: Oh, I couldn’t do that…
Greaseman: Come on, Estelle, it’s no big deal. Everybody does it. Let’s go.
Minutes later…pool staff is running around excitedly, pool is being evacuated.
Greaseman: What’s going on?
Lifeguard: Some gringo bitch shit in the pool.
:rolleyes:
(radio story paraphrased from Doug “Greaseman” Tracht, DC shock jock. He cleaned up the language for radio, I dirtied back up again.)
When pool opening time comes around, my pool is often not pristine. A couple of years ago I lifted the tarp and found the water was totally black, with little squiggly worms zipping back and forth.
After a couple of rounds with several gallons of liquid chlorine, and continuous filtering, it was declared swimmable by the pool store tech.
Another week and it was clear enough to see if a quarter tossed in the deep end was heads or tails.
I routinely remove dead squirrels and mice from the pool. A few years ago I opened the pool and saw a big plump rabbit silhouetted against the far wall of the deep end. No problem—just toss in more shock.
What would bother you more, a bit of poop or a month-old dead rabbit?
It’s kind of like sausage and politics. Try not to think about what might have happened in the water as you enjoy your swim.
Not to mention that in many rivers, most of the flow comes from sewage treatment plants.
Hey, fun fact. You know how they treat sewage so it’s safe to discharge to a river than people swim in? Let it sit in a big tank for a while, then add chlorine.
Actually, the high fecal count in rivers, lakes, etc. is caused by surface runoff from the surrounding areas all along their feeders especially in agricultural areas.
The typical treatment for us is is to evacuate the pool, remove the physical matter (if possible), boost the free available chlorine (not to shock level), and allow sufficient time for the pumps and filters to perform one turnover before readmission.
It’s quite possible either the operators of that pool weren’t sure what to do or maybe the circulation/filtration system was inadequate or non-existant.
Public pools, if operated correctly, are much cleaner than any other environment you will ever enter, including hospitals, since you are essentially bathing in disinfectant. This also includes the pool deck areas, slides, ladders, etc… due to the cast off from swimmers.
My great grandparents had an old stone pool that they filled with river water and swam in it for days maybe weeks, until it was too dirty, then they would drain and refill it. Up until the 1950s, I understand this was common practice.
I have an aversion to swimming in water that I can’t see what’s sneaking up on me.
