# Peein' In the Pool.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 23, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105 "2013-01-23T14:25:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/1 "2013-01-23T14:25:11Z")
[Dear Cecil:]
True story. When I was still a little kid, say about 9 or 10, my family and I would go to a public swimming pool in a nearby suburb. One time while there, I was in the shallow end, slowly walking across the pool. Then I paused, ever so briefly, and a look of utter contentment came over me. That is when a nearby life guard saw me and yelled, “Hey! No peeing in the pool!”
But why can’t you pee in a public pool? The rules are usu. clearly posted telling you not to. But pee in sterile. What’s the worst that could happen if one or two people occassionally peed in the pool? I’m not joking and I’m not being naive here. I really wonder about this. (Don’t worry though, I haven’t even been in a pool for a while;).)
Well:)?
[Jim B.]
Well, the bracketed material is for Mr. Adams. Now, I submit this question to the rest of you on these boards:)…
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/2 "2013-01-23T14:27:08Z")
I don’t know the real answer but I suspect it has more to do with squick than hygiene.
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/3 "2013-01-23T14:30:56Z")
I do know it interacts with the chlorine, and if a pool has a strong chlorine fumes, it might be that there’s more urine than usual in it.
Great, now I’m singing “Twisting By The Pool”, but with a different verb:
_Peein’ in the pool / I’m a peein’ fool…_
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/4 "2013-01-23T14:42:37Z")
There’s nothing wrong with the occasional pee; I think people are kidding themselves if they don’t think they’re jumping into a public pool that’s at least some part urine. However, if we say “No peeing in the pool” and we assume that some people are going to pee in it anyway, what happens if we say, “Fine, you can pee in the pool”? It becomes a toilet.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/5 "2013-01-23T14:46:48Z")
Let’s move this over to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/6 "2013-01-23T14:48:01Z")
Regarding the OP, exactly what concentration of urine would you be willing to swim in?
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### Author:  [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/7 "2013-01-23T14:53:02Z")
I don’t use public pools but everyone pees in the ocean or lake. 😉
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### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/8 "2013-01-23T14:53:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Regarding the OP, exactly what concentration of urine would you be willing to swim in?
I assume you’re joking. But again, as I said, I don’t think one or two people peeing would make that much difference.
Also, far be it from me to question a moderator:). But why does this belong in IMHO? It’s clearly a question. (I even submitted it to Cecil.) Just wondering:).
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### Author:  [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/9 "2013-01-23T15:02:42Z")
Unlike in a lake, if you’re in some sorts of pool, especially in the shallow end, if you’re peeing, the pee actually shows up in the water around you. So people will know what you’re up to.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/10 "2013-01-23T15:07:25Z")
> [@steviep24](#):
>
> I don’t use public pools but everyone pees in the ocean or lake. 😉
My gf makes fun of me because I get out of the ocean and pee in the mensroom.
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/11 "2013-01-23T15:07:40Z")
Whatever you do, don’t do it from the diving platform!
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### Author:  [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/12 "2013-01-23T15:16:52Z")
OP, would you like it if someone else peed in the pool while you were in it?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/13 "2013-01-23T15:20:17Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#):
>
> I assume you’re joking. But again, as I said, I don’t think one or two people peeing would make that much difference.
No, it’s a serious question from me as a poster. If it’s perfectly OK to pee in the pool, why do you think only one or two people will do so? How many people peeing in the pool would you regard being a problem? Ten? One hundred?
> [@](#):
>
> Also, far be it from me to question a moderator:). But why does this belong in IMHO? It’s clearly a question. (I even submitted it to Cecil.) Just wondering:).
The way your question is phrased doesn’t lend itself to a strictly factual answer. When you say “what’s the worst that can happen?”, you seem to extend the question beyond health risks. Most of us think that swimming in pee or ingesting someone else’s urine is something to be avoided, no matter how sterile it might be.
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### Author:  [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/14 "2013-01-23T15:29:15Z")
> [@GreenElf](#):
>
> OP, would you like it if someone else peed in the pool while you were in it?
Let’s amp this up a a notch. OP, do you mind if I pee on you? After all, my pee is sterile. Sterile’s got nothing to do with. FWIW, I wouldn’t swim in a pool of alcohol either.
No? If I dilute my pee 1:1 with water, can I splash it on you? 2:1? 100:1? One drop of pee to a million gallons? Yes? OK, so now we’ve established it’s a matter of proportion.
The reality is, I think everybody accepts that there is probably some pee in a pool; but it only works if you pretend the water is pristine.
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### Author:  [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/15 "2013-01-23T15:47:02Z")
> [@Enright3](#):
>
> The reality is, I think everybody accepts that there is probably some pee in a pool; but it only works if you pretend the water is pristine.
I accept that there’s pee from toddlers, but I don’t accept adults peeing in a public pool for convenience. If that’s what they in fact do, there’s one more reason for me not to visit the local public pool.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/16 "2013-01-23T15:52:08Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#):
>
> Also, far be it from me to question a moderator:). But why does this belong in IMHO? It’s clearly a question. (I even submitted it to Cecil.) Just wondering:).
[Moderating]
If you want, you can open a new thread in GQ restricted to “what are the actual health consequences of a small amount of urine in a public pool” and I’ll close this one. Asking “What’s the worst that can happen” I think is too broad for GQ, at least for a question like this.
But I think it’s just as well leaving it in IMHO, since people can still post regarding the more specific question.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/17 "2013-01-23T16:06:13Z")
> [@EmilyG](#):
>
> Unlike in a lake, if you’re in some sorts of pool, especially in the shallow end, if you’re peeing, the pee actually shows up in the water around you. So people will know what you’re up to.
Yeah, because they put a chemical in the pool that interacts with urine and makes a purple line that will follow you around the pool and everybody will know you pee’d.
At least that’s what my cousins told me when I was little…
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/18 "2013-01-23T16:23:57Z")
I never understood that lame excuse: “after all, pee is sterile!” So what? Lots of things are sterile that you wouldn’t want in or on your body. Carbon monoxide is sterile. Hydrochloric acid is sterile. Tabasco Sauce is sterile. You still wouldn’t want to swim in any of them.
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/19 "2013-01-23T16:26:45Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#):
>
> Yeah, because they put a chemical in the pool that interacts with urine and makes a purple line that will follow you around the pool and everybody will know you pee’d.
>
> At least that’s what my cousins told me when I was little…
Snopes page about this.
> **[FACT CHECK: Does a Urine-Revealing Pool Chemical Exist?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/piscine-of-the-crime/)**
>
> Can a chemical be added to swimming pools that will reveal the presence of urine and catch those who pee in the pool?
I recently watched the movie **Take This Waltz** and there is a scene where Michelle Williams’ character pees in a pool and it turns blue, so I guess there are some people who still believe this.
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### Author:  [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/20 "2013-01-23T16:29:06Z")
My daughter was an NCAA swimmer. She said all of the swimmers and divers wee’d in the pool.:eek:
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