# Peein' In the Pool. **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/21 "2013-01-23T16:30:41Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Whatever you do, don’t do it from the diving platform! Especially you! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/22 "2013-01-23T16:59:56Z")
- Pee is sterile in healthy people; however, people are not always healthy. (And yes, you can have bladder/urinary tract infections without necessarily knowing it, having both had one of these “stealth” infections myself, and having to notify a few different unknowing women of their own positive results for UTIs as well.) - Pee that is sterile only remains such while enclosed in your uninfected bladder. Once it’s peed out, all bets are off. - Pools have chemicals for a reason, to keep them clean and fit for swimming in. People get pool water in their eyes, in their mouths, accidentally swallow some, etc. It’s bad enough to ingest this, without also ingesting the urine and other things that people may intentionally or unknowingly deposit in the pool. Lax pool caretakers may not frequently test the water and correct the situation with proper dosing of pool chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/23 "2013-01-23T17:21:09Z")
> [@sinjin](#): > > My daughter was an NCAA swimmer. She said all of the swimmers and divers wee’d in the pool.:eek: We don’t have to resort to hearsay. Ryan Lochte himself said in an interview last year that all Olympic swimmers pee in the pool. I think he specified though that they pee in the warmup pool, not in the actual competition pool, because it’s not like you have much opportunity there. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/24 "2013-01-23T17:53:05Z")
If you pee hard enough it might even give you a propulsive advantage. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/25 "2013-01-23T18:28:28Z")
There really is a GQ answer to this question, and it has to do with chemistry. Chlorine works to disinfect pools precisely because it attacks organic molecules. Microorganisms don’t have good defenses like us multicellular guys, and so they are easily killed. Well, urine is chock full of organic molecules that react with chlorine. This causes two problems. First, some of these reactions turn chlorine into chloramines. These are largely responsible for the chlorine smell and irritation some people complain about with pools. Second, as you use up chlorine breaking down urine molecules, you now have less chlorine available to kill microorganisms. Once chlorine falls below certain levels, it stops being effective… and any excess urine turns out to be a great food source for microorganisms. (PS: if you’re worried about squickiness, then do NOT look up how much people sweat in a pool.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/26 "2013-01-23T18:31:02Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Once chlorine falls below certain levels, it stops being effective… and any excess urine turns out to be a great food source for microorganisms. So, while urine might be sterile as it is expelled from your body, a pool of urine is not likely to remain sterile. Is that it? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/27 "2013-01-23T18:34:19Z")
> [@steviep24](#): > > I don’t use public pools but everyone pees in the ocean or lake. 😉 W.C. Fields once said he never drank water because “fish fuck in it.” ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/28 "2013-01-23T18:41:54Z")
> [@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. > > 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:). I don’t think a couple people make much of a difference either, but who decides who those couple people will be? Does every 20th patron get a special yellow bracelet when they are admitted? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/29 "2013-01-23T18:51:03Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Well, urine is chock full of organic molecules that react with chlorine. This causes two problems. First, some of these reactions turn chlorine into chloramines. These are largely responsible for the chlorine smell … ::raises hand:: So, professor — why do I smell a very, very strong chlorine smell in my bathroom when I fill up the jaccuzzi tub? Nobody’s peeing it it; I’m just filling it. Same deal in the kitchen the other day; I filled the stockpot with water to make a giant batch of steel-cut oats and … pool smell. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/30 "2013-01-23T18:54:33Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > I don’t think a couple people make much of a difference either, but who decides who those couple people will be? Does every 20th patron get a special yellow bracelet when they are admitted? It’s a lot simpler to post a sign saying it’s prohibited for everyone to pee in the pool, than to say that only the first two people are allowed to pee and then everyone else has to hold it.😉 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/31 "2013-01-23T19:12:08Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > ::raises hand:: So, professor — why do I smell a very, very strong chlorine smell in my bathroom when I fill up the jaccuzzi tub? Nobody’s peeing it it; I’m just filling it. Same deal in the kitchen the other day; I filled the stockpot with water to make a giant batch of steel-cut oats and … pool smell. I’m not the professor, but it’s probably because of way your city water is treated. My grandparents water in a small city always had a chlorine smell. Some water supplies will have more than others, and different localities do different treatments. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/32 "2013-01-23T19:27:36Z")
Well, he said it was because of the pee. If my local pools are filled with the same water as my stockpot, they’d smell like my kitchen because of how the water is treated with chlorine, not because of the chemical reaction between chlorine and pee. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/33 "2013-01-23T20:32:54Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > 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. Do you mind if I slash you with this bucket of pure water? Except that in the pool, everyone is already wet. So your comparison is bogus. It’s mostly the squick factor, but honestly, it can screw up the chemical balance and generate a smell if too many people do it. Best get out of the OOL to P. But getting out of the ocean to use the urinal is silly. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/34 "2013-01-23T20:54:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [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” … I [created](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15930048) a thread to ask about specific health consequences of urinating in a pool. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/35 "2013-01-23T20:57:15Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I think he specified though that they pee in the warmup pool I always wondered why it was called the warmup pool. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/36 "2013-01-23T21:03:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Ryan Lochte himself said in an interview last year that all Olympic swimmers pee in the pool. I think he specified though that they pee in the warmup pool… Oh to drop a handfull of potassium permanganate in right behind him after he enters. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/37 "2013-01-23T21:10:08Z")
So, nobody yet has started singing, “Pee-in in the pool… I’m pee-in in the pool…”? We had a small pool when I was a kid, and it was a combination of squick and humor that made my mother put up a sign for the neighborhood kids: “Don’t pee in our pool - we don’t swim in your toilet.” ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/38 "2013-01-23T21:10:17Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > ::raises hand:: So, professor — why do I smell a very, very strong chlorine smell in my bathroom when I fill up the jaccuzzi tub? Nobody’s peeing it it; I’m just filling it. Same deal in the kitchen the other day; I filled the stockpot with water to make a giant batch of steel-cut oats and … pool smell. Many municipal water supplies use chloramines for treatment because they are longer-lasting that chlorine itself. Here’s an [overview from Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine#Uses_in_water_treatment) that also references why they’re not good in swimming pools. Chloramines aren’t only created from urine. Pretty much any nitrogen-bearing compound has the potential to react with chlorine that way, but urine is going to be your leading source of nitrogen in a pool. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/39 "2013-01-23T21:16:10Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > So, while urine might be sterile as it is expelled from your body, a pool of urine is not likely to remain sterile. Is that it? Yeah, basically. The urine reduces the levels of chlorine by reacting with it, and then also provides a great growth medium for microorganisms. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105/40 "2013-01-24T00:46:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [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 **Belated Response:** No, actually the discussion is going just the way I wanted it to anyways. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peein-in-the-pool/648105.md?page=3)