# pissing in the pool. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2000, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506 "2000-06-15T18:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/41 "2019-07-09T06:19:19Z")
> [@Spam](#): > > Yeah but what about the 2 liters of sweat your body can produce in an hourly basis? That doubles the amount of pee you could excrete at the very least, for most people it triples the amount they excrete on an hourly basis. And since pee is like 90% water and 10% trichloramines and other stuff that is also found in sweat it’s really no problem. I bet people have peed in whatever pool u/your relatives own way more than you’d expect. This thread was started in 2000. The poster you replied to hasn’t been here in 18 years and isn’t likely to respond. Most of the other posters in this thread are also long-gone. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/42 "2019-07-09T11:47:28Z")
When I was a little girl, sure. Not lately. If the pool you’re in has kids jumping around in it, you’re swimming in a pool with pee, no question. The only time I’ve been grossed out by water in my mouth was when it was Chicago River water. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/43 "2019-07-09T12:32:56Z")
I have read (here?) that the average public swimming pool contains 12 gallons (_ **twelve gallons!** _) of urine. And the only way to remove it is to completely drain and clean the pool and replace with clean water. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/44 "2019-07-09T12:38:06Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > This thread was started in 2000. The poster you replied to hasn’t been here in 18 years and isn’t likely to respond. Most of the other posters in this thread are also long-gone. I wondered how many replies it would get before someone pointed that out. But since its crawled out of the grave ----- I have never been in a pool (I am at best a very poor river/pond swimmer) but I wouldn’t have any issues with it. Figuring the average chemical cocktail in the average pool it may be a “manners thing” but I don’t know as it would bother me any. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/45 "2019-07-09T12:46:40Z")
Yeah, you cannot filter out urine. I never pee in a pool, but I do in the ocean. The fish are peeing, the birds overhead are shitting and what can my half liter of urine add to that? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/46 "2019-07-09T12:54:26Z")
There’s a joke that goes: “I peed in the deep end of a pool, and the lifeguard yelled at me so loud I almost fell in.” I have peed in a pool as a kid. Realistically, a few ounces of pee in thousands of gallons of water is diluted so much as to be undetectable. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/47 "2019-07-09T13:24:12Z")
What? No SCUBA divers here? Peeing inside a full-body 1.5mm wet suit is definitely an experience to be shared (descriptively) with others, whether you’re in a pool, quarry, lake, river, or ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/48 "2019-07-09T14:08:26Z")
Wow. Nacho4Sara. There’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/49 "2019-07-09T15:50:41Z")
Not as an Adult in a pool - in a lake yeah. I keep a hot tub clean with chemicals and pee is one of the things they have to fight against and that is what releases the chlorine smell. We got a free overnight stay at a nice hotel and went to check out the pool. It was wall to wall kids, no way I was going swimming. Same at our condo pool in Maui where we rented a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/50 "2019-07-09T16:02:20Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > When I was a little girl, sure. Not lately. If the pool you’re in has kids jumping around in it, you’re swimming in a pool with pee, no question. > > The only time I’ve been grossed out by water in my mouth was when it was Chicago River water. I’d be pretty grossed out if I got public pool water in my mouth. I have no idea how people willingly go into those things. [CDC issues warning on fecal parasite in swimming pools.](https://abc7.com/health/cdc-issues-warning-on-fecal-parasite-in-swimming-pools/5372953/) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/51 "2019-07-09T16:37:51Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I have read (here?) that the average public swimming pool contains 12 gallons (_ **twelve gallons!** _) of urine. And the only way to remove it is to completely drain and clean the pool and replace with clean water. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Yeah, you cannot filter out urine. I never pee in a pool, but I do in the ocean. The fish are peeing, the birds overhead are shitting and what can my half liter of urine add to that? A swimming pool is actually a mini water treatment plant. The chlorine and other chemicals used to treat pools on a daily basis are there to sanitize and modify the water, not for drinking, but for being safe enough to expose your body to and primarily get the pH at a similar level as your eyes. Many municipalities treat wastewater streams and clean them enough to put the water back into the drinking supply. Don’t get bugged out about urine in the water. However, the more urine in the pool, the more chemicals needed to treat it. So be courteous and use the restroom. ---
**Author:** ![Spam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Spam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spam)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/52 "2019-07-09T21:32:06Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > This thread was started in 2000. The poster you replied to hasn’t been here in 18 years and isn’t likely to respond. Most of the other posters in this thread are also long-gone. That doesn’t matter to me as long as _Some_ people see this… funny how old this is tho lol ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/53 "2019-07-10T00:27:51Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > What? No SCUBA divers here? Peeing inside a full-body 1.5mm wet suit is definitely an experience to be shared (descriptively) with others, whether you’re in a pool, quarry, lake, river, or ocean. I’ll let you guess. I was a Divemaster who worked in college ferrying students from the dock to the buoyancy lines and down to the instructors in a quarry in southern Indiana in the fall. Lather, rinse repeat for hours. There may have been a few times when the booster of 98.6 degrees in the suit really helped. My old wet suit got stolen and insurance replaced it with a very nice farmer John. I only wore it a few times before deciding I was done with cold water diving. I recently traded it with someone who was looking for wet suits. I let her know it had “never been peed in.” She was very confused because she just wanted it to open up an neighborhood pool early in the spring and had no clue about this practice. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/54 "2019-07-10T01:20:53Z")
I will absolutely never, ever, ever swim in a public pool again. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/55 "2019-07-10T02:29:50Z")
For six months prior to my knee surgery, I worked out every day in a pool primarily for seniors or people with pre-op or post-op health issues. I couldn’t help thinking of all the incontinence. Yeah, lots of chorine. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/56 "2019-07-10T05:51:57Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I have read (here?) that the average public swimming pool contains 12 gallons (_ **twelve gallons!** _) of urine. For an Olympic pool, that’s one part in 55,000; for a typical public pool, about one part in 27,500. Completely trivial and essentially undetectable without chemical analysis. And urine itself is sterile. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/57 "2019-07-10T11:55:34Z")
I was a competitive swimmer from the age of 6 until 19. Once I reached the national level of competition we were practicing 5- 6 hours a day. At the height of training we were typically swimming between 15,000 and 20,000 yards a day (8.5 to 11.3 miles) a day. Very rarely did anyone ever leave practice to go to the bathroom (usually #2)…figure it out yourself. Once in a LONG race 1650 yards (indoor short course) my speedo became untied, just kicked it off and finished the race. Yes I won and yes thankfully a towel was handed to me before exiting the pool, cold water and shrinkage you know. (competition pools are typically kept pretty cool) Ask Michael Phelps if he ever peed in the pool. I guarantee I know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/58 "2019-07-10T13:33:53Z")
The revival of this thread reminds me of [Marie Joseph](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/murky-water-hid-dead-body-in-pool-for-2-days/), who, a few years ago, was found dead at the bottom of a public pool. She had been there over two days. Wanna go swimmin’? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/59 "2019-07-10T14:49:54Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > The revival of this thread reminds me of [Marie Joseph](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/murky-water-hid-dead-body-in-pool-for-2-days/), who, a few years ago, was found dead at the bottom of a public pool. She had been there over two days. > > Wanna go swimmin’? That is the one thing that could make me want to go swimming. In all my years of hunting and fishing I’ve never found anything cool like a dead body. At least not a human one. ☹ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506/60 "2019-07-10T15:03:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > For an Olympic pool, that’s one part in 55,000; for a typical public pool, about one part in 27,500. Completely trivial and essentially undetectable without chemical analysis. And urine itself is sterile. [That is an urban myth.](https://www.popsci.com/urine-sterile-drinking-pee/) Although the bacteria present in urine aren’t necessarily harmful. > [@](#): > > Urine ain’t sterile, friends, and neither is any part of you. > > Microbes are an indelible part of our bodies and the world around us. Not even the uterus and placenta, long thought to enshroud fetuses in sterile envelopes during gestation, are actually germ-free zones. They contain complex, varied microbial colonies—microbiomes—that help prepare us for the real world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pissing-in-the-pool/22506.md?page=4)