During the first 50 of warm-up I spotted poop this morning. I confirmed it on the 2nd 50 and got out to tell the coach. Eventually they closed the pool, cleaned it out and threw in some chlorine directly in to the pool. But then they reopened about 30 min later. I was a bit shocked that they opened it so soon. The pool is a 50 meter x 25 yard pool so pretty big and they only threw in one 5 gal bucket of chlorine before letting us all back in. Does that sound right? If I remember my life guarding days right, poop means several hours of shutting down.
I was disappointed to have the workout suspended but I certainly didn't want to risk us getting sick, either.
Parents
Former Member
So, um, just thinking about this. In an open water swim, such as a lake or an ocean, how much "poop" particulate matter do you think is floating around out there. Whales poop, birds poop, fish evacuate, heck even starfish let go daily, not to mention all the wild animals that defecate upstream to our lakes. Then there is the rather large sewage dump from our cities and towns, not to mention the groundwater contamination from the septic systems of houses that line the lakes. Of course, fecal contamination is likely the least of the problem. PCBs, murcury, and various industrial solvents are dumped daily into our sewage systems, and everything finds its way to the sea eventually.
Considering all that, I would think that cleaning up the visible fecal matter, boosting the chlorine count in the pool and allowing ample dilution time would be quite effective. Many (most?) people have a fair bit of fecal contamination on their back-side to start with, all of which is washed off into the pool within the first few minutes of their swim. Somethings are best just not thought about.
So, um, just thinking about this. In an open water swim, such as a lake or an ocean, how much "poop" particulate matter do you think is floating around out there. Whales poop, birds poop, fish evacuate, heck even starfish let go daily, not to mention all the wild animals that defecate upstream to our lakes. Then there is the rather large sewage dump from our cities and towns, not to mention the groundwater contamination from the septic systems of houses that line the lakes. Of course, fecal contamination is likely the least of the problem. PCBs, murcury, and various industrial solvents are dumped daily into our sewage systems, and everything finds its way to the sea eventually.
Considering all that, I would think that cleaning up the visible fecal matter, boosting the chlorine count in the pool and allowing ample dilution time would be quite effective. Many (most?) people have a fair bit of fecal contamination on their back-side to start with, all of which is washed off into the pool within the first few minutes of their swim. Somethings are best just not thought about.
