After reading about the negative effects of chloramines, we’re guessing you’re wondering how to get rid of them. This is kind of a good news/bad news scenario. The bad news is that if you notice signs of chloramines in a public pool, there’s probably not much you can do. But if you have your own backyard swimming pool, thankfully, there are steps you can take to reduce the incidence of chloramines in it.
Recommended Pool Policies
In the past, we’ve recommended posting and enforcing safety policies for those who utilize your swimming pool; now we’re going to suggest some additional policies to help you keep your swimming pool free from contaminates that lead to the formation of chloramines — and all the health risks associated with them.
At the top of the list is requiring all pool users to use the restroom before they enter the pool. If children 10 and under are invited, you may want to set a timer for hourly “potty breaks.” An additional suggestion regarding policies is to strictly prohibit anyone who’s had diarrhea within the past 24 hours from using your pool.
A third very important step you can take in order to keep contaminants at bay and reduce the incidence of chloramines is to require pool users to take quick showers before entering the water. (They don’t have to necessarily wash their hair and bodies with soap and shampoo; even just rinsing off will improve the situation.) You can make this step less cumbersome by having an outdoor spigot near the location of your pool.
A fourth suggested policy is to ask those with long hair to wear a swim cap or to at least secure their hair in some way. (In addition to improving the overall healthy environment of your swimming pool, the third and fourth policies we recommend will also help pool participants to lessen the damaging effects of pool chemicals on their hair.)
Added Precautions for Little Swimmers
If you have any family members or friends who are young enough to require diapers, some extra precautions may be in order. According to some studies, swim diapers aren’t as helpful as many people think, as far as keeping bacteria from entering pool water. In fact, it only takes a few minutes for germs such as Crypto to leak into the water.
In order to reduce such diarrhea-causing RWIs, we suggest you remind parents to check the diapers of their little ones frequently and to change them someplace other than the area immediately surrounding the swimming pool. You’ll want to be sure to communicate with parents where diaper changing may take place and outfit that space with a receptacle appropriate for dirty diapers as well as a hand-washing station.
Just like safety policies, these “pool rules” will benefit everyone who spends time in your pool but will only be as effective as you are at communicating and enforcing them.
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