Donya Betancourt, Pediatrician, drdonya@hotmail.com
Swimming and other recreational activities in the water are always fun for children; especially on hot and sunny days. However, the blue and smooth water of the swimming pool is not as clear as it looks.
There are diseases that can be caused by dirty pool water.
The common term for such a disease is a Recreation Water Illness (RWI). This is an illness contracted from swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers or oceans. Such illnesses can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including skin, ear, respiratory, eye and wound infections.
The most commonly reported RWI is diarrhea. Let's start with this illness. Anybody can be contaminated by contact with a bather who is ill with diarrhea, as the germs he/she carries can contaminate the water. On average, people have about 0.14 grams of residue feces on their bottoms which, when rinsed off, can contaminate recreational water.
So, if someone swallows water that has been contaminated with feces, he/she may become sick. Not only with diarrhea but many other RWIs as well, such as eye, skin, ear and respiratory infections which are caused by water germs.
If the disinfectant is not maintained at the appropriate level, these germs can cause illness when swimmers breathe, or have contact with contaminated water.
Chlorine takes longer to kill some germs such as cryptosporidium, which can survive for days even in a properly disinfected pool. The chlorine needs to be checked regularly because sunlight, dirt, debris and material from swimmers' bodies can reduce chlorine levels in pool water.
What is pH and why is it important? What meant by pH is the acid base balance of water and there are two reasons why it is important -- one is that the germ-killing power of chlorine varies with the pH level. Second, a swimmer's body has a pH of between 7.2 and 7.8, so if the pool water isn't kept in this range then swimmers will start to feel eye and skin irritations. As I said earlier, the best way to kill germs is by routinely measuring and adjusting chlorine and pH levels. It is also important that swimmers abide by healthy swimming behavior (don't swim when ill with diarrhea, don't swallow pool water, take frequent bathroom breaks and practice good hygiene).
Combining healthy swimming behavior with good chlorine and pH control will reduce the spread of RWIs.
In addition to swimming pools, swimming in contaminated hot tubs, oceans, lakes and rivers, and playing in decorative water fountains, can also spread RWIs.
Hot tubs can cause skin infections like hot tub rash because chlorine and other disinfectants evaporate more quickly at higher temperatures. ""Hot tub rash"" can also occur in pools and at the lake or beach.
Children, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems can suffer from more severe illnesses if infected.
Tips for healthy swimming
Don't swim when you have diarrhea. This is especially important for kids in diapers. You can spread the germs into the water and make other people sick.
Don't swallow the pool water. In fact, try your best to avoid even getting water in your mouth.
Practice good hygiene. Take a shower before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water. Take your kids on bathroom breaks and check diapers often.
Change diapers in the bathroom and not at poolside. Germs can spread to surfaces and objects in and around the pool and spread illness.
Wash your child thoroughly (especially the rear end) with soap and water before swimming. We all have invisible amounts of fecal matter on our bottoms that end up in the pool. The responsibility for preventing RWIs does not fall on pool staff alone. Swimmers need to be educated about the necessary behavior changes that they need to make in order to reduce the spread of RWIs.
