E. coli bacteria thrive in public swimming pools

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Here’s a good reason why it’s better to take a shower at home than wade in public swimming pools.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of public swimming pools in Atlanta are inhabited by E. coli bacteria, the same bacteria found in feces.

Although the federal agency cannot pinpoint the exact reason for the occurrence of fecal bacteria, they surmise that feces may either be washed off a swimmer’s body or somebody had a bowel movement in the pools. The presence of fecal matter in the pools could also be a result of unhygienic habits of most swimmers—swimming with diapered babies who are not toilet trained and neglecting to take a shower (with soap!) before diving in the waters. Furthermore, people who suffer from diarrhea increase the risk of water contamination. While regular poop in the waters may seem gross, it is the disease-carrying diarrhea that poses threat for swimmers. The skinny-dippers’ urine and sweat inhibit the chlorine’s ability to clean the water.

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Michele Hlavsa, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Swimming Program, has called for people to practice good hygiene when using public swimming pools. “It is time to stop treating the swimming pool as a toilet,” she says. She also stresses out the importance of taking a shower, considering that average people carry .14 grams of feces on their rear end. As more and more swimmers introduce this amount of feces in the waters, E. coli may soon thrive.

As a rule of thumb for those who plan to dip in public swimming pools despite the “shitty” factor, never swallow the water. “Basically, these pools are big bathtubs we all share together,” says the public health official.

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