New study reveals high level of urine content in swimming pools
03 Mar 2017
In a shocking revelation, a new study has highlighted that swimmers in an Olympic-sized pool could be surrounded by up to 50 gallons of urine.
Scientists used an artificial sweetener found in processed food to determine the content of urine in swimming pool water.
The tests revealed a 91,500-gallon pool contained 5.8 gallons of urine while the urine content in an 183,000-gallon pool, a third the size of an Olympic pool, was as high as around 17 gallons.
Although Olympic swimmers had admitted doing it and 19 per cent of adults had admitted to urinating in a pool at least once, the practice was not acceptable.
The average urine excretion per swimmer in pools had been found to be approximately 70 ml.
According to Dr Xing-Fang Li from the University of Alberta, Canada, the evidence pointed to the need for improved understanding of pool chemistry to increase awareness and educate the public on the importance of swimming hygiene practices.
The tests were conducted on 250 water samples from 31 actively used pools and hot tubs in two Canadian cities. Over 90 samples of clean tap water used to initially fill the basins.
The Guardian reported citing Lindsay Blackstock, a graduate student at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, and lead author, ''Our study provides additional evidence that people are indeed urinating in public pools and hot tubs.''
Though the study did not focus on the number of swimmers relieving themselves thus, rather than using changing rooms, the results suggested that the urine content was being topped up several times each day.
''We did not monitor the number of pool users over the three week time period ... so there is no way we could estimate the number of individual urination events per day,'' said Blackstock.
