Some dude back there on page one told me to quit being so paranoid and just swim.
 
Serious good and respected advice about life in general and appreciate the feedback. You are right.
Yet to overcome PTSD from a pool in Lincoln City, Oregon however.
 
Was doing the under water swim the length of the pool without surfacing or taking a breath challenge.
 
About  three fourths of the way, was caught in the face by a slime mask. About the size of a dinner plate. Mucous and blood blobs and other black clots. Someone had coughed up half of a lung in the pool, floating around for an appropriate recipient. I just happened to be in the way.
 
All for water aerobics and aquatic exercise. Just never able to go into a public pool after that. Others may have more better experiences.
 
John
 

Pool test kits for chlorine and pH are available fairly cheaply from the pool supply and hardware stores. If you have any doubts, you can always check it yourself. It is very easy to do. The safe limits for chlorine and pH are published with the test kits.
 
Some pools I will not go near. If it is an outdoor pool and you get a strong whiff of chlorine then pass on it. It is likely more chloramine (chlorine and ammonia from pee) than chlorine. Another indication is if the pool looks 'flat'. If it is a little milky and the refracted colors seem dull then there are issue with it. If you see a dog in the pool then that is another warning sign. A dog will sap the chlorine.
 
All-in-all it depends on who is treating it. If they are shocking correctly, at least once per week, it should be ok but that does depend on the traffic. The larger public pools and private pools, like at the YMCA, are probably safe. At that time in the county I was living all the public pools had to have an operator that was certified by the health dept. The county would also do spot checks. We also had to submit our pool logs once per month. I think this is fairly common now.

JohnKenn
Some dude back there on page one told me to quit being so paranoid and just swim.
 
Serious good and respected advice about life in general and appreciate the feedback. You are right.
Yet to overcome PTSD from a pool in Lincoln City, Oregon however.
 
Was doing the under water swim the length of the pool without surfacing or taking a breath challenge.
 
About  three fourths of the way, was caught in the face by a slime mask. About the size of a dinner plate. Mucous and blood blobs and other black clots. Someone had coughed up half of a lung in the pool, floating around for an appropriate recipient. I just happened to be in the way.
 
All for water aerobics and aquatic exercise. Just never able to go into a public pool after that. Others may have more better experiences.
 
John
 

Years ago I was swimming in a public pool and felt something come loose in my ear. The swishing of the water over my ears as I swam had dislodged a large, dark brown lump of ear wax. I managed to pull it out and had it in the palm of my hand, fascinated, as I waded through the shallow end to exit the pool. The looks on people's faces. They might not have guessed it was wax. I think I put a few people off public pools that day. 

sharke
 
 
Years ago I was swimming in a public pool and felt something come loose in my ear. The swishing of the water over my ears as I swam had dislodged a large, dark brown lump of ear wax. I managed to pull it out and had it in the palm of my hand, fascinated, as I waded through the shallow end to exit the pool. The looks on people's faces. They might not have guessed it was wax. I think I put a few people off public pools that day. 

 Inbetweeners 2 water slide moment ? 

Thanks DrLumen for an accurate statement about what is going on in the pools.
 
In defense of Sharke, the chloramines in the pool at question come in 3 distinct flavors (egghead chemistry stuff of little concern...) Depends on how aggressive the chlorine can alter the ammonia in the pool. Means how much **** and piss and sweat in the pool relative to the amount of chlorine in there to kill off the filth. Greater density of the ingredients around if you or someone next to you has just emptied bladder or bowels into the closed collective swim space. The macho grade tri amines are definitely suspected as being cancer causing.
 
Not to worry about dropping dead before you get back to the locker room however.
 
These chemicals do cause irritation of the eyes and lungs. Like DrLumen said, the smell of chlorine in the pool is not the chlorine additive but the chlorine and ammonia mix byproduct. This can exacerbate asthma or breathing difficulties in prone individuals.
 
I'd guess that for a healthy individual, the benefit of a good aquatic workout would be greater than the health risk imposed by swimming through chlorinated urine and feces. Most of us swam in public pools and survived to adulthood with little more than red eyes for awhile after.
 
John
 
 

Exactly John. I spent a good part of my youth in pools and I survived albeit with red eyes and a case of swimmers ear.
 
The only real concern from a pool is drowning. In a like vein, I'll take a pool over a river or lake any day. There are some real nasties possible in lakes, ponds, rivers... Brain eating kinda things.
 
A guy recently died after swimming in the gulf. Granted he had a fresh tattoo and was acting ten-foot-tall and bulletproof but he did die from an infection.
http://www.today.com/heal...g-fresh-tattoo-t112381