How to protect your pool or hot tub from Water Borne Illness

What is Water Borne illness and how do we protect ourselves from them?

When owning a pool or hot tub it is our responsibility to keep the swimmers safe from harm, whether it is a life saving safety procedure or to keep our swimmers safe from diseases. Doing these things only takes a few minutes a week to do, and provides hours of safe entertainment for your friends and family.

There are many types of Water Borne illness that can occur. Lists of a few are:

1) Cryptosporidium- this effects People who swim regularly in pools with not enough sanitation (Certain strains of Cryptosporidium are chlorine-resistant). This means that you may require a lot of chlorine to kill the illness just to start. There are a few other ways, one is diatomaceous earth.

2) E Coli- This water Bourne illness can be transferred very easily. It only takes one swimmer that isn’t feeling well to get the e coli in the pool water. It just simply washes of the swimmer that is
sick and into your water. It is very important to shock your pool.

3) Giardia- This illness will live inside the intestines for weeks. This is a parasite and can be passed on by contact or consuming water that that has been affected. This is passed easily from the ill swimmer.

4) Norovirus- can be transmitted through indirect contact from pool water and food. Norovirus has been responsible for many deaths.

5) Pseudomonas dermatitis-   or Pseudomonas aeruginosa  otherwise known as hot tub rash. Because hot tubs have warmer water than pools, chlorine or other disinfectants used to kill germs (like Pseudomonas aeruginosa) break down faster. This can increase the risk of hot tub rash infection for swimmers.

To reduce the risk of hot tub rash:

• Remove your swimsuit and shower with soap after getting out of the water.
• Clean your swimsuit after getting out of the water.
• Ask your pool/hot tub operator if disinfectant (for example, chlorine) and pH levels are checked at least twice per day—hot tubs and pools with good disinfectant and pH control are less likely to spread germs.Use your BioGuard test strips to check the pool or hot tub yourself for adequate disinfectant (chlorine or bromine) levels.

All these illness can be prevented with proper water balance and the proper chlorine/Bromine sanitizer amounts. BioGuard Smart Silk sticks or Bioguard Silk Sticks. If you are using bromine, Bioguard has 2 sizes of Bromine tabs, this is the best at keeping you and your swimmers safe. If you bring your water sample into us at R&R pools, we will gladly test it monthly to ensure your water balance is good and to make sure you have the proper amount of chlorine and free chlorine in your pool water. We strongly recommend that you always keep a close eye on your chlorine levels. If you are having a party or a few people over it is always best to shock your pool immediately after any get together. An Angry Egg by Bioguard is also a great thing to have on hand at all times. It will give you that quick fix of shocking and clarifying your pool all at once. we can’t stress enough how important it is to shock you pool or hot tub on a regular weekly basis for proper decontamination. Bioguard has a few types of shocks available depending on your pool type and filter system.

Swimming pool chlorination guidelines and regulations vary across provinces and territories in Canada. Nova Scotia we reguire a 1-3 ppm in a swimming pool to keep your swimmers safe.

Please contact our office you have any questions or concerns about your water chemistry. Don’t forget to shock you pool and hot tub weekly!