Doctor says that there’s 1 to 3 ounces of pee—per person—in a public pool

With summer just around the corner, many parents are thinking about taking their kids to the pool to cool off from the heat. If you don’t have a private pool in your backyard, chances are you’ll take your family to a public pool. There’s bound to be one around no matter where you are!

But one doctor in Dayton, Ohio says that public pools may be bad for your health. According to Local12, Dr. Anessa Alappatt says that, while the chlorine in pools is meant to kill germs, diluting the pool water with more germs makes the chlorine less effective.

The result? There may be, on average, one to three ounces of urine per person in the pool. Gross!

She added, “The odor that you smell in a public pool, is not the chlorine, but it’s the chlorine reacting with all the urine in the pool.”

We had no idea!

Furthermore, 30 to 40 percent of adults admit to urinating in the pool, which makes for a lot of pee in any pool on any given day, especially if there’s a lot of people using it. Dr. Alappatt also says that, while most bacteria from urine is killed within a few seconds, bacteria from poop can take up to seven days to be killed.

So while it may still be relatively safe to use the public pool, it’s always wise to shower afterward!

Do you and your family use the public pool in the summer months? Were you surprised by the findings of this doctor? Please share to let others know of this surprising fact!