Many people are worried about the corona virus & swimming pool safety. The corona virus pandemic has rapidly spread around the world infecting thousands of people and has disrupted our lives. You may be concerned about the health and wellbeing of your family in regards to the use of your swimming pool and spa or hot tub. People are asking the question – is it safe to swim in the pool and use the hot tub?
Yes, it is regarded as safe to use your swimming pool, spa or hot tub as the corona virus cannot survive in sanitized pool or spa water. It is proven that chlorine or bromine will kill all bacteria and viruses on contact. When you properly sanitize the pool or spa water with chlorine or bromine and correctly operate and maintain your filtration system the COVID-19 virus is inactivated and filtered from the pool water.
However, until the corona virus pandemic is over it’s highly recommended to maintain physical distancing between people to prevent the spread of the disease. Do not invite your friends or your kid’s friends over to swim in the pool. Try to minimize the number of people you invite into your home to avoid the spread of the disease.
Table of Contents
What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 is short for Corona Virus Disease – 2019.
The corona virus was discovered in China in the later part of 2019. Many believe it was not contained quickly enough by the Chinese health authorities resulting in a rapid spreading around the world by international travelers.
The COVID-19 virus is in the same family of viruses are the common cold and influenza viruses. However, COVID-19 is more severe and has a higher death rate than common influenza.
How is Corona Virus Spread between Persons?
The disease spreads from an infected person to another person by:
- airborne particles from coughing and sneezing
- touching contaminated surfaces then touching your face
- physical contact with an infected person
- sexual contact with an infected person
Corona Virus Symptoms
The most common symptoms are:
- tiredness
- fever
- dry cough
Less common symptoms are:
- sore throat
- headache
- loss of smell and/or taste
- aches & pains
- diarrhoea
- conjunctivitis
- skin rash
Serious symptoms are:
- chest pain
- difficulty breathing
- shortness of breath
- bluish lips or face
- difficulty speaking
- difficulty moving about
- confusion
If you have any serious symptoms seek medical treatment immediately. Call the doctor or hospital before you arrive to seek instructions.
If you have mild symptoms and are otherwise healthy stay home and contact your local doctor for advice. You may need to get a covid-19 test to verify that you have the disease. Wear a mask to reduce the spread of the disease.
Usually it takes 5 to 6 days from first infection for the symptoms to develop and become apparent in patients. It can take at least 14 days for the infection to pass and the patient to recover.
Corona Virus & Swimming Pool Safety
Can Corona Virus Spread in Pools and Hot Tubs?
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a statement about pool safety relating to corona virus.
“There is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread to humans through the use of pools and hot tubs. Proper operation, maintenance, and disinfection (e.g., with chlorine and bromine) of pools and hot tubs should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19.”
As long as you follow your normal pool maintenance and correctly sanitize and filter your pool water you don’t have anything to worry about.
Make sure you are regularly testing your pool water to ensure there is the correct level of free chlorine or bromine which will kill all bacteria and viruses.
Can Water Transmit Corona Virus?
The corona virus can survive in water, however, there is no evidence to date that COVID-19 is present in any drinking water source or transmitted through contaminated drinking water. The processes at water treatment facilities are sufficient to neutralize and remove all bacteria and viruses from drinking water supplies.
Corona Virus & Swimming Pool Safety at Home
Don’t Invite People to Your Home
Whether you allow people to swim in your pool is not the issue. The real issue is trying to maintain physical distancing from people and reduce your overall contact with people.
Try to stay at home and go out only when necessary to avoid contact with other people.
Don’t visit other people’s homes and don’t invite people to your home.
Your friends and relatives may have no symptoms of corona virus but be contagious because the symptoms don’t develop until 5 or 6 days after first infection. Also the symptoms can be very mild for some people so they don’t realize they have the virus.
Infected persons spread the virus by exhaling, coughing and sneezing airborne particles, touching objects contaminating the surface and physically touching other people.
When an infected person comes to your home they will shed viruses or touch surfaces leaving the virus on that surface. The virus can be active for several days before dying. Swimming in your pool water is not an issue as the water is sanitized but the infected person will be touching the pool ladder, surfaces around the pool, the pool gate and latch, and everywhere else they go in your home.
If an infected person visits your home the virus will be everywhere and you and your family will most likely become infected. They only to remove the virus from your home is to move out and wait 5 days then deep clean the whole house. You would need to go into quarantine for 14 days to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Does Biguanide Kill the Corona Virus in your Pool?
We are unsure whether biguanide has the same sanitizing effect of chlorine and bromine with regard to corona virus and pool safety. The advisory authorities around the world have stated that chlorine and bromine are effective against the corona virus but have nothing about other pool water sanitizers.
As you cannot use chlorine products with Biguanide in your pool or hot tub we suggest you conduct your own research with the sanitizer manufacturer.
How to Protect Yourself from Corona Virus
- If you are regularly swimming in your pool or using the hot tub shock the water more frequently with chlorine shock.
- It’s ok to use Chlorine shock in a hot tub or spa pool sanitized with bromine. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the product label. Do not use chlorine shock in a pool sanitized with biguanide, only use biguanide oxidizer.
- Do not allow anyone who is sick to swim in the pool or soak in the hot tub. They may just have a cold or influenza but you cannot know without testing them.
Frequent Cleaning
- Empty and clean your hot tub more frequently. If you empty your tub every 3 or 4 months, change the water every 2 months now. Clean the filter more frequently like every 2 weeks
Please read our post on How to Clean a Hot Tub
- Clean and maintain your swimming pool filtration system more frequently. Hose the filter element or backwash the filter more frequently. If the filter element is old replace it with a new one.
Please read our post on How to Clean a Swimming Pool Filter
Corona Virus & Swimming Pool Safety in Public Areas
- Avoid swimming or soaking in public pools and spas. When a public facility is correctly maintained and sanitized there should be no issue but how do we know for sure. Unless you test the water yourself and check their equipment and procedures you don’t know if it’s safe. If the public pool or spa smells like bleach or chlorine then it has too many chloramines in the water which means it is not correctly sanitized. There is not enough chlorine in the water when the pool smells. A correctly sanitized pool or spa should not have any smell at all.
- If you or any member of you household are sick stay at home. Try to socially isolate yourself from all others. Wear a mask to prevent the further spread of the disease. Contact your doctor for advice about what to do and whether you need to be tested for COVID-19.
- Keep yourself and family clean by frequently washing your hands, showering and changing your clothes every day, and regularly cleaning the surfaces in your house.
- Get your whole family the influenza vaccine for the flu season to protect your family from the flu. Ensure your family is up to date with all the other essential vaccinations. The last thing you want is to become ill with another disease and corona virus at the same time. Also the medical facilities are overworked as it is without having to treat people with influenza or some other disease.
Conclusion
I am not a public health officials and cannot give medical advice about corona virus and swimming pool safety. Please conduct your own research and consult with your local medical practitioner.
I don’t recommend swimming in public pools or spas because you cannot know if the pools have been adequately sanitized. Many apartment buildings and townhouse complexes have closed their swimming pools as a precaution due to the corona virus pandemic.
However, using your backyard swimming pool and spa for the personal enjoyment of your family is safe as long as you are correctly sanitizing the pool, spa or hot tub. Until the pandemic is over it’s recommended to not invite your relatives, friends or your kid’s friends over to swim in the pool. In fact, you should not be inviting other people to your home to avoid the spread of the disease.