Many people believe that it’s ok to pee in a swimming pool or hot tub because the chlorine will kill or remove the urine from the pool water.
That is a myth!
It’s true that chlorine will kill the bacteria in urine but it cannot remove the urine from the pool water.
Generally, once you mix any chemical into pool water it’s there forever. Some chemicals can be neutralized with other chemicals but generally you are adding more to the chemical soup in your pool.
Normally, a small quantity of urine in a large swimming pool will have no measurable effect as the concentration of urine is too small. However, if many people continue to urinate in the pool the concentration will increase over time. And the only way to remove urine from pool water is to drain the pool and refill with fresh water.
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Why Do Swimmers Pee in the Pool?
There are many reasons why swimmers pee in a pool. Usually, the most common reason is that they are just too lazy to get out, dry off and go to the toilet. They forget that if everyone urinates in the pool, they will be swimming in other peoples’ urine.
It’s too Cold to Get Out
Once a swimmer is in the pool and warmed up, they are resistant to exiting the pool where they will be wet and exposed to evaporative cooling. They would need to dry off, put on some clothes, go to the toilet, get back in the pool and warm up again. They view getting out of the pool as too much an interruption to their workout or relaxation.
Workout Interruption
Athletes training at the pool work to strict timelines and routines. They are following the coach’s instructions and supporting other team members. Getting out of the pool is seen as an unnecessary interruption to their training routine.
Swimming Produces Urine
It’s not that swimmers didn’t go to the toilet before they entered the pool. The activity of swimming burns calories and produces urine. A swimmer’s bladder may fill up faster than normal and water places more pressure on the bladder. The swimmer may try to hold on until they can exit the pool but find it too difficult.
Laziness & Inconsideration
Unfortunately, many people are simply too lazy and inconsiderate to exit the pool when they need to urinate. This is common in public swimming pools, especially when there are many children using the pool.
What Does Urine Do to a Swimming Pool?
Urine is composed of water, urea, uric acid, electrolytes, dead cells and other waste products. However, it’s highly unlikely that you will contract an infection from someone urinating in your pool.
When someone pees in a pool the urine consumes the free chlorine in the pool water. The free chlorine kills any bacteria and other harmful organic molecules but it cannot remove the urine.
The urine mixes into the water and stays in the pool.
Larger quantities of urine will render the chlorine chemical reaction inadequate to sanitize the pool water. The pool will contain trichloramines which produce an ammonia or chlorine odor which makes the pool smell bad.
If a swimming pool smells really bad, do not swim in it!
The pool needs to be super-chlorinated with pool shock until the bad smell disappears. The lack of odor indicates the chlorine reaction chain has finished and all chloramines have been converted into nitrates.
Does Chlorine Remove Urine from Pool Water?
No, chlorine does not remove urine from pool water.
Chlorine will kill bacteria and viruses that are contained in the urine but it will not chemically remove the urea or uric acid that is in urine.
If someone pees in your pool there is nothing you can do.
The concentration of urine to water is a tiny fraction of the total pool water volume and will have no detectable effect.
Does Chlorine Kill Urine Bacteria in Pools?
Yes, chlorine will kill bacteria and any other organic molecules that are contained in the urine.
However, chlorine does not remove the urine from the pool water.
What Does Chlorine Do to Pool Water?
Chlorine is a relatively inexpensive but highly effective chemical to kill or neutralize urine, sweat, bacteria, viruses and other contaminants in your pool water.
When chlorine is mixed into your pool water it splits into hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions.
The hypochlorous acid is very quick at neutralizing bacteria and contaminants. While the hypochlorite ions last longer and slowly kill bacteria.
When chlorine reacts with contaminant organics in your pool it moves through several chemical stages before finally neutralizing the organic molecules. Firstly chlorine reacts to form monochloramines, next dichloramines, then trichloramines until finally resulting in nitrates.
Now when a swimming pool smells bad (like bleach or chlorine) most people think it’s caused by too much chlorine when in fact it’s the opposite issue.
The smell of bleach or chlorine in the pool water is the first sign that there is something not right with the pool sanitation. Most likely you have a build-up of chloramines in the pool water.
Swimming in this water may cause skin irritation, red eyes and many other health problems.
What are Chloramines?
Chloramines are the chemical residue after free chlorine has reacted and bound with dirt, sweat, oils, sunscreen, urine, bird droppings, decaying insects, bacteria, algae and anything else that invades your pool water. If your pool water smells bad then you have too many chloramines in the water.
Actually, it’s the volatile trichloramines that smell bad. As there is not enough free chlorine in the pool the chemical reaction has not completed to the final nitrates stage. The reaction runs out of chlorine and stops at the trichloramine stage creating the bad smell.
How do you fix this problem?
Shock the pool water to add a large dose of free chlorine to the water. This drives the chemical reaction chain to completion and eliminates the chloramines keeping your pool water safe.
Please read our article on How to Shock Your Pool
How to Measure How Much Pee is in Your Pool?
How to Test for Urine in a Pool?
There is no way to specifically test for urine in pool water.
All the existing pool test kits and strips will test the most common hydrochemistry indicators but cannot show if urea or uric acid is in the pool. And if they could show uric acid it would be meaningless because sweat and saliva contains uric acid. There may be no urine in the pool.
It’s more important to ensure you maintain a balanced pool chemistry and adequate levels of chlorine to sanitize harmful organic molecules.
What Happens If You Pee in a Saltwater Pool?
There is little difference between peeing in a freshwater or saltwater pool as the salt has no effect on the urine
The saltwater pool will be automatically chlorinated and have a more stable and consistent level of chlorine than a freshwater pool. So the salt pool will be better able to handle a dose of urine than a freshwater pool.
If people consistently urinate in the pool, close the pool and shock it with a high dose of chlorine to eliminate the bacteria and chloramines.
How to Stop People Peeing in Your Pool
The best way to stop people peeing in your pool is with education. Talk to your family and friends about not peeing in the pool. Tell them about the health risks and let them know where the nearest toilet is located.
- Install a Sign indicating the toilet
- Install a Sign indicating the pool is not a toilet
- Schedule Swimming Breaks
- Limit Time in the Pool
Urine Indicator Dye
You may have seen a TV commercial or movie where suddenly the water around someone swimming in a pool turns bright blue indicating that the person has urinated in the pool. Apparently, the pool contains a chemical blue dye that reacts with urine making a cloud of blue in the pool. This chemical reaction quickly identifies and embarrasses the swimmer resulting in a life-time ban from the pool.
This is fake!
There is no such chemical indicator to highlight urine in water!
Urine consists of many chemical compounds such as water, urea, ammonia, salts, allantoin and remnants of blood cells.
The first issue is that there are too many chemicals in urine to create a product that only reacts with the urine and does not give false positive reactions to other compounds.
Secondly, the volume of urine compared to the volume of pool water would be minuscule. A standard backyard pool contains 40,000 to 50,000 liters of water. One litre of urine would be less than 0.000025% of the volume. A normal amount of urine may only be 100ml. This would make it very difficult for a chemical indicator to pickup such a small concentration of urine.
Finally, your pool is already a cocktail of chemicals. Adding another chemical to the pool water doesn’t help your pool chemistry and would be an expensive waste of time.
If someone did urine in your pool, what would you do?
There is nothing to do! The concentration of urine to water would be tiny and the chlorine will take care of any bacteria.
As a result, there is no product available on the market that indicates urine in pool water.
Conclusion
Peeing in a pool increases the health risks of skin irritation, red eyes, respiratory problems, and many other health problems.
Chlorine sanitation neutralizes bacteria and viruses in your pool but does not remove the urine. A small volume of urine will have little effect on the overall water chemistry of your pool. However, urine lowers the free chlorine level in a pool raising the risk that your pool will become unsanitary to other bacteria and contaminants. If people continue to urinate in your pool the concentration of urine will increase over time. You will need to increase the amount of chlorine in the pool to compensate for the higher urea concentration.
The only way to remove urine, nitrates and total dissolved solids from your pool water is to empty the pool and refill with fresh water. There is no effective chemical treatment to remove these compounds.
Change your pool water at least every 5 to 7 years for an inground pool and more frequently for an above ground pool.