A study published in the Environmental Science & Technology Letters, a journal of the American Chemical Society reveals that many people, including professional swimmers, pee inside swimming pools. Many people would not readily admit to this, but a survey of people in Canada shows that urinating in public pools and in Jacuzzis is a fairly common practice. The researchers found that all the public pools tested had remarkable levels of urine inside the water.
Researchers found 75 liters of urine in public pools
Undertaken by Canadian researchers, the researchers found that swimmers had released 75 liters of urine in one large pool containing about 830,000 liters of water and another 30 liters of urine in another pool nearly the size of the first one. They also tested one Jacuzzi in one hotel and found it contained more levels of urine than the public pool with 75 liters of urine. A test of several hot tubs in public facilities in two Canadian cities found that urinating in public pool or tubs is fairly common and taken for granted by most swimmers, the Guardian reports.
The researchers measured the levels of urine in public pools and tubs by measuring the concentration of acesulfame potassium (ACE) in them. ACE is an artificial sweetener that is often used in processed foods and other consumer products. This substance is not processed or broken down in the body and so is excreted via urine without any alterations in its form and concentration - but it can be detected in bodies of water, the Huffington Post wrote.
Professional swimmers say it's okay to pee in public pools
While many people confess to having peed in public pools at least once, professional swimmers think it cannot be avoided. US swimmer Ryan Lochte who swam in the London 2012 Olympics said you can't avoid peeing in water treated with chlorine; and Michael Phelps said it's not really a bad idea to urinate in the pool because chlorine should kill the human contaminants. One thing these persons don't know is that some swimmers experience eye, skin and respiratory irritations in pools because the chlorine in the treated water reacts with compounds such as urea, ammonia and creatinine in human urine.
