Regulars and Shorts

Briefly Noted: Welcome to our “ool”

By Sophie Silverstone

It’s not the chlorine in the pool that’s making your eyes red….

-by Staff

 

Have you ever walked into an indoor pool area, gotten a whiff of a strong chemical smell, and thought, “There’s a lot of chlorine in that pool”? Fact: It’s actually not the chlorine that causes that odor; its chloramines, according to Rick Ledbetter, swimming pool supervisor with Salt Lake County Health Department. Chlora mines form when chlorine disinfectants react with contaminants – perspiration, urine, body oils and cosmetics that are brought into pools by swimmers; chloramines deplete the bacteria-fighting chlorine. “Preventing the irritation isn’t rocket science,” says Ledbetter, “it’s common courtesy: Swimmers should use the pool to swim, the restroom to pee and the showers to wash up before getting in the pool. It’s that simple.”

—Salt Lake County Health Department

This article was originally published on July 24, 2015.