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Chlorine stench in the indoor pool How to recognize a clean swimming pool
Whether urine, dander or sweat: there are many unpleasant substances in the swimming pool. But you usually do not get anything of that as a visitor because the disinfectant chlorine decomposes the germs in the bath water. With the help of the typical swimming pool smell, bathers can therefore recognize the hygiene of the pool.
Chlorine is initially odorless
Not everyone likes going to the pool. Because at the thought of what everything could be in the water, some feel a disgust. "Chlorine is used on the contrary," is often the answer here. That's right, because the disinfectant is used to keep the water in the pool clean.
Knowing the chlorine odor you can see how clean it is in the indoor pool. Image: Girasole75 - fotolia So does a strong chlorine smell in the bathroom mean that it is especially clean there? No, just the opposite. Because the typical swimming pool smell does not come about only through the chlorine, but only when the substance decomposes urine. "If it smells strongly of chlorine, that means that much urea was added to the water," explains Alexander Kämpfe, head of swimming pool and spa water at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), in an interview with the news agency "dpa"..
Chlorine is one of the most reactive chemical elements and reacts quickly with other substances. If the odorless "free" chlorine hits urea, "bound" chlorine is formed, which includes, for example, trichloramine. Only this compound provides the strong smell that we perceive as a supposed chlorine smell.
Skin releases small amounts of urea
Most of the urea enters the pelvis through urine - children who pee into the water, seniors with bladder weakness or swimmers who are simply too comfortable to go to a bathroom. A small portion of urea is also washed out of the skin, where it is usually one of the natural moisture factors and provides elasticity and smoothness.
Bathers should thoroughly take a shower
"Pissing into the pelvis takes about six grams of urea into the pelvis," says Kämpfe. According to the expert, this corresponds to the amount of almost 40 bath guests who enter the urea only through the skin. For calculations by the Federal Environmental Agency have shown that per swimming pool visitors get an average of 0.16 grams of urea into the water.
Bathers should therefore go to the bathroom before swimming to thoroughly shower off, because by washing 75 to 97 percent of the urea would be removed, explains Alexander fighting. But they do not want to "force" the swimmers, because "these are bathing guests", says Jörg Rosbach from the Frankfurt baths companies.
Accordingly, many visitors continue to bring substances into the pool, which must be removed by the operators of the bath again. "The more people there are, the bigger is the organic freight," says Rosbach. To check how the bathroom is about hygiene, one should become familiar with one's own nose. "If you smell the swimming pool at the entrance, then something is rotten," says the expert.
Up to 75 liters of urine in the water
That swimmers pee in the pool is no exception. Rather, Canadian researchers came to the conclusion that urine is found in every public swimming pool without exception. The scientists studied more than 30 pools and were able to detect an average of 75 liters of urine in large 50-meter pools. Smaller 25-meter pools came to about 30 liters of pee in the water.
Method for the discovery of pelvic Pinklern
To catch the pelvic Pinkler in the act, US researchers in 2014 presented a method by which urine and faeces in the water glow green. For this they mixed the water with zinc ions, which formed a phosphorescent material with a by-product of the urine, which glowed under black light. According to the fighting, the new method was "controversially discussed" and never used for ethical reasons. Because you want to Do not discriminate against persons who suffer from incontinence.
Swimming goggles against red eyes
Urea is therefore found in every tank, which means that the use of disinfectants will continue to be necessary. But does the combination of chlorine and urine pose a threat to our health? "That depends on the concentration and how sensitive you are," explains Hermann Josef Kahl to the "dpa". Trichloramine can cause respiratory problems, which can be problematic for people with asthma.
The connection leads to irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes in the nose and throat, according to the spokesman of the Federal Association of Paediatricians. Without chlorine, however, according to the experts, the dangers would be greater. To avoid red eyes, swimming goggles could help and the mucosal irritations would normally subside again, says the pediatrician. (No)