Question to all

[oliver2 4,419]

13 hours ago, Maggie_555 said:

Thank you for this explanation Alfresco. In your first paragraph you mention blotchy skin, red eyes and itchiness, with this reminding of things my parents have told me in the past.  Growing-up in the 1950s they experienced pools (run by the local council) which they described as "having a very strong pool smell"

Do you think they knew that meant the pools had lots of pee in? 😃

[Maggie_555 1,621]

5 hours ago, oliver2 said:

Do you think they knew that meant the pools had lots of pee in? 😃

From the way they've told me about their schooldays it seems that they had no thoughts on how much pee was in the pool water. They each accepted the strong 'pool smell' because they hadn't experienced anything else as kids. It wasn't until they were adults, taking me to pools as a young girl in the 1970s, that they realised the 'pool smell' wasn't so strong by then.  My dad thinks this possibly happened because of better maintenance and/or the pool water being changed more often, with just as many people probably peeing in pools then and now.

They certainly gave me encouragement to pee in the pool as a young girl, guiding me away from toilets before getting in - and also suggesting that I should try to pee again, one more time, before getting out at the end of my swim.  Of course I did so, soon realising it was actually 'naughty' and enjoying it!

[oliver2 4,419]

12 minutes ago, Maggie_555 said:

My dad thinks this possibly happened because of better maintenance and/or the pool water being changed more often, with just as many people probably peeing in pools then and now.

That would be my guess, too. I wasn’t around in the 1950s but there’s plainly plenty of kids & adults who pee in pools

Edited March 10, 2023 by oliver2

[naughty_rosie 747]

I don't pee in the pool or tub but I always pee in the water when I'm on the beach or river. I even tell my friends "I'll pee in the ocean"...

[Havelock 1,526]

I wonder if peeing in pools is more prevalent in cultures that are more adverse to public peeing? Growing up summers in the EU we would always be encouraged to get out of the pool and pee right beside it in the grass, bushes etc.. In those cultures no one thinks anything of kids peeing outside. It's normal just like on playgrounds of the park. I wonder if pools in those cultures have less pee?

[AWN_84 1,443]

I rarely go to public pools, but i always pee at least once when i go, and i do pull my swimwear aside to pee, maybe is the naturist in me, idk

[Maggie_555 1,621]

On 4/8/2023 at 6:50 PM, MonsterKane46 said:

to be fair, I would imagine half the kids are doing the same. Used to visit public pools a lot with my best friend, her son and her nephew back when the kids were about 9 or 10 (they are now 19) and none of us got out to go to the bathroom.

Thanks for your reassuring comments MonsterKane46 - and I'm pleased to hear that during pool visits with your best friend, "none of us got out to go to the bathroom." 😉

[Havelock 1,526]

An applicable old post of mine on swimming pool peeing

And a thread I started on Scuba lessons after being explicitly told to pee in the pool as an adult during Scuba lessons.

 

[Peesfully 237]

Ponds, ocean, pools, yes I have.  But never in a hot tub.

[Bertsmall 226]

As we have had some pretty warm weather the beaches have been pretty busy. A few of us decided to head down to one near us. It’s long drive and when we got there, at least a couple of us needed the bathroom when we got there. One of my friends Tanya, is quite conservative and does not say much. I noticed when she got out of the car, she immediately crossed her legs. I asked if she was okay she nodded and just said I need to pee. I said I wasn’t sure where the bathrooms were. She casually replied no it’s okay I’ll go in the sea. As we headed down to the beach and found a spot. Tanya stripped off her tracksuit bottoms and T-shirt, she was in a cute blue and white stripey bikini. I was already in my shorts so I decided to head down to the water myself. Tanya walked down to the waters edge with me. I looked at her and grinned and said actually I need a pee as well. We both got into the water and I was looking closely without being obvious. As soon as she got in to her mid thighs, I noticed her pee stream starting quite strongly from between her legs. She got in a little bit further until her waist was covered and stood there for about a minute. Okay? I asked. She grinned and replied. Yes, that’s better.
I love the beach

[likesToLick 10,216]

On 3/9/2023 at 11:01 PM, Alfresco said:

This is actually what causes the smell that is most associated with swimming pools, not the chlorine itself.

While I don't doubt that chloramines have a smell,  the idea that chlorine itself does not smell is just an urban legend.   If you put a small amount of pool chlorine in pure distilled water,  it will still have a chlorine smell.

I can still smell the chlorine in my pool and spa even when they have just been filled with clean water from the mains and no-one has been in there. 

The only time the pool has no chlorine scent is if the chlorinator is set too low and the level of free chlorine ions  has fallen below one part per million.   (I have a titration test kit to monitor free chlorine accurately.)   Chloramines show up on another test, i.e.  the "combined chlorine" test,  and can be completely broken down by adding more free chlorine.

If a pool has no chlorine scent at all it is only a day or two from getting an algal bloom,  and is quite possibly unsafe for swimming.

[Alfresco 11,633]

6 hours ago, likesToLick said:

While I don't doubt that chloramines have a smell,  the idea that chlorine itself does not smell is just an urban legend.   If you put a small amount of pool chlorine in pure distilled water,  it will still have a chlorine smell.

I can still smell the chlorine in my pool and spa even when they have just been filled with clean water from the mains and no-one has been in there. 

The only time the pool has no chlorine scent is if the chlorinator is set too low and the level of free chlorine ions  has fallen below one part per million.   (I have a titration test kit to monitor free chlorine accurately.)   Chloramines show up on another test, i.e.  the "combined chlorine" test,  and can be completely broken down by adding more free chlorine.

If a pool has no chlorine scent at all it is only a day or two from getting an algal bloom,  and is quite possibly unsafe for swimming.

I totally agree.  We used to use chlorine in our hot tub (we've converted to enzyme based sanitisers now) and yes, there was a definite chlorine smell from the initial fill, but the smell in pools is generally a bit different.  It is also very true that the dipstick kits and titration test look at free chlorine and that the level is very important in keeping things sanitised.  If you go higher with the concentration, there is a stronger smell, but it is an almost fresh, bleachy smell rather than the smell you get at some public pools.   If there is organic matter in the pool/hot tub, the free chlorine gets used up very quickly and more needs to be added.  If the pool has too many chloramines then the addition of extra chlorine will get rid of them by further reacting with the chloramines to break them apart.   This is often known as shocking because you have to add a large quantity of chlorine.   The pool would have to be closed to do this because the high level of chlorine would be considered unsafe and also ammonia gas can be given off.  

I'm no expert, but I know from my own hot tub that it is a delicate balance and you do have to be on top of it all the time to avoid having either to much or not enough free chlorine.   And yes, I've experienced the odd algal bloom when I've let it get too low!   We used to use a floating dispenser to gradually and continually add chlorine, but if we didn't use the tub very often, the levels sometimes went a bit high and if it ran out before we realised and we didn't check it for a few days then that could lead to the algal bloom.

[Phyche 435]

On 1/30/2023 at 10:52 PM, adamz33 said:

Would you consider going in your swimwear wetting when youre in some sort of water ( pool, sea/ocean, lake, river etc.) ?

All the time. I always pee in the water when swimming. I also pee in my swimsuit when I'm not in the water. I'm usually not a fan of wetting myself, but in a swimsuit I definitely will, both wet and dry. 

There have been times I was at a friend's house with a group of my friends and we were chilling in his pool drinking some beers and whenever we had to pee we would just piss in the water. 

Edited October 10, 2023 by Phyche