Cleaning and Remediation

pool net

Regular care of your private pool or hot/tub spa is important to keep the water clean and balanced and your equipment functioning properly. However, accidents will happen, especially with young swimmers. Below you will find information about how to handle a fecal incident in your private pool.

 

Follow these steps to remove formed poop or diarrhea and disinfect the water:

  • Close the pool to swimmers.
  • Put on disposable gloves.
  • Remove the poop using a net or bucket. Do not vacuum the poop from the pool.
  • Clean as much poop as possible from the item used to remove the poop and dispose of it in a sanitary manner.
  • Disinfect the item used to remove the poop by immersing it in the pool during the 30-minute disinfection time described below.
  • Remove and dispose of gloves
  • Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
  • Raise the free chlorine concentration to, or maintain it at, 2 parts per million (ppm) and maintain the pH at 7.5 or less for 30 minutes.
  • Confirm that the filtration system is operating properly.

For public pools, the pool operator should raise the free chlorine concentration very high for hours if someone has diarrhea in the pool since it might contain the chlorine tolerant parasite Cryptosporidium. This recommendation does not apply to residential pools. Members of one family or the same household are less likely to spread Cryptosporidium to each other if they use the same pool. Additionally, raising the free chlorine concentration very high for hours increases the risk of pool chemical injuries to residential pool owners (for example, respiratory distress or chemical burns) if the pool chemicals are mishandled. This means it is very important for swimmers to follow the steps of healthy swimming whether they use public or residential pools.

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