May 17, 2013

Why do 58% of public swimming pools in the U.S. contain fecal matter?

"Finding a high percentage of E. coli-positive filters indicates swimmers frequently contaminate pool water when they have a fecal incident in the water or when feces rinse off of their bodies because they do not shower thoroughly before getting into the water," according to a statement by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fecal incident....

34 comments:

Nomennovum said...

Have municipalities experienced a clorine shortage or something?

Methadras said...

People shit and piss in pools. Water is wet.

Michael K said...

It would be more important, albeit more difficult, to determine pathogen content such as hepatitis virus. The people complaining about this probably take their daily probiotic before leaving for the pool.

Palladian said...

There are fecal coliforms everywhere. That's not the same as fecal matter. The presence of E. coli does not mean that there is actual feces present. Media science fail, yet again.

edutcher said...

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

What is Al Rocker doing at public swimming pools?

Æthelflæd said...

What, nobody else immediately thought of Caddy Shack?

bagoh20 said...

In French a public pool is call a "bidet".

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Obligatory Caddy Shack scene.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Æthelflæd- I did, but needed time to find the link.

Andy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fritz said...

Because people are shitty...

Issob Morocco said...

Benjamin Disraeli would be proud of this 'stilted' bit of journalism.

"U.S. health officials find human feces taint more than half of public swimming pools.

E. coli, which indicates the presence of fecal matter, was detected in 58 percent of samples taken from pool filters by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

So how many public swimming pools are there in the US? And the CDC tested all of them? No of course not, just an unknown amount in the Atlanta GA area and extrapolated a scary headline and story.

So now that we know a small sample size was used (although still unknown as to actual size compared to overall national size) we are prepared to drum up more hysteria!


"The CDC tested pool water from filters around the Atlanta area in June through August 2012.

The CDC believes that it's unlikely that swimmer hygiene differs in other areas, the CDC said.

E. coli was in 70 percent of municipal pools tested and 49 percent of pools that require membership or are at a club.

The bacteria was detected in the same percentage of pools whether they were outdoor or indoor, the data show.

Pools used primarily by children tested positive 73 percent of the time.

Health officials urge people to make better personal hygiene decisions as the summer months approach."

Science based on belief, sounds like the Democratic Party Global Warming, Food Safety, Healthcare, Lead Paint, etc., etc., memes.

Anonymous said...

I think Dave Barry had a band open for him called 'Fecal Incident'

Palladian said...

And furthermore, which strain of E. coli? There are a lot of them, and most of them are completely harmless and present in almost everyone's digestive tract. There are only a few strains that are human pathogens.

Unknown said...

We have what are called cutter races here, which are small chariot like sleds pulled by horses around a track in the winter.
My dad cut out and framed a small item from our local paper recounting an incident when a cutter was overturned after hitting a "frozen horse obstacle."

If they'd only had the vocabulary to call it a fecal incident!

Nomennovum said...

They forgot about farting as a possible source. Has the CDC never heard of sharticles??? Are they so ignorant of the science of poopery?

This shitty study just reeks.

ricpic said...

Have municipalities experienced a chlorine shortage or something?

That was my first thought too. Wow, I remember as a kid the giant public pools at Jones Beach were like half water and half chlorine. The chlorine smell was strong even in the passageways from the mens dressing areas to the pool before you reached the pool itself.

Nomennovum said...

The chlorine smell was strong even in the passageways from the mens dressing areas to the pool before you reached the pool itself.

The liberal use of clorine has probably gone the way of the use effective insecticides. So, welcome back e. coli and bedbugs!

BarrySanders20 said...

Try Bradford Beach in Milwaukee after a big rain storm when the combined sanitary and storm sewer water flows directly into the lake.

Anonymous said...

A chemical analysis of the typical public swimming pool:

2.6% urine
1.1% fecal matter
0.9% mucus
0.7% period blood
0.6% semen
94.1% water

Peter

David said...

Duh?

It's not just the public pools, folks.

bagoh20 said...

I guarantee you that you touch swallow, and inhale E.coli virtually every hour of every day, and most of time you like it. One could probably find a very strong correlation between the most enjoyable activities of humans and exposure to E.coli.

If you really want to avoid the little critters, stop having such a good time.

Dante said...

Fecal incident, aka wet fart.

The Godfather said...

When I was a kid, in the early '50's, my parents often decided we would NOT go to public pools -- because of fear of polio.

Dante said...

Same things go for baths. Who in their right mind would get in a bath, clean their bum, and have all that E-Coli float into their pores?

Sorun said...

A chemical analysis of the typical public swimming pool:

2.6% urine
1.1% fecal matter


A pool holding 400,000 gallons would include 4400 gallons of fecal matter. That's a lot of wet farts. (I'm skeptical.)

sinz52 said...

Dante: "Who in their right mind would get in a bath, clean their bum, and have all that E-Coli float into their pores? "

I had a culture taken for a sinus infection, and it showed the presence of Enterococcus faecalis (among other germs) in my nose.

That's because I had been taking baths and washing my head with the bath water.

sinz52 said...

I wonder if many of these fecal incidents are caused by babies whose parents took them into the water but who haven't been toilet trained yet.

None of the websites that explain "How to Teach Your Baby to Swim" warn about toilet-training the baby first.

Smilin' Jack said...

"Why do 58% of public swimming pools in the U.S. contain fecal matter?"

Because the other 42% haven't been tested properly.

SteveR said...

One thing I've experienced in regard to this type of testing is that is very easy to contaminate samples, leading to false positives. Very easy. Most municipalities that test foe this in drinking water supplies will almost always retest to avoid all the steps following a positive e-coli test

Unknown said...

Way past time the CDC was mothballed.

Ann Althouse said...

I wonder if it's from all those adults who have bariatric surgery and an "Al Roker" incident.

yashu said...

Fecal incident....

That would be a great name for a punk band.