Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the kick-off of the summer season at most community pools around the country. But after reading this post, you may be a little less enthusiastic about taking the kids for their inaugural dip. 
It may not exactly surprise anyone to learn that swimming pools aren't the most sanitary places in the world. But my eyebrows raised a little when I read this CNN.com story that says a recent study conducted by the Water Quality and Health Council revealed that 17 percent of adults sometimes pee in the pool. Let me get this straight: these are adults who (I.P.) freely admitted to a group that studies water quality that they sometimes let a little leak out when they're practicing their butterfly strokes? That leads me to believe that perhaps even more adults who participated in this survey may do the same thing, but simply weren't honest when asked. Translation: every time you think you're just going swimming, you're actually splashing around in a big, festering, germ-filled community toilet.
Honestly, if the over-21-year-olds can't hold it in, what are the odds that all those water-winged four-year-olds can? (Um ... zero.)
Of course, many of us have long suspected this and we still go swimming all the time anyway. Why? Because it's fun, it's refreshing, we've never gotten ill because of it and, most importantly, if we pretend the pee isn't there, it doesn't bother us. (Denial rules.)
Seriously, once we start focusing too obsessively on all the germs and bodily fluids we can pick up at places like this, I think it's only a matter of time before we wind up in Howard Hughes-ville. The best thing we parents can do is make sure our kids are not contributing to the pool grime, and that the pools they swim in are maintained properly. The CNN story points out the importance of showering before going swimming, for example. And it also notes ways to tell if the pool is clean, like listening for signs that the filtration system is functioning, spotting the presence of a working drain and (this one kind of cracks me up) feeling the tiles and sides of the pool to make sure they are neither sticky nor slippery. Okay, sticky would seem a little strange. But slippery? I'm not sure I've ever touched a wet tile surface that wasn't slippery. Then again, I always assumed that most grown-ups know better than to piss in a pool, so what the heck do I know?
Also, it's probably a good idea to train kids as soon as possible that they shouldn't use the pool as a potty. Heck, if need be, remind some adults, too. Because together, America, we can stop unnecessary peeing in the pool, and ensure that we're all swimming in water that contains slightly less bacteria in the future than it does today.
