Microbes in Pool Filter Backwash as Evidence of the Need for Improved Swimmer Hygiene — Metro-Atlanta, Georgia, 2012
▻http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6219a3.htm?s_cid=mm6219a3_w
During the 2012 summer swimming season, filter concentrate samples were collected at metro-Atlanta public pools. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays were conducted to detect microbial nucleic acid. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected in 95 (59%) of 161 samples; detection indicates contamination from the environment (e.g., dirt), swimmers, or fomites (e.g., kickboards). P. aeruginosa detection underscores the need for vigilant pool cleaning, scrubbing, and water quality maintenance (e.g., disinfectant level and pH) to ensure that concentrations do not reach levels that negatively impact swimmer health. Escherichia coli, a fecal indicator, was detected in 93 (58%) samples; detection signifies that swimmers introduced fecal material into pool water. Fecal material can be introduced when it washes off of swimmers’ bodies or through a formed or diarrheal fecal incident in the water. The risk for pathogen transmission increases if swimmers introduce diarrheal feces.
Ah, ben c’est le jour !
Comme le résume élégamment USA Today , par lequel je suis tombé sur l’étude, Why you don’t want to drink the pool water | ▻http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/16/pool-water-feces/2166195
In other words: there’s poop in our pools because people are not taking showers before swimming or are having accidents in the water.