One of the highlights of my family’s summer has been the near daily trips we’ve taken to our neighborhood swimming pool.
Given that the summer of 2012 has been the hottest on record, I can’t tell you how grateful I am to live near this watery oasis of fun, especially since I parent a fish.
Of course, I’m not the only mom who has made the pool a home away from home with her kids. In fact, with the record breaking heat wave we’ve endured this summer our pool has been packed to capacity on several occasions.
The swarms of swimmers have yielded a plethora of pool-related blog fodder, though this entry may be the grossest yet.
Two weeks ago my daughter and I witnessed a clear violation of pool rules: A non-potty trained toddler splashing in the shallow end without a swim diaper.
The kid made merry in the water while her mom texted nearly non-stop for roughly 30 minutes. Eventually, preoccupied mom scooped up her tot and headed for home. Unfortunately, the mom neglected to scoop up the nasty her son left behind.
It took another mom notifying the pool manager before the feces was removed.
The incident prompted a mass clearing of the pool, but not a mass cleaning of it. According to the manager, formed stool need only be removed from a swimming pool; however, draining and scrubbing of the infected area is not necessary.
Gah!
My 7-year-old witnessed the poop in the pool and was so grossed out by it she begged to go home. I didn’t argue. Rather, I researched.
Oh. Yes. I. Did.
That pool has been a saving grace for my family this summer and the sultry season is not over yet. I wanted confirmation that a simple retrieval of feces was sufficient and scrubbing of the stained area was not mandatory.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, finding “diarrheal fecal” in a swimming pool is cause for much more concern than formed stool because germs in the latter are less likely to be released into the pool. The CDC also points out that diarrhea carries more germs and can spread much easier than contained stool.
Of course, that’s of little comfort to any parent whose unassuming youngster grabs for a brown log-like item sitting at the bottom of the pool.
Then again, I suppose swimming near formed fecal matter is better than splashing around in a cloud of brown water.
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