Sponsored with love by Swim Smart AquaCheck

Last year in our city, 12 kids were taken to the hospital after playing in a public pool. I’ll be honest — I don’t even know what the cause was or what happened to the kids afterward but I’ll tell ya, it sounded like quite the shocking story to me. But like so many news stories, it was a quick shock and then I pushed it to the back of my mind, assuming that it was just “not the norm” and happened to occur near where we lived.

But oh, I was so wrong.

Some not so fun facts you’ve probably never heard [source]

• 50% or more pools contain E. coli, a bacteria from fecal matter

• almost 1 in 8 routine pool inspections identified serious violations that resulted in immediate closure

• 1 in 3 swimming-related disease outbreaks occur at hotels

Outbreaks of Crypto (short for Cryptosporidium) linked to swimming pools and water playgrounds have doubled in the last 5 years and it is estimated that at least 10x that number go unreported. Germs in the water such as E. coli, Crypto, and Norovirus, and can lead to outbreaks by swallowing even just a mouthful of water and these germs can lead to eye, skin, lung, ear infections or even neurologic infections.

A new report issued this year by the CDC showed that a parasitic infection known as crypto is on the rise. Between 2009 and 2017, there were 444 cryptosporidiosis outbreaks reported in 40 states and Puerto Rico. The outbreaks resulted in 7,465 people falling ill. Mostly swimming pools, but also kiddie pools and water playgrounds -- were responsible for more than 1/3 of the cases. [source]

Crazy, right? Like this never even crossed my mind before from using hotel pools and spas to big community pools to our own community pool, I just had no idea that the statistics behind swimming-related diseases were so high. But what I do know how is that there’s something we can do about it:

PREVENTION.

The Swim Smart Test

These little test strips are our way to protect our kids and ourselves and prevent those nasty Recreational Water Illnesses that are happening all the time. The CDC recommends that all swimmers and spa users test for proper chlorine and pH levels and this is such an easy way of doing that.

Stick the strip in the water, wait 15 seconds, match up the colors on the strip with the colors on the back of the packaging and if you’re in the “smiley face” clear then jump on in and have a great time!

It’s as easy as that and the health of our kids and ourselves is surely worth an extra 15 seconds, don’t you think?