4 ms·

Swimming pools are far from sterile. The chlorine and other additives serve to inhibit the growth of organisms, but with so many contaminating bodies in it,

Swimming pools are far from sterile. The chlorine and other additives serve to inhibit the growth of organisms, but with so many contaminating bodies in it, they are far from sterile. Some public pools, not assiduously managed, at the end of the day, take on more than the aroma of chlorine; but even those that don't are not free of bacteria and other interesting life.

nkozyra 10y ago
Well I specifically didn't say "sterile" but rather "fairly sterile" compared to other water sources. Edit: As a note to the pedants, of course sterile" is a binary, I used that casually to mean "less microbrial than a lot of the places where our eyes go." ;) <- right eye unfortunately hit the unsterile waters of a chlorinated pool.
- glormph 10y ago
  As a former boss used to say, there is no "fairly sterile" just as there is no "fairly pregnant".
  - magicalist 10y ago
    > As a former boss used to say, there is no "fairly sterile" just as there is no "fairly pregnant". This (and mrob's post) is definitely incorrect. It's the opposite, in fact, there is no "sterile" in the absolute sense. You'll never kill everything. This is measured in multiple ways, depending on field: sterility assurance level[0] is one, similar to the way the USDA specifies cooking temperatures to hit 6- or 7-log reduction in bacteria populations. This is also why we crash probes like Cassini into Saturn to not risk contaminating any possible niches that could support life even though the probes have been built in a clean room, cleaned, and irradiated. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterility_assurance_level https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterility_assurance_level
    - msandford 10y ago
      > This (and mrob's post) is definitely incorrect. It's the opposite, in fact, there is no "sterile" in the absolute sense. You'll never kill everything. I suspect that there's some level of heat at which you've done exactly that. What organic molecule is going to survive a bath in liquid tungsten? ~6100F
      - TeMPOraL 10y ago
        "It's life Jim, but not as we know it" ;).
      - magicalist 10y ago
        Sure, but usually the problem is the thing you're trying to sterilize won't survive either :) There's also flaws in procedure -- was it at the required temperature long enough -- and, of course, the real world that your target is going to be exposed to when it leaves the tungsten bath -- clean rooms aren't all that clean.
- mrob 10y ago
  There is no "fairly sterile" -- things are either sterile or they're not. "Sterile" means zero viable microbes. It might be fairly sanitary compared to other water sources but any water treatment that's actually sterile is going to kill the swimmers.

nkozyra 10y ago

Well I specifically didn't say "sterile" but rather "fairly sterile" compared to other water sources. Edit: As a note to the pedants, of course sterile" is a binary, I used that casually to mean "less microbrial than a lot of the places where our eyes go." ;) <- right eye unfortunately hit the unsterile waters of a chlorinated pool.

glormph 10y ago
As a former boss used to say, there is no "fairly sterile" just as there is no "fairly pregnant".
- magicalist 10y ago
  > As a former boss used to say, there is no "fairly sterile" just as there is no "fairly pregnant". This (and mrob's post) is definitely incorrect. It's the opposite, in fact, there is no "sterile" in the absolute sense. You'll never kill everything. This is measured in multiple ways, depending on field: sterility assurance level[0] is one, similar to the way the USDA specifies cooking temperatures to hit 6- or 7-log reduction in bacteria populations. This is also why we crash probes like Cassini into Saturn to not risk contaminating any possible niches that could support life even though the probes have been built in a clean room, cleaned, and irradiated. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterility_assurance_level https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterility_assurance_level
  - msandford 10y ago
    > This (and mrob's post) is definitely incorrect. It's the opposite, in fact, there is no "sterile" in the absolute sense. You'll never kill everything. I suspect that there's some level of heat at which you've done exactly that. What organic molecule is going to survive a bath in liquid tungsten? ~6100F
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      "It's life Jim, but not as we know it" ;).
    - magicalist 10y ago
      Sure, but usually the problem is the thing you're trying to sterilize won't survive either :) There's also flaws in procedure -- was it at the required temperature long enough -- and, of course, the real world that your target is going to be exposed to when it leaves the tungsten bath -- clean rooms aren't all that clean.
mrob 10y ago
There is no "fairly sterile" -- things are either sterile or they're not. "Sterile" means zero viable microbes. It might be fairly sanitary compared to other water sources but any water treatment that's actually sterile is going to kill the swimmers.