4 ms·

I was a lifeguard at Disney World (Disney lifeguards work the waterparks, all the resort pools, and the pool and the lake at the private cast member park, Micke

I was a lifeguard at Disney World (Disney lifeguards work the waterparks, all the resort pools, and the pool and the lake at the private cast member park, Mickey's Retreat) in the late 90s. I believe at the time it was 20 minutes on duty, 5-10 minutes rotating to the next station. There would always be a couple lifeguards rotating in this scheme and they'd able to assist if necessary. It was very boring, and keeping my mental acuity sharp towards the end of shifts was a problem. Take care swimming late in the day. Also, I don't ever swim in public pools anyone. We had to shut down the cast member pool one 4th of July because it was so dirty and so soiled, we couldn't see to the bottom of the deep end (6 feet / ~2m) and it presented a drowning hazard. The pool was closed for like 3 days after that while we waited for the water turbidity to go down.

zaroth 7y ago
I think a pool closed for 3 days indicates gross mismanagement of chemical levels, not that contamination in public pools can’t be successfully managed. In theory a public pool under proper management should be cleaner than a private pool which almost certainly isn’t being professionally managed. Chlorine in pH balanced water with the right hardness is surprisingly effective. Pro tip, if you can smell “chlorine” it probably means the pool is dirty and doesn’t have enough chlorine left in the water. The smell is not chlorine in the water, it’s the result of the chlorine burning off as it oxidizes contaminants.
- dugmartin 7y ago
  Yeah, the smell is from the combined chlorine (choloramines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramines). After having my own pool for 10+ years if I smell chrloramines in a public pool I won't go it in as it -- likely it is not managed well at all.

zaroth 7y ago

I think a pool closed for 3 days indicates gross mismanagement of chemical levels, not that contamination in public pools can’t be successfully managed. In theory a public pool under proper management should be cleaner than a private pool which almost certainly isn’t being professionally managed. Chlorine in pH balanced water with the right hardness is surprisingly effective. Pro tip, if you can smell “chlorine” it probably means the pool is dirty and doesn’t have enough chlorine left in the water. The smell is not chlorine in the water, it’s the result of the chlorine burning off as it oxidizes contaminants.

dugmartin 7y ago
Yeah, the smell is from the combined chlorine (choloramines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramines). After having my own pool for 10+ years if I smell chrloramines in a public pool I won't go it in as it -- likely it is not managed well at all.