Backyard Blogging.

You are dedicated to the maintenance of  your pool and hot tub, and you know it’s important to keep the water clean and balanced.

Yet, accidents happen, especially when babies and young children are involved.

In this article, we look at what to do if someone poops in the pool or hot tub.

If Someone Poops in the Pool

You can take some steps to remove the poop or diarrhea from your pool. You will also want to disinfect your water.

Here’s how to take care of the poop:

• Close your pool or hot tub to all swimmers.
• Put on disposable gloves. You do not want to touch the poo.
• Using a net or a bucket, remove the poop from the water.
• Do NOT vacuum the poop from the pool as you’ll just break it and spread it around.
• Clean up the poop from the net or bucket you used to get it out of the water.
• Disinfect the net or bucket or simply toss it.
• Throw your gloves away.
• Wash your hands thoroughly with a lot of soap and water.

Here’s how to take care of the water:

• Raise the free chlorine concentration to, or maintain it at, two parts per million (ppm) and maintain the pH at 7.5 or less for 30 minutes. Don’t let your chlorine levels drop below two parts per million for a week. What type of poop is it? You’ll find there is a different set of instructions for solid poop and liquid poop. Please check out the CDC website for more information.
• Confirm that your filtration system is operating properly.
• Our BioGuard ALEX System says to get your pool to two parts per million for 45 minutes and then shock your pool with four to five times your usual amount of BurnOut 3 or BurnOUt 73. Don’t let your ppm drop below two for a week.

If Someone Poops in the Hot Tub

While the steps are similar when you find poop or diarrhea in your hot tub, there are some additional precautions to take:

• Close the hot tub/spa to bathers.
• Put on disposable gloves. You do not want to touch the poo.
• Remove the poop using a net or bucket.
• Drain the water from your hot tub. This includes draining the piping as much as possible.
• Scrub and clean all accessible surfaces in contact with contaminated water.
• Replace or clean filter media when appropriate.
• Refill hot tub/spa with water.
• Your goal is to achieve a pH of 7.2–7.8 and free chlorine concentration of at least 3 ppm or free bromine concentration of at least 4 ppm. The free chlorine and pH should remain at these levels for 30 minutes.
• Clean up the poop from the net or bucket you used to get it out of the water.
• Disinfect the net or bucket or simply toss it.
• Throw your gloves away.
• Wash your hands thoroughly with a lot of soap and water.

Promote Healthy Swimming

One of the most important things you can do to promote healthy swimming is to talk with young kids about what not to do in the pool. It’s also a good idea to have bathroom breaks every half hour or so to see if anyone has to go.

In addition, change babies’ diapers regularly so there’s no chance of anything leaking out.

You also want to test and adjust your chlorine and pH levels on a regular basis. You can always bring us a sample of your pool water for free testing.

Finally, no one should swim in the pool if they have diarrhea. Teach the kids not to swallow the pool water and have swimmers rinse off in a shower before they swim.

If you follow these steps, you can reduce spreading water illnesses.

To Conclude

If you would like more details on how to take care of poop in your hot tub or swimming pool, contact your local Ultra Modern dealer. We can also provide you with a list of instructions.

Contact us below with questions!