Hyderabad: Water samples taken from five swimming pools across the city both private and government were all found to be polluted.
The presence of coliform bacteria in one of the private pools in Sanikpuri was the highest (93) and E. coli bacteria were found in the samples taken from LB Stadium and Melkote Park, Narayanguda.
All the samples also showed differences in the chlorine levels.
The samples collected by the newspaper were from two GHMC swimming pools in Secunderabad and Ameerpet and one from Sainikpuri, Melkote Park — Narayanguda and LB Stadium.
Wide presence of coliform bacteria was found in the sample taken from GHMC Secunderabad, Sainikpuri and GHMC Ameerpet pool and all samples showed extremely low levels of chlorine.
Public pool water can be a source of harmful germs such as E. coli bacteria and the parasites Cryptos-poridium (crypto) and Giardia, which tend to spread when there is not enough chlorine in the pool, or the pH levels are too low. Some of the symptoms that may a result from infection of these three organisms include diarrhoea, stomach cramps, weight loss, nausea, vomiting and dehydration.
Chlorine smell not sign of clean pool
The smell of chlorine from a swimming pool does not indicate that it is clean.
“Many people think that when a pool smells of chlorine it means that it’s clean. But that smell is actually chloramines, a substance that results from a mix of chlorine and bacteria, urine and sweat.
Firstly, the inlet water should contain chlorine of 0.5 part per million per liter and the outlet should be of 0.2 part per million. Any presence of bacteria will lead to different ailments. Proper chlorination and regular cleaning of the pools will reduce the production of harmful germs,” said an expert from Indian Preventive Medicine (IPM).
