The contents of this blog are based on a recent article in the New York Times, “How to Avoid Nasty Pool Germs This Summer” written by Melinda Wenner Moyer. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about one-third of known outbreaks between 2015 and 2019 caused by germs in U.S. pools, hot tubs and water parks were traced back to hotels and motels. One theory for why resort pools and hot tubs account for such a large portion of outbreaks is that the person typically responsible for water quality maintenance is also responsible for a variety of other things and sometimes disregards their water maintenance duties. As part of a 2016 study, the CDC found that 9.2 percent of pools, and 19.2 percent of hot tubs violated water disinfection requirements. While the CDC reports between 20 and 60 infectious disease outbreaks related to swimming and recreational water use per year, the number only represents “a fraction of what is actually happening out there,” said Michelle Hlavsa, chief of the CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program. This is largely due to the underreporting and long distances people travel to visit pools, lakes, oceans, water parks, and hotels that make it rare to trace a water-caused illness to its original source. Furthermore, according to the CDC 70 percent of recent outbreaks were traced to hot tubs. This can be for several reasons. First, chlorine breaks down especially quickly in hot water, and the aerosolization of water from tub jets renders chlorine much less effective. Of certain bacteria that grows well in hot water, Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease is one of the most prominent. To avoid a water-caused illness, look for physical signs indicating that the water is either safe or unsafe. “The rule of thumb is, if the water is murky, don’t swim in it,” said Dr. Perkins, a family medicine doctor at the University of South Alabama. Wenner Moyer, Melinda, How to Avoid Nasty Pool Germs This Summer, The New York Times, June 9, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/well/live/swimming-safety.html#:~:text=Avoid%20murky%20lakes%20%E2%80%94%20especially%20after%20heavy%20rain.&text=Avoid%20swimming%20in%20areas%20that,ocean%2C%20Dr.%20Trimmier%20said. To read more about Avoiding Germs in Hotel Pools and Hot Tubs, click here. To read our firm’s white paper on Legionnaires’ disease and COVID-19, click here. For more information on Legionnaires’ disease, check out the National Academies of Sciences Management of Legionella in Water Systems Report here. Contact Jules Zacher for a 100% free consultation today. THE MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE HAVE BEEN PREPARED BY JULES ZACHER, P.C. FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT LEGAL ADVICE OR A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL COUNSEL.