 Pools can be a breeding ground for bacteria |
A survey by the Consumers' Association has found many swimming pools in popular European holiday resorts are a potential health risk. BBC News Online examines the risks and the advice being given to holidaymakers.
What did this survey find?
Researchers working for Health Which? tested 80 swimming pools at popular holiday resorts in Majorca and Corfu.
One in four of these was classed as a health hazard. Another 29 were condemned as potential health hazards.
Six pools were heavily contaminated with faecal bacteria - bugs found in human or animal faeces. Just two were given a clean bill of health.
What are the risks to holidaymakers?
Dirty and contaminated swimming pools can pose a serious health risk to children and adults.
If neglected, pools can become a fertile breeding ground for bacteria that can cause a wide range of illnesses.
For instance, a parasite called cryptosporidium is excreted when faeces enters the water. This can cause severe diarrhoea, sickness, stomach cramps and fever.
In people with a serious underlying medical condition, it can even be fatal.
Pools may also harbour low levels of another bacteria called pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can cause skin and ear infections.
What can be done to protect swimmers?
Ensuring swimmers shower before they get into a pool can eliminate many of these risks.
By showering, swimmers remove the cream and sun lotions that cling to pool tiles, which in turn attract dirt.
It also reduces the risk of hair, mucus and faeces entering the water.
The risks can be reduced further if a pool is properly disinfected.
Chlorine-based chemicals and proper filtration can kill most bacteria. However, too much chlorine can cause breathing problems and irritation to the eyes and skin.
What checks are carried out?
Some resorts are obviously much better at checking the quality of the water in their swimming pools than others.
Similarly, standards in some countries are much higher than others.
One of the problems is there are no EU-wide rules on the quality of the water in public swimming pools.
The Consumers' Association has called for this to be changed. The UK's Federation of Tour Operators has backed the call.
What advice is being given to holidaymakers?
The Consumers' Association has advised holidaymakers not to swim in pools if they are:
cloudy and if they can't see the bottom - murky water makes disinfectant less effective; strewn with debris on the surface or the bottom - items like leaves and sand can introduce pollutants to the water; scummy with dirt and grease around the sides at water level; smelly - chlorine smells pungent once it has reacted with pollutants; overcrowded - the water treatment and filtration may be overwhelmed; Underfilled - water should lap continuously into the grilles around the edge of the pool or into holes or overflow channels in the pool walls. 
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