ATLANTA, May 20 (UPI) -- Inspectors often close U.S. swimming pools due to code violations but health officials say pool inspectors can′t be everywhere so the public should help out.
The Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said data from 121,020 routine pool inspections in 13 states found 12.1 percent identified serious violations that threatened the public′s health and resulted in immediate pool closure.
"Pool inspections are vital to helping state and local government pool programs keep swimmers healthy and safe, but pool inspectors can′t be at every pool every day," Michele Hlavsa, chief of the healthy swimming program at the CDC, says in a statement. "It′s important for people to play an active role in protecting their own health when they swim."
Hlavsa says the CDC encourages swimmers to ensure healthy swimming each time by:
-- Not swimming if you have diarrhea.
-- Not swallowing pool water.
-- Showering with soap before swimming and washing hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on the body end up in the water.
-- Taking children on bathroom breaks and checking diapers often.
-- Changing diapers in a bathroom or a diaper-changing area, not poolside.
-- Washing children thoroughly before swimming.
-- Checking pool water yourself, using test strips purchased at a local store.
-- Asking the pool operator about chlorine and pH levels and the latest pool inspection score.
