Help! Someone Pooped in the Pool

Accidents happen, and thankfully this doesn’t happen often. But, what do you do if it does?

In this article, we are going to assist all of you who might say, “Help! Someone pooped in the pool,” in the near future!You know the saying, “when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.” Fortunately this is usually an accident by the younger crowd, so your mess might not be a huge mess, but it is still something you need to attend to.

We’ve put together the CDC guidelines for you here on how to remove formed poop or diarrhea from your pool and disinfect your pool water:

Close the pool to swimmers.
Put on disposable gloves.
Remove the poop using a net or bucket. Do not vacuum the poop from the pool.
Clean as much poop as possible from the item used to remove the poop and dispose of it in a sanitary manner.
Disinfect the item used to remove the poop by immersing it in the pool during the 30-minute disinfection time described below.
Maintain a proper pH of 7.5 or less.
Remove and dispose of gloves.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and 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.
Confirm that the filtration system is operating properly.
Test your pool water and make sure your pH and chlorine levels are where they should be.
Wait an hour or two to reopen your swimming pool once your levels are normal again.

If the accident was from an older child, consider reviewing pool guidelines the next time you have people in your pool. Tell swimmers to stay out of the water if they are sick with diarrhea or have been diagnosed with Crypto. You also want to remind everyone to go to the bathroom before they get in the pool!