Canadian scientists have determined the amount of pee in the average swimming pool by using an artificial sweetener known as Acesulfame Potassium — and the results are disturbing.
The average 110,000-gallon swimming pool tested was estimated to contain 8 gallons of urine, and the average 220,000 gallon pool had 18.5 gallons of urine, according to the study of 31 public swimming pools in Canada that was published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters.
One in five Americans admit to having peed in a pool, and even Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps told The Wall Street Journal "everybody" does it.
Although these numbers mean urine only accounts for 7- to 8 thousandths of a percent of the liquid in the average pool, it may not be a trace enough amount to satisfy some pool users.
The study used the amounts of Acesulfame Potassium, or Ace-K, in the water to calculate urine levels because 95 percent of Ace-K doesn’t break down in the body when it is consumed in soup, diet soda, candy, yogurt and other products. The urine level itself can’t be calculated directly at this time, LiveScience says.
Although urine isn’t harmful to people by itself, it can interact with chlorine and other chemicals in the pool to cause compounds that irritate skin and eyes, as well as cause that characteristic “chlorine” smell (chlorine by itself doesn’t have much of an odor, LiveScience reported).
Twitter was appropriately grossed out by the amount of pee scientists say is in swimming pools.
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