National Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week will be celebrated the week before Memorial Day, May 19–25. With the theme of “Healthy and Safe Swimming: We’re in it Together,” the week focuses on simple steps both swimmers and pool operators can take to provide a healthy and safe swimming experience.

Drowning is the fifth leading cause of unintentional injury death for people of all ages. And, young children between the ages of one and four are most at risk for drowning in swimming pools.

The number of deaths and brain damage that result from near drowning incidents can be reduced with water safety measures, including fencing around pools, swimming lessons, life jackets, supervision/lifeguarding and knowledge of CPR.

Pool chemical injuries are a less obvious danger from swimming pools. These chemical injuries generally impact pool operators and home pool owners who don’t observe proper safety rules -- like appropriate personal protective equipment -- when handling chemicals.

Recreational water illnesses are caused by germs in the water of swimming pools, hot tubs, water parks, and in lakes, rivers or oceans. They can also be caused by chemicals both in the water and in the indoor air.

Diarrhea is the most common of these illnesses, and it is often caused by germs like Crypto (short for Cryptosporidium), Giardia, norovirus, Shigella and E. coli O157:H7. Other common illnesses spread through water include skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are most at risk for contracting waterborne illnesses.

Additional information about how to make recreational waters safe and healthy is available through the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/audience-general-public.html.

In Iowa, state law requires that all public pools and whirlpools/spas be tested on a monthly basis. The Hygienic Laboratory tests for total coliform and Pseudomonas aeruginosa for both public and private pools.

Information may be found in our Bacteriological Analyses for Swimming Pools and Whirlpools/Spas PDF.