Water samples collected from at least five swimming pools across the city both government and private was all found to be contaminated.
The coliform bacteria presence in one of the private pools in Sanikpuri was the highest (93) and E. coli bacteria were also found in the samples taken from LB Stadium and Melkote Park, Narayanguda.
Every single one of the samples also showed differences in the chlorine levels.
The samples collected by the newspaper were from two GHMC swimming pools in Ameerpet and Secunderabad and one from Melkote Park, Narayanguda, Sainikpuri and LB Stadium.
All samples showed very low levels of chlorine and wide presence of coliform bacteria was found in the sample taken from GHMC Secunderabad, Sainikpuri and GHMC Ameerpet pool.
This public pool water can be a source of harmful germs such as E. coli bacteria and the parasites Cryptos-poridium (crypto) and Giardia, which are likely to spread when there is not an adequate amount of chlorine in the pool, or the pH levels are too low.
Some of the symptoms that may a result from infection of these three organisms include stomach cramps, diarrhoea, nausea, weight loss, vomiting and dehydration.
Chlorine smell:
The smell of chlorine from a swimming pool does not sign of clean pool. “Many people think that when a pool smells of chlorine it means that it’s clean. But that smell is actually chloramines, a substance that results from a mix of chlorine and bacteria, urine and sweat.
Firstly, the inlet water should contain chlorine of 0.5 part per million per liter and the outlet should be of 0.2 part per million. Any presence of bacteria will lead to different ailments. Proper chlorination and regular cleaning of the pools will reduce the production of harmful germs,” said an expert from Indian Preventive Medicine (IPM).