Should You Really Pee in the Swimming Pool? – Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

To pee or not to pee? That is the question adults and children ask themselves every summer.

Each summer, some swimmers (and not just kids!) face a perplexing and some would say mildly gross problem when heading out to public swimming pools. That is, what should you do when you need to pee? If you go to a public pool, do you run the risk of swimming in other peoples pee? And if so, is this safe?

UrologistPetar Bajic, MD, weighs in on whether you should just go, or find yourself a proper restroom. Learn the scientific pros and cons to consider in favor of holding it or not. And just how safe is it to swim in public pools if other people have peed in them?

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If you swim, youve probably at some point considered whether or not to just pee in the pool.

After all, when you gotta go, you gotta go! How you decide is a matter between you and your conscience and your bladder. Here are some facts to guide you.

Urine is 95% water. The other 5% includes byproducts of your digested food and drink, things like:

Absolutely not.

Holding your pee for a few minutes while you get out of the pool and head to the loo might be uncomfortable, but its not dangerous.

But pee isnt generally dangerous either. None of the substances mentioned above in normal urine are present in large enough amounts to be dangerous. So if you decide to go in the pool, or you swim in the diluted urine of someone else, its not harmful.

Urine isnt sterile, but this isnt necessarily a problem. Similar to the surface of the skin and other areas of the body,your bladdercontains a mix of healthy bacteria calledthe microbiome.Urine from the bladder can alsopick up bacteria from your urethra or your genitals on the way out.These bacteria, just like those that live on the skin or in the mouth, are generally not considered harmful, andmost swimming pools are treated with chlorine and other chemicals to reduce the risk of passing any diseases to others.

So the answer to the age-old question of whether you should pee in the pool or not?

Its largely about following the golden rule: Do unto others as you would like done to you.

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Should You Really Pee in the Swimming Pool? - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic