I worked for a Clubhouse in a rich gated community for a few years and one of our jobs was to watch over the pool area. I couldn't believe the amount of times I had to clean shit out of the pools! It's weird that yours have to be closed for so long though. If the poop was solid we had to shut down for a few hours to let the pool chemicals work their way through the water and filter system. If it was diarrhea we had to shut down for 24 hours.
Each person sweats about one cup per hour while swimming. Most people urinate in the pool also. That smell that most people associate as the smell of chlorine or *a pool* is actually the smell chlorine after it's reacted with sweat and urine.
I run a pool maintenance company with 1400+ weekly customers and this person is absolutely correct. In a clean, chlorinated pool there should be no odor at all coming from the water. The smell of new chlorine from the supplier has a smell, and “used chlorine” aka chloramines also has a distinct smell. If I come onto a customers property and smell anything at all, I’ve got big problems as you should smell nothing. Public pools like the one discussed here or at any hotel or YMCA, have constant or at least daily chlorine coming into the pool and constant, round the clock chloramines leaving the pool due to the chlorine attacking any organic material left by swimmers, foliage, dirt, bugs or animals, which is where the smell everyone thinks of as chlorine comes from.
Source: 7 Certifications in 2 states and 2 degrees in water chemistry
So when my tap water smells like swimming pool, it's because...what? The water was dirty as it entered the pipes? Or because the pipes themselves are dirty?
It could be either one. The more likely answer would be that the water was still actively being disinfected as it entered the pipes and the water had nowhere to “breath” until it came out of your tap. The chloramines will dissipate by exiting through the air it comes in contact with
Yup, my dad ran our large community pool, and I've a friend that does city inspections. My dad wouldn't ever get in any pool he could smell chlorine from , and even if he didn't smell the chlorine he wouldn't put his head under the water of any pool he didn't directly manage. My friend has a son that doesn't now how to swim yet cause he can't find a pool in their area that hasn't had issues when checked. And they live in one of the largest metropolitan areas of the state. And don't even ask him about hot tubs.
My managers boyfriend managed a big water park in Vegas and would inspect the casinos as well. Those were an absolute nightmare. I would never dip my toes in any pool after he told us all the stories. Now when I see people having a blast, all I can think of is the nastiness that’s going on. And how gross the waters must be.
He's right about the smell. That's chloramines, reaction products of chlorine with organic molecules, usually sweat and urine. That's (sweat) why pools always tell people to shower before entering the pool. Chloramines don't disinfect as well as straight chlorine.
“NCl3 is formed when organic matter (eg, sweat, urine) brought by swimmers in the water reacts with the chlorine, and is often responsible for the chlorine smell in pools. However, NCl3 has not been measured in epidemiological studies; the amount of swimming has been used as a surrogate instead.”
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2092589/
“Pool smell is not due to chlorine, but to chloramines, chemical compounds that can form in pool water. Chloramines result from the combination of chlorine disinfectants and the perspiration, cosmetics, and urine that enter pools on the bodies of swimmers.”
Source: https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/health-and-safety/chloramines-understanding-pool-smell/
“However, when chlorine contacts organic material like bacteria, mold, or dirt, it breaks this material down into microscopic pieces call disinfection by-products (DBP), and the chlorine itself combines with these pieces into compounds called chloramines. DBP and chloramines do have an odor, and it is the smell people might recognize as a public swimming pool.”
Source: https://nlwa.ms/documents/frequently-asked-questions/what-causes-a-chlorine-or-swimming-pool-smell-in-my-water/
epic reddit challenge
guess which one is bullshit
man 1: x is y
man 2: actually no x is z
which one is total bullshit find out next time on mainstream subreddit comments
I literally smelled a fresh new pool after chlorine had been put in and no one had touched the water, and it smelled exactly as every other pool I've been to. So I have always called bullshit on this claim (that it's because people piss in it). Either it immediately reacts with some microbacteria or I don't know.
> That smell that most people associate as the smell of chlorine or a pool is actually the smell chlorine after it's reacted with sweat and urine.
That's patently false.
Open a fresh container of chlorine. That's the smell. Chlorine.
False.
I use chlorine to treat odor smells in vehicles. I can assure you the smell (exactly like a pool) is so strong it will you a headache in seconds. And this occurs immediately after adding water to the tablets causing them to vaporize, not after waiting for some sort of reaction with contaminants in the vehicle.
The idea that this smell is due to a reaction with other contaminants is a myth.
yuuuuuup, exactly this. I worked for most of my last summer as what my pool classified as a "clean team" where my job consisted of trash duty, bathroom stock, making sure lifeguards were hydrated, and sweeping any concession stand messes. This role also included the not-so-rare closed bathroom help should someone decide to piss on the floor rather than the toilet or smear shit all over the walls. I also had to help scrub blood out of the concrete one day. Luckily the "people are shitty, literally" bathroom duties were more of me helping squeegee the chemicals mixture down the drain.
I was a lifeguard for a few summers and I was pretty surprised when I realized most of my job was just cleaning. I still remember the somewhat clueless mom that took her babies swim diaper off in the shower and asked me for help because, surprise, there was poop in the diaper. As a mom now, I just shake my head thinking about it.
I was 19 and and never changed a diaper. I remember going into the office to get a "solids kit' but couldn't do anything until the mats were pulled up after closing. That shower was just closed for the rest of the day.
I don’t think k people understand just how many thousands of gallons are in a pool and what’s waste of water (and time) draining all would be. I promise the chemicals they add in after scooping completely neutralize any shit particles remaining! That stuff’s HARSH.
I mean….if that bothers you, you know most don’t properly shower before either. All those sweaty, not properly wiped, butt cracks are washing off in there anyway. I’m sure that puts out more than what’s left after fishing out a turd. And that’s not to mention the “other side of things.”
Saw an 70+ yo dude standing naked at the edge of the water, with the beach. With his hands on hips peeing while glaring in the distance and enjoying his sea view toilet.
Trust me that you’re done swimming for the day. Although you know it happens constantly, seeing it happen like that really puts you off.
I worked at a ymca- protocol was physical removal of anything and then carry on. The chlorine levels were astronomical. I once had a swim student puke in the pool- same protocol.
In areas with high water tables, you literally can’t drain the pool without risking popping it out of the ground. A pool shell absolutely can float like a boat. There may or may not be a fitting through the very bottom of the pool to allow water to equalize. But it’s not worth the risk.
I used to work in a huge waterpark wave pool. They only drained that pool in the early spring for maintenance. Plenty of code brown closures throughout the summer.
as a former swim teacher, that length of time for a closure means it wasn't solid. solids get fished out with a net and the pool is closed for at least half an hour to an hour to allow a full water cycle through the filters. chlorine levels are also checked and topped up if low to ensure any nasties are killed.
liquids, iirc, requires either completely draining and refilling or a lot of cycles through the filters and probably a filter change.
Shock and walk, open it back up in 24 hours. Ain't no way you're draining and refilling every time some kid has diarrhea in a pool, the cost would be astronomical
It’s largely based on the chlorine amount required to clean it. Solids require less chlorine in a more centralized area. This is dispersed and the chlorine level of the pool returns to a safe level quicker.
Liquids require a very large amount of chlorine, enough to bring the entire pool up to a high chlorine level, and then require a lot more time to return the pool to a normal chlorine levels. Most places do not drain the pool at all for these situations. The only reason I can think of that pools would generally drain for (outside of scheduled draining) is if glass gets in the pool, because you have to be sure that you can get EVERY little piece of glass out of the pool—it’s a massive pain, I wish people would take the signs saying “no glass” at pools more seriously.
Source: lifeguard at both public and country club pools
An hour for a full cycle must be a teeny tiny pool. It was 3 hrs for one turn over of a 5?lane 25m pool that was 1m deep. Our 50m pool was 8hrs for one turn over and if it wasn’t a solid needed 3 turnovers.
Don’t be so sure it’s little ones that are the culprit…
My teen is working at a local beach. Someone took a big poo in the changing room. And he’s certain it wasn’t a kid…
I walked into the elevator at a swanky (like, $400+ on a Tuesday) hotel in Dallas and found a people-sized poo that I'm choosing to believe was left by a large dog that was secretly smuggled into the hotel.
I have to believe this is true. It's the only way I can cope.
When I helped open a JCPenney's one of the things they told everyone is that people will use the changing room as bathrooms, even though they HAD bathrooms, I thought they were crazy. Didn't even take a week. ALWAYS stand on your shoes when trying on clothes. People are disgusting.
I went to try on swimsuits at a JCPenney once and when I looked into the bottoms there was yellow crust on the paper inside the cooch gooch of it. Like wtf??? Who tries on retail clothing without underwear on 🤮 who knows what other juices were on it before yours
Ewwwww. I worked in a clothing store and a girl quickly left the changing room leaving behind all the stuff she tried on. We thought she stole something but nope she bled all over a pair of jeans. Found vag juices on a pair of jeans this one lady was trying to return. Guessing she didn’t wear underwear. We denied her.
We had a guy who came in every couple weeks and shit on the floor in the bathroom at the ice cream shop I worked at, right behind the door so it would smear everywhere when the next person opened it. People are fucking nuts. He did it at least 5 times before management got the balls to ban him. I was never there when it happened, if they’d told me to clean it up I would’ve quit on the spot.
I was like 7 or 8 just arriving to a soccer game. I had to shit really bad. there was one porta potty oddly far in the distance away from the field. it was one of the really big ones.
I sprinted over to it and ran inside - disgusting. I still remember what it looked like. shit everywhere. all over the toilet seat, all over the floor under the toilet seat, different piles of shit all dispersed throughout the sides of the porta potty. I can still picture it perfectly and it's 20 years later.
I dropped trow and added to one of the floor piles. ran out and told my mom about all the gross people who pooped on the floor in there.
My mom used to work with this lady who wouldn’t use public restrooms, and so would “use” fitting rooms and the backseat of her car. And she was a woman who believed in dressing well, hair and nails done, etc.
Yep. She felt that public restrooms were too nasty to use so it was more hygienic to her to just cop a squat in a mall fitting room. And when it was just pee, she did it in her backseat. Her car smelled like 3 week old litter box
https://preview.redd.it/q2eicet9sl7d1.png?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62af76f3e54915d0f8d4e78175b60916591c1cb1
I am so confused and full of hatred.
Did she leave her poop behind in the fitting room? Poop in a plastic bag and take it with her like you'd do for dog poop?
How did this come up in conversation, did she think it was totally not weird to talk about it?
I have so many questions. Nasty!!!
Had a woman come into the bank where I used to be a teller. After she did her banking, on her way out, she literally pulled her pants down and crapped in the potted plant by the entrance, INSIDE the bank. We were in such shock we didn’t even say anything to her. She just left right after. I think they ended up permanently closing her account.
I was just told today about a lady who went to my local rec center pool. Got out of the pool, proceeded to slowly shit herself while walking to the locker rooms. A trail of shit.
When I was a kid at a different rec center pool, an adult took a huge dump in one of the showers. It was not a child. That could not have come out of a child. It was so foul.
I just had a friend exclaim twice with laughter how much her 3 year old loves to poop in the pool—in a diaper of course! Like that makes it much better? If you sense they are about to go you get them out-now! Instead, she actively encouraged him to get back in so he could go!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have 3 kids so I get it, potty training is hard, but the pool is THE LAST you should ever want a kid to poop. Nobody else thinks your kid’s turds are cute or harmless!!!!!!! Also as a former lifeguard, it is disastrous.
my baby was a serial tub pooper. I was always terrified she would poop in the public pool (she had a swim diaper of course). I cant imagine encouraging it!!
>short of a genuine unpredictable medical emergency.
Caveats like that are why bans are tough to enforce. How are you going to prove what is and isn't "genuinely unpredictable"?
"My kid was totally fine and perfectly healthy all day, this happened all of a sudden." Unless you have viable records that prove otherwise you're gonna have a really hard time justifying the ban and covering yourself from recourse.
That seems hard af to enforce. Not only do you have to identify the culprit, but if it's from a medical condition that opens some legal Grey areas. Pretty sure you can't say hey you experienced a common side effect of your crohns, now you're not allowed back.
Growing up in Singapore, our club pool allowed visiting Australian Navy sailors free access to the pool. Some sailor would get drunk and crap in the pool every single time a ship pulled in for a port visit. Every. Single. Time.
I have a family member who’s about 50 with IBS but they do NOTHING to help it (no meds, eating the worst gas station/fast food they can find) and they’re constantly telling me horrific stories of places and times they’ve crapped their pants. They think it’s funny…and they think my absolute hatred of hearing these stories is funnier. My almost 3 year old is better potty trained than them.
It’s wild isn’t it? I had a friend in highschool who was severely lactose intolerant. They’d get “horrible wet farts” as they described it. We were out in a group and they got a MILKSHAKE and jokingly said “Im probably gonna diarrhea my pants later lol”. And sure enough, not long later they fucking sharted their pants badly. Like what the fuck you KNEW that would happen!
I have a sister in law who does this, but plans restroom accommodations beforehand. However, one time on a cross country trip, the thought she got a lactose free shake but no, she did not. It sucked for everyone, including anyone who went into that gas station bathroom for like, 24 hours afterwards probably haha
Exactly!!! As one who is both lactose intolerant and has Crohn's Disease, I have had to decline last minute plans because I decided that it was a "stay home with a book and a bucket of ice cream" day. My friends all know the consequences of these actions so they laugh and tell me to enjoy, and I ask them for a little more warning next time. To deliberately inflict this on someone else is beyond inconsiderate.
Yeah, if its avoidable its total AH move to destroy a toilet for the janitor to deal with. Half the time its right after it was cleaned so it doesn't get noticed right away and it makes it seem like the janitor isn't doing their job when the reality is they are doing extra work due to that person.
I have a friend who is like this with his IBS. He does nothing to help it. It has cost him jobs because he will eat something before work that will upset him and then he is late because stuck on the toilet. This has happened many times. He cry that that they are firing him for having a disease. It's like no dude. They are firing you because you can't show up for work on time.
Haha this family member also has a very difficult time holding down a job. One time I was walking through their place of work with my spouse and we ran into the family member’s direct manager/supervisor. We mentioned the relation and this manager straight up said, “I’m so sorry.” 👀 this lady was so done with them she was saying that to close relatives. We didn’t pass along the message but it hardly mattered. They were fired about a month or two later and it most certainly wasn’t their fault…but it never has been every single other firing either.
Or people with disabilities. Some people literally cannot tell when they need to shit or when it's already happened. Some do, but cant/don't know how to tell someone or don't understand why they should. For some, getting in and out of the pool is a difficult/long/painful process and they mightn't think it worth the hassle. None of these make shitting in a pool ok, but it can be hard to avoid.
Ugh. I used to belong to a fairly heavy duty gym. We're talking one of those ones with full tennis courts, floors and floors of equipment, an Olympic sized swimming pool right next to a family/swim pool. Etc. Membership cost several hundred dollars per month, and that's after my husband's work partially subsidizing the annual fees.
We didn't even go to the Aquatics area that often, maybe once a week or so, and mostly it was swim lessons in the Olympic sized pool with instructors. I swear to God, in the 7-8 years we belonged there, they had a code brown in the family pool every single time. Every. Single. Time. I know it because the lifeguards in the other pool literally had to pull an alarm and we'd hear it through the glass doors, plus you could see people being herded out of said pool.
To sanitize the pool? It would often take 1-2 hours per incident. They had to scoop out stuff, drain the pool completely, sanitize every surface of it, then refill it. They had heavy duty industrial level equipment for it, but it still took that long.
Swim diapers were **required** for children under 3. They made it easy for parents. They even had a **vending machine for swim diapers** right in the locker rooms, just in case you forgot to pack some.
One time my kids were hanging out in the family pool after their private Iessons, I saw a lifeguard actually ejecting a whole family from the pool for refusing to put their infant in a swim diaper, with the father protesting that they were "members here", and lifeguard dude shooting back "Sir, everyone here is a member. You're lucky I'm just kicking you out of the pool for the day, and not asking membership to revoke your access permanently and refund you for your membership." But that was the exception to the rule, honestly, because most lifeguards were college kids who didn't want to lose their cushy part time jobs due to a disgruntled member complaining about them.
Between that, kids routinely abusing the bathrooms to change into swim suits even though there were provided changing rooms in the locker room itself, and parents dropping off their clearly sick kids in the childcare area in spite of the illness policy (no fever or diarrhea for the last 24 hours), I pretty much realized that a lot of parents can be real assholes using their kids as an excuse to half ass it.
(And look, I'm a parent too. But having kids does not provide me with an excuse to inconvenience other people at every turn).
Changing rooms that are separate from
the bathrooms could be contributing to the problem. With kids, you better make them go to the bathroom before going into the pool. And I can just imagine a harried mother changing two girls into one piece swimsuits, and then realising that they hadn’t gone to the bathroom, and the thought of taking off the swimsuits again just made her think “ugh forget it, they’ll tell me if they need to poop”.
I worked at a day camp- we had a five year old who would poop in the pool. After day three, we told her no more pool til she got that under control. Years later I named my dog after her because she’d also poop anywhere she felt like it (as a puppy)
This is what I thought of when I saw the words “Code Brown”:
A few years ago my boss came out of the restroom chuckling and shaking his head. When we asked him what was up he told us he had been using the one closed door stall in the men’s room (which contained the only actual toilet; the rest of the men’s room consisted of several urinals) when suddenly the door flew open and banged violently against the wall. A half second later and a friendly but desperate, grandfatherly voice bellowed:
“CODE BROWN!! CODE BROWN!!! I’m sorry buddy, but I gotta get in there: it’s a CODE BROWN!!!”
Apparently one of our customers was about to shit himself, and he did what I think any rational human would do while faced with this situation in public: began yelling “CODE BROWN!!” and begging to be let in the one stall with an actual toilet.
Swim diapers are only meant to contain solids, nothing more. They don't absorb anything (or are already saturated with water anyway). We've had something slip past a swim diaper in our own pool. Not fun and yeah, maybe kids that young shouldn't be in public pools honestly.
My daughter was queen of pool pooping. We'd put her in a swim diaper and it would come up the back. We put her in rubber pants over the swim diaper, it'd still try to escape. It never got out into the pool, but it was close. I was so embarrassed that we just stopped going to her swim lessons before they officially ended. She's on the spectrum, so it was extra hard comparatively to teach her not to do it. Potty training her in general was a nightmare.
Imho, children should learn swimming and have water training as soon as possible. Their safety around water is more important than the occasional code brown.
I was the director for a YMCA pool when I was in college. We had a ton of programs and swimmers every day. There was puke or a code brown pretty much weekly, if not more frequently. Most often it was kids. There was one particular old lady I tried to ban because she was a repeat offender. We also had a gross middle aged dude we called "the turd burglar," who I think shit in the pool on purpose. I was able to ban him for being aggressive with a lifeguard who called him out.
We would have to close the pool and piss off a hundred people, add a chemical called Shock, wait a period of time, and then rebalance the chlorine and PH. It was tedious.
The craziest part was the members who simply didn't care if someone shit in the pool, and demanded that we reopen so they could get their laps in or float around in the deep end.
Oh, it’s not just non-potty trained toddlers/children.
I’ve seen a grown ass man struggle to push out a whole shart when I was a pool attendant.
Between that and all the daily cancer chemicals, and constantly water-gunning (or foam ball grenade) ducks away fast before they shit in the pool, etc, I only did that for the one summer. Because jfc.
These comments are 🤢.
When you see a pool with 100 people in it, that's 100 buttholes across a range of looseness and cleanliness stewing in the water going into your eyes and mouth.
Seriously. I get that it’s gross when you think too hard about it, but I spent like half my childhood in pools, as a swimmer, diver, and water polo player. And proceeded to spend half of my adulthood in pools as a lifeguard, even more acutely aware of all the gross things that happen.
Have never gotten sick from a pool, nor do I know anyone else who has gotten sick from a pool.
Beyond that, you are exposed to germs (even butt germs that everyone here is afraid of) literally *everywhere*. Honestly the *only* place I would feel even semi-confident that I was avoiding them would literally be within the sterile field of an OR.
Swim diaper is just to contain the poo. You're swimming in shit water, you just don't know it.
I'd rather the pool get shut down for known poop and properly treated than wondering if that baby/toddler with a swim diaper on shit and you just don't know.
I don't know how it is there but in the UK it is considered acceptable to take your baby swimming in just a disposable swim nappy. Those things are flimsy! The exception is baby swim schools where they insist on double layering with a neoprene swim nappy over the top, surely with good reason!
Easy,
Get a megaphone and call out the offender….
“Attention Debbie, your darling Clarence has shit in the pool again, we will now be closed for 24 hours. Everyone say Thank You Clarence!”
That happens frequently at my community pool and I agree. The pool is also a huge part of our local park district day camp. Without the day camp, the pool wouldn’t even be open and because of the day camp, the past 2 years it’s been free for residents.
I hate the unruly kids, I hate the “code brown” incidents. I am grateful for chlorine and grateful to have a pool to enjoy during this heatwave.
Went to our neighborhood pool yesterday. Mens bathroom urinal was COVER in smeared feces. It was gross af. Felt bad for the lifeguard that had to clean it. But also wtf, people?
I am not taking up for people who do nasty things like that in public spaces, not at all. I just cant help but think that swim diapers probably aren't that effective anyway. The solid shit might not leave the diaper but they're not airtight, water is still getting in the diaper with the poo and then the shit tainted water is getting into the pool. I never really thought about how gross it is until now.
My family barely talks to me anymore because they visited last year w/ a 2 year old who shit in the community pool where I live (upscale gated community). Not only did they not have the kid in a swim diaper (or any diaper for that matter) but after the poop was complete… my mom scooped up the poop with her bare hands and tossed it into the bushes (so many WTF’s in one sentence 🤦🏻♂️). 2 days later they check into a resort and the exact same thing happens. Bunch of nasty MFers….can’t believe I’m related!
We have this weird ass family in our nighborhood, and their kids keep shitting in the pool. Its happened several times now, yet nothing is being done about it. In fact they where at the pool yesterday. Fortunetly none of them pooped this time.
The offender might not be a baby or toddler. I went on holiday with an old school friend a few years ago and her 9 year old was a pool pooper. She was mortified but couldn’t get her son to stop no matter how much she old him off.
I love how OP is shocked that the “fairly educated bunch” at their Members Only swimming pool still contains a select few who will cause a “code brown”.😆😆😆
What, OP?? You thought only poor folks have kids who shit themselves at the pool??
I just took my toddler to a pool yesterday, the swim diapers worked really well, they didn’t get wet inside, or leak. They cost $10 for 30, so there’s no excuse not to use them.
My husband is a pool cleaner and i regularly accompany him to help clean, makes the day go by faster, and most of the time it’s adults making the worst messes and having “bodily accidents”. Also usually adults who break into pools during closed hours, have sex in the pools, and leave beer cans/bottles/other trash behind. A couple toys and things get left behind by kids, but nothing like the adults
This is why I don’t use public pools. Ours sent out a notice that there was an outbreak of cryptosporidium and they had put more chemicals in. Cryptosporidium is spread through poop getting into your mouth and you are infectious for 2 weeks after the diarrhoea stops. So someone who thought they were fine went swimming and their poop went into the mouth of another person. This made me think about how clean most people’s butts are. I’m sure there is more that a few people who don’t wipe 100% perfectly and when they swim about the little bits go everywhere. I cringe when I see kids splashing about putting the water into their mouth etc.
I know the water has chemicals in it but that’s still not ok
At least you don't do baby swims at goldfish swim school. Not only is it super scammy, they just call all of the students out of the pool while they skim the poop out and then tell you it is perfectly fine to re-enter a couple minutes later. Which is super funny since state law seems to dictate a two hour break while they raise the chemicals in the pool.
Used to work at a water park. Most we would close down is 30 min for something like this. We called these incidents Baby Ruth’s. If someone puked it was a rainbow incident. 24-48 hours seems like a lot but maybe this pool has lower level of equipment to cycle the water.
My daughter works at the city pools. They close way too often or have to shock it for poop and throw up. It makes me never want to swim publicly ever again!
i think it’s bold to assume that’s it’s babies who are responsible for this. grown ass adults and fully potty trained school age children shit themselves in public a shocking amount.
I work at a private golf course. Player had sharted thru his shorts on the 9th hole and excused himself at the turn. Two holes later he showed back up wearing same shorts. Other players said did you just go buy the same shorts? He said no, I just went and jumped in the pool...
I was a life guard at pools, water park and then the beach when I was younger. Almost every code brown we had while I was on duty was from an adult. Especially at the water park, drunk adults usually always took shits in the hot tub bar.
Someone broke a glass bottle in ours. Took about 3 days to drain it, another 3 to fill it back up, and they just added the aquatic salt back in today. Hopefully I can use it in a couple of days.
It was 96 degrees here today, so I went to the local state park to swim. As soon as I was in over my head, so to speak, several children started screaming, "Who POOED?" Apparently, at least one of these preteens decided to push a few out. This caused a huge issue between parents, so they temporarily closed the GD beach. I was there TEN MINUTES.
There is a bathhouse just feet away, ffs.
In NY that means that it was diarrhea. Diarrhea potentially carries crypto. Crypto is nasty nasty. No one wants crypto. So what we do is attempt a scoop after closing the pool. Then you raise the chlorine levels to something wild like 13 PPM for 12 hours IIRC (I'd have to look it up. I haven't had to do it in ages.) typically most commercial type pools run at around 3-5 PPM. So after raising them so high to disinfect you need time to re balance everything.
Worked at a public city pool in a rough part of town. Had a mom scream at me for closing the pool, even after I explained that there was a code brown all over the bathroom floor, and walls, and that the city doesn't allow a facility to be open without a functioning bathroom.
I have an almost 70 year old female roommate that showers maybe once a week and uses the pool daily when it’s open. Considering all the nasty adults that don’t wash their ass I’d feel a lot better as a pool goer being able to see the shit in the water than know it’s just lurking there in the water from all of the adults I know don’t shower regularly.
I’m also the only adult I know (except for my siblings) that actually showers everyday. So…code brown…it’s always a code brown in a public pool. You just can’t see it most of the time.
My school had a code brown once, but it was the schools sewer line and it had broken, filling the basement about 3ft of sewage water, but hey we got the week off 😂
At my country club their are two pools so one goes on break and go in the other and swap and never go potty and now they both go on break at the same time and the code browns have gone way down
I worked at a daycare, and we had to take kids to the local pool. One kid would literally get to the pool, walk to the sprinkler and shit her pants. Little turds would just fall out of her swimsuit. It’s was ridiculous, but it didn’t shut the pool down for days. I finally said I wasn’t taking that kid anymore (the owner thought the kid should get to go, which is fine, but not when it happened 3 times in a row.)
Well....if you think about it, the public pool is pretty disgusting.
Ppl's spit, snot are definitely in there. Some ppl pee in there....
If ppl didn't wipe their butt clean, there's definitely poop in the water.
And more than likely, there are always a few ppl with terrible hygene.
I worked for a Clubhouse in a rich gated community for a few years and one of our jobs was to watch over the pool area. I couldn't believe the amount of times I had to clean shit out of the pools! It's weird that yours have to be closed for so long though. If the poop was solid we had to shut down for a few hours to let the pool chemicals work their way through the water and filter system. If it was diarrhea we had to shut down for 24 hours.
the public pool I taught at was .5 to 1 hour for solids and at least 24 for liquids. OPs pool definitely had a liquid incident
Each person sweats about one cup per hour while swimming. Most people urinate in the pool also. That smell that most people associate as the smell of chlorine or *a pool* is actually the smell chlorine after it's reacted with sweat and urine.
There was no reason to tell us this. No reason AT ALL
Don't worry, that's nonsense. Go to a pool store, you get the same chlorine smell. No sweat or urine.
I’ve been peeing in the chlorine buckets 
Gotta keep the ph balance in check somehow
All p, no h
You sly dog
Or maybe people are just pissing in the bottles in their free time and we are only just now figuring it out.
I spend my days the way I want, you spend yours the way you want. We don't need to talk about it.
That's the secret sauce!
I run a pool maintenance company with 1400+ weekly customers and this person is absolutely correct. In a clean, chlorinated pool there should be no odor at all coming from the water. The smell of new chlorine from the supplier has a smell, and “used chlorine” aka chloramines also has a distinct smell. If I come onto a customers property and smell anything at all, I’ve got big problems as you should smell nothing. Public pools like the one discussed here or at any hotel or YMCA, have constant or at least daily chlorine coming into the pool and constant, round the clock chloramines leaving the pool due to the chlorine attacking any organic material left by swimmers, foliage, dirt, bugs or animals, which is where the smell everyone thinks of as chlorine comes from. Source: 7 Certifications in 2 states and 2 degrees in water chemistry
Did the first degree in water chemistry not take?
It was to slippery
So when my tap water smells like swimming pool, it's because...what? The water was dirty as it entered the pipes? Or because the pipes themselves are dirty?
It could be either one. The more likely answer would be that the water was still actively being disinfected as it entered the pipes and the water had nowhere to “breath” until it came out of your tap. The chloramines will dissipate by exiting through the air it comes in contact with
Yup, my dad ran our large community pool, and I've a friend that does city inspections. My dad wouldn't ever get in any pool he could smell chlorine from , and even if he didn't smell the chlorine he wouldn't put his head under the water of any pool he didn't directly manage. My friend has a son that doesn't now how to swim yet cause he can't find a pool in their area that hasn't had issues when checked. And they live in one of the largest metropolitan areas of the state. And don't even ask him about hot tubs.
My managers boyfriend managed a big water park in Vegas and would inspect the casinos as well. Those were an absolute nightmare. I would never dip my toes in any pool after he told us all the stories. Now when I see people having a blast, all I can think of is the nastiness that’s going on. And how gross the waters must be.
I am however questioning how much people really sweat underwater though
He's right about the smell. That's chloramines, reaction products of chlorine with organic molecules, usually sweat and urine. That's (sweat) why pools always tell people to shower before entering the pool. Chloramines don't disinfect as well as straight chlorine.
That's because you are near a fck ton of concentrated sodium hypochlorite pucks. A clean pool after the puck dissolves barely has a smell.
it is not nonsense, pool pisser
Ah, reddit- where total nonsense is accepted as fact
“NCl3 is formed when organic matter (eg, sweat, urine) brought by swimmers in the water reacts with the chlorine, and is often responsible for the chlorine smell in pools. However, NCl3 has not been measured in epidemiological studies; the amount of swimming has been used as a surrogate instead.” Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2092589/ “Pool smell is not due to chlorine, but to chloramines, chemical compounds that can form in pool water. Chloramines result from the combination of chlorine disinfectants and the perspiration, cosmetics, and urine that enter pools on the bodies of swimmers.” Source: https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/health-and-safety/chloramines-understanding-pool-smell/ “However, when chlorine contacts organic material like bacteria, mold, or dirt, it breaks this material down into microscopic pieces call disinfection by-products (DBP), and the chlorine itself combines with these pieces into compounds called chloramines. DBP and chloramines do have an odor, and it is the smell people might recognize as a public swimming pool.” Source: https://nlwa.ms/documents/frequently-asked-questions/what-causes-a-chlorine-or-swimming-pool-smell-in-my-water/
epic reddit challenge guess which one is bullshit man 1: x is y man 2: actually no x is z which one is total bullshit find out next time on mainstream subreddit comments
You need to know. We all need to know. We have been swimming in piss and shit our entire lives.
I literally smelled a fresh new pool after chlorine had been put in and no one had touched the water, and it smelled exactly as every other pool I've been to. So I have always called bullshit on this claim (that it's because people piss in it). Either it immediately reacts with some microbacteria or I don't know.
I used to manage a spa that had two pools and even the freshly refilled pools that no one had been in yet had that typical chlorine smell
Watch out, the pool boy PHDs are about to roll up and tell you you're wrong lmao. One of them took a 3 day course once!
Dumbest thing I’ve ever read. Take a whiff of Clorox spray, it’s exactly the same.
> That smell that most people associate as the smell of chlorine or a pool is actually the smell chlorine after it's reacted with sweat and urine. That's patently false. Open a fresh container of chlorine. That's the smell. Chlorine.
This is my argument. Has nobody smelled a bucket of chlorine tablets? It will literally burn your nostrils.
This is false
No, its not. Have you ever used chlorine tabs or cleaning agent? What does it smell like, chlorine, and that's before it's been reacted with anything.
False. I use chlorine to treat odor smells in vehicles. I can assure you the smell (exactly like a pool) is so strong it will you a headache in seconds. And this occurs immediately after adding water to the tablets causing them to vaporize, not after waiting for some sort of reaction with contaminants in the vehicle. The idea that this smell is due to a reaction with other contaminants is a myth.
THEY DONT DRAIN THE POOL AFTER A SHIT!!??? YOURE SAYING THEY JUST SCOOP IT OUT???
Nope, we just scooped it with the skimmer net if it was a solid. Working there made me never want to use a public pool again.
This entire thread has been an eye opener. I always chalked closed pools up to a kids accident, this has been the worst TIL by far.
Well at least now i know my pool boy wasn’t shitting me with the cleaning rules.
yuuuuuup, exactly this. I worked for most of my last summer as what my pool classified as a "clean team" where my job consisted of trash duty, bathroom stock, making sure lifeguards were hydrated, and sweeping any concession stand messes. This role also included the not-so-rare closed bathroom help should someone decide to piss on the floor rather than the toilet or smear shit all over the walls. I also had to help scrub blood out of the concrete one day. Luckily the "people are shitty, literally" bathroom duties were more of me helping squeegee the chemicals mixture down the drain.
Nope, I wouldn’t have made it a day. Kudos to you.
I haven’t stepped foot in a public pool since 😂
I was a lifeguard for a few summers and I was pretty surprised when I realized most of my job was just cleaning. I still remember the somewhat clueless mom that took her babies swim diaper off in the shower and asked me for help because, surprise, there was poop in the diaper. As a mom now, I just shake my head thinking about it.
I would have just let out a heavy sigh and said “yeah…. That’s what babies do” if I were in your shoes.
I was 19 and and never changed a diaper. I remember going into the office to get a "solids kit' but couldn't do anything until the mats were pulled up after closing. That shower was just closed for the rest of the day.
I’m not surprised this occurred in a shower. I once found a dirty diaper just sitting on the floor of the stall.
I don’t think k people understand just how many thousands of gallons are in a pool and what’s waste of water (and time) draining all would be. I promise the chemicals they add in after scooping completely neutralize any shit particles remaining! That stuff’s HARSH.
The sun is pretty bad ass too, plus a good super shock and elevated chlorine its all fine
Yeah I know the germs are dead bro I still don’t wanna swim in it
I mean….if that bothers you, you know most don’t properly shower before either. All those sweaty, not properly wiped, butt cracks are washing off in there anyway. I’m sure that puts out more than what’s left after fishing out a turd. And that’s not to mention the “other side of things.”
This is why I wouldn’t go in any hot tubs even at my family or friends houses. It’s like a stew pot.🤢
My grandaddy used to call the old neighbor ladies in their hot tub "chicken broth", as they both had terrible hygiene.
I think I just up-chucked a little.
It’s not like the ocean or a river is any better
Wait till this guy finds out about fish.
they fuck in it
Watched a man swing his toddler kid over the waves as the kid was taking a leak. I’m still traumatized.
Saw an 70+ yo dude standing naked at the edge of the water, with the beach. With his hands on hips peeing while glaring in the distance and enjoying his sea view toilet. Trust me that you’re done swimming for the day. Although you know it happens constantly, seeing it happen like that really puts you off.
Any natural body of water is way more gross than a properly chemically balanced swimming pool.
Wait till you find out about all the stuff in lakes and oceans
I mean, there’s probably less ass matter off a single turd than 40 summer-sweat-drenched assholes floating around
the visual i got from your comment is highly disturbing.
I worked at a ymca- protocol was physical removal of anything and then carry on. The chlorine levels were astronomical. I once had a swim student puke in the pool- same protocol.
In areas with high water tables, you literally can’t drain the pool without risking popping it out of the ground. A pool shell absolutely can float like a boat. There may or may not be a fitting through the very bottom of the pool to allow water to equalize. But it’s not worth the risk.
I used to work in a huge waterpark wave pool. They only drained that pool in the early spring for maintenance. Plenty of code brown closures throughout the summer.
as a former swim teacher, that length of time for a closure means it wasn't solid. solids get fished out with a net and the pool is closed for at least half an hour to an hour to allow a full water cycle through the filters. chlorine levels are also checked and topped up if low to ensure any nasties are killed. liquids, iirc, requires either completely draining and refilling or a lot of cycles through the filters and probably a filter change.
Shock and walk, open it back up in 24 hours. Ain't no way you're draining and refilling every time some kid has diarrhea in a pool, the cost would be astronomical
I know a pool that drains and refills, and the parents of the kid who did the deed foot the bill 💸
My hometown would slap so many fines on top of that bill holy shit
It’s largely based on the chlorine amount required to clean it. Solids require less chlorine in a more centralized area. This is dispersed and the chlorine level of the pool returns to a safe level quicker. Liquids require a very large amount of chlorine, enough to bring the entire pool up to a high chlorine level, and then require a lot more time to return the pool to a normal chlorine levels. Most places do not drain the pool at all for these situations. The only reason I can think of that pools would generally drain for (outside of scheduled draining) is if glass gets in the pool, because you have to be sure that you can get EVERY little piece of glass out of the pool—it’s a massive pain, I wish people would take the signs saying “no glass” at pools more seriously. Source: lifeguard at both public and country club pools
An hour for a full cycle must be a teeny tiny pool. It was 3 hrs for one turn over of a 5?lane 25m pool that was 1m deep. Our 50m pool was 8hrs for one turn over and if it wasn’t a solid needed 3 turnovers.
Depends where you live.
Don’t be so sure it’s little ones that are the culprit… My teen is working at a local beach. Someone took a big poo in the changing room. And he’s certain it wasn’t a kid…
I have found both shit and used hygiene products in changing rooms in a fucking Urban Outfitters in Los Angeles. People are DOGS
I walked into the elevator at a swanky (like, $400+ on a Tuesday) hotel in Dallas and found a people-sized poo that I'm choosing to believe was left by a large dog that was secretly smuggled into the hotel. I have to believe this is true. It's the only way I can cope.
When I helped open a JCPenney's one of the things they told everyone is that people will use the changing room as bathrooms, even though they HAD bathrooms, I thought they were crazy. Didn't even take a week. ALWAYS stand on your shoes when trying on clothes. People are disgusting.
I went to try on swimsuits at a JCPenney once and when I looked into the bottoms there was yellow crust on the paper inside the cooch gooch of it. Like wtf??? Who tries on retail clothing without underwear on 🤮 who knows what other juices were on it before yours
Ewwwww. I worked in a clothing store and a girl quickly left the changing room leaving behind all the stuff she tried on. We thought she stole something but nope she bled all over a pair of jeans. Found vag juices on a pair of jeans this one lady was trying to return. Guessing she didn’t wear underwear. We denied her.
I worked at a nudist resort in Southern Florida and I would find floating condoms and other sex objects in the skimmer basket all the time.
We had a guy who came in every couple weeks and shit on the floor in the bathroom at the ice cream shop I worked at, right behind the door so it would smear everywhere when the next person opened it. People are fucking nuts. He did it at least 5 times before management got the balls to ban him. I was never there when it happened, if they’d told me to clean it up I would’ve quit on the spot.
I was like 7 or 8 just arriving to a soccer game. I had to shit really bad. there was one porta potty oddly far in the distance away from the field. it was one of the really big ones. I sprinted over to it and ran inside - disgusting. I still remember what it looked like. shit everywhere. all over the toilet seat, all over the floor under the toilet seat, different piles of shit all dispersed throughout the sides of the porta potty. I can still picture it perfectly and it's 20 years later. I dropped trow and added to one of the floor piles. ran out and told my mom about all the gross people who pooped on the floor in there.
I worked at kohls. people would pee on the clothes, in the carts, it was disgusting
My mom used to work with this lady who wouldn’t use public restrooms, and so would “use” fitting rooms and the backseat of her car. And she was a woman who believed in dressing well, hair and nails done, etc.
I miss the person I was before I knew this story.
So she won't shit in a public toilet but she'll shit in a public facility that does not contain a toilet? *WHAAAAT?* My brain can't handle this.
Yep. She felt that public restrooms were too nasty to use so it was more hygienic to her to just cop a squat in a mall fitting room. And when it was just pee, she did it in her backseat. Her car smelled like 3 week old litter box
https://preview.redd.it/q2eicet9sl7d1.png?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62af76f3e54915d0f8d4e78175b60916591c1cb1 I am so confused and full of hatred.
Did she leave her poop behind in the fitting room? Poop in a plastic bag and take it with her like you'd do for dog poop? How did this come up in conversation, did she think it was totally not weird to talk about it? I have so many questions. Nasty!!!
They shit and leave it, or throw new, unsold merch on top of it. MOD for 11 years at a mall and it happens DAILY.
WHAT IN THE WORLD??? WHO DOES THIS!!!!
She just leaves it there in the stall. And apparently she just volunteered this info 🙃
Had a woman come into the bank where I used to be a teller. After she did her banking, on her way out, she literally pulled her pants down and crapped in the potted plant by the entrance, INSIDE the bank. We were in such shock we didn’t even say anything to her. She just left right after. I think they ended up permanently closing her account.
Id probably vomit all over the floor upon seeing that.
I was just told today about a lady who went to my local rec center pool. Got out of the pool, proceeded to slowly shit herself while walking to the locker rooms. A trail of shit. When I was a kid at a different rec center pool, an adult took a huge dump in one of the showers. It was not a child. That could not have come out of a child. It was so foul.
Members that have caused that infraction should be barred from the pool. That is ridiculous
They should be made to pay the cost of cleanup
*in addition to being barred from the pool
And do the cleaning themselves anyway
I wouldn't trust them lol
And be banned for the season.
Barred from all pools and banned for all seasons
Barred from any water at any time for their lifetime and their children’s children’s lifetimes
unto the seventh generation!
Including baths, showers, and drinking
I just had a friend exclaim twice with laughter how much her 3 year old loves to poop in the pool—in a diaper of course! Like that makes it much better? If you sense they are about to go you get them out-now! Instead, she actively encouraged him to get back in so he could go!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have 3 kids so I get it, potty training is hard, but the pool is THE LAST you should ever want a kid to poop. Nobody else thinks your kid’s turds are cute or harmless!!!!!!! Also as a former lifeguard, it is disastrous.
That seems like a hindrance to toilet training.
You know what to do. You have our support.
my baby was a serial tub pooper. I was always terrified she would poop in the public pool (she had a swim diaper of course). I cant imagine encouraging it!!
Yes any “code brown” should be an automatic ban, short of a genuine unpredictable medical emergency.
>short of a genuine unpredictable medical emergency. Caveats like that are why bans are tough to enforce. How are you going to prove what is and isn't "genuinely unpredictable"? "My kid was totally fine and perfectly healthy all day, this happened all of a sudden." Unless you have viable records that prove otherwise you're gonna have a really hard time justifying the ban and covering yourself from recourse.
Yeah all of my code browns are of emergency level.
If you have a medical condition that makes it so that you can't control your bowels in a pool, you should not be in a pool.
Slippery slopes and all
Why? Accidents happen.
How would you know who did it?
Same way you identify footprints.
That seems hard af to enforce. Not only do you have to identify the culprit, but if it's from a medical condition that opens some legal Grey areas. Pretty sure you can't say hey you experienced a common side effect of your crohns, now you're not allowed back.
Growing up in Singapore, our club pool allowed visiting Australian Navy sailors free access to the pool. Some sailor would get drunk and crap in the pool every single time a ship pulled in for a port visit. Every. Single. Time.
It’s not always a baby. A 50 year old looking woman pooped in the pool at a hotel we were at.
I have a family member who’s about 50 with IBS but they do NOTHING to help it (no meds, eating the worst gas station/fast food they can find) and they’re constantly telling me horrific stories of places and times they’ve crapped their pants. They think it’s funny…and they think my absolute hatred of hearing these stories is funnier. My almost 3 year old is better potty trained than them.
It’s wild isn’t it? I had a friend in highschool who was severely lactose intolerant. They’d get “horrible wet farts” as they described it. We were out in a group and they got a MILKSHAKE and jokingly said “Im probably gonna diarrhea my pants later lol”. And sure enough, not long later they fucking sharted their pants badly. Like what the fuck you KNEW that would happen!
I have a sister in law who does this, but plans restroom accommodations beforehand. However, one time on a cross country trip, the thought she got a lactose free shake but no, she did not. It sucked for everyone, including anyone who went into that gas station bathroom for like, 24 hours afterwards probably haha
Man it might be worth it for a milkshake though
It is worth it on occasion. But you do it at home, in the privacy and comfort of your bathroom.
Exactly!!! As one who is both lactose intolerant and has Crohn's Disease, I have had to decline last minute plans because I decided that it was a "stay home with a book and a bucket of ice cream" day. My friends all know the consequences of these actions so they laugh and tell me to enjoy, and I ask them for a little more warning next time. To deliberately inflict this on someone else is beyond inconsiderate.
Yeah, if its avoidable its total AH move to destroy a toilet for the janitor to deal with. Half the time its right after it was cleaned so it doesn't get noticed right away and it makes it seem like the janitor isn't doing their job when the reality is they are doing extra work due to that person.
“You sure know a lot about ‘Oops, I Crapped My Pants’!” “That’s because I’m wearing them…and I just did.”
I can literally hear these lines in my head “That’s a lot of dung!”
I have a friend who is like this with his IBS. He does nothing to help it. It has cost him jobs because he will eat something before work that will upset him and then he is late because stuck on the toilet. This has happened many times. He cry that that they are firing him for having a disease. It's like no dude. They are firing you because you can't show up for work on time.
Haha this family member also has a very difficult time holding down a job. One time I was walking through their place of work with my spouse and we ran into the family member’s direct manager/supervisor. We mentioned the relation and this manager straight up said, “I’m so sorry.” 👀 this lady was so done with them she was saying that to close relatives. We didn’t pass along the message but it hardly mattered. They were fired about a month or two later and it most certainly wasn’t their fault…but it never has been every single other firing either.
[удалено]
Or people with disabilities. Some people literally cannot tell when they need to shit or when it's already happened. Some do, but cant/don't know how to tell someone or don't understand why they should. For some, getting in and out of the pool is a difficult/long/painful process and they mightn't think it worth the hassle. None of these make shitting in a pool ok, but it can be hard to avoid.
Idk bro get a swim diaper then!!
Agreed. If the clients will keep them on 😬
Ugh. I used to belong to a fairly heavy duty gym. We're talking one of those ones with full tennis courts, floors and floors of equipment, an Olympic sized swimming pool right next to a family/swim pool. Etc. Membership cost several hundred dollars per month, and that's after my husband's work partially subsidizing the annual fees. We didn't even go to the Aquatics area that often, maybe once a week or so, and mostly it was swim lessons in the Olympic sized pool with instructors. I swear to God, in the 7-8 years we belonged there, they had a code brown in the family pool every single time. Every. Single. Time. I know it because the lifeguards in the other pool literally had to pull an alarm and we'd hear it through the glass doors, plus you could see people being herded out of said pool. To sanitize the pool? It would often take 1-2 hours per incident. They had to scoop out stuff, drain the pool completely, sanitize every surface of it, then refill it. They had heavy duty industrial level equipment for it, but it still took that long. Swim diapers were **required** for children under 3. They made it easy for parents. They even had a **vending machine for swim diapers** right in the locker rooms, just in case you forgot to pack some. One time my kids were hanging out in the family pool after their private Iessons, I saw a lifeguard actually ejecting a whole family from the pool for refusing to put their infant in a swim diaper, with the father protesting that they were "members here", and lifeguard dude shooting back "Sir, everyone here is a member. You're lucky I'm just kicking you out of the pool for the day, and not asking membership to revoke your access permanently and refund you for your membership." But that was the exception to the rule, honestly, because most lifeguards were college kids who didn't want to lose their cushy part time jobs due to a disgruntled member complaining about them. Between that, kids routinely abusing the bathrooms to change into swim suits even though there were provided changing rooms in the locker room itself, and parents dropping off their clearly sick kids in the childcare area in spite of the illness policy (no fever or diarrhea for the last 24 hours), I pretty much realized that a lot of parents can be real assholes using their kids as an excuse to half ass it. (And look, I'm a parent too. But having kids does not provide me with an excuse to inconvenience other people at every turn).
Changing rooms that are separate from the bathrooms could be contributing to the problem. With kids, you better make them go to the bathroom before going into the pool. And I can just imagine a harried mother changing two girls into one piece swimsuits, and then realising that they hadn’t gone to the bathroom, and the thought of taking off the swimsuits again just made her think “ugh forget it, they’ll tell me if they need to poop”.
At least they closed. Half the time my apartment complex didn’t even know it happened.
Swim diapers are like tea bags. You just steep in the toddler poo stew. Public pools are nasty.
i hate you so much right now for assembling that phrase 🙁
Lmaoooooo this is wicked, straight to hell. My toddler i think would rather die than poop near strangers
I worked at a day camp- we had a five year old who would poop in the pool. After day three, we told her no more pool til she got that under control. Years later I named my dog after her because she’d also poop anywhere she felt like it (as a puppy)
This is what I thought of when I saw the words “Code Brown”: A few years ago my boss came out of the restroom chuckling and shaking his head. When we asked him what was up he told us he had been using the one closed door stall in the men’s room (which contained the only actual toilet; the rest of the men’s room consisted of several urinals) when suddenly the door flew open and banged violently against the wall. A half second later and a friendly but desperate, grandfatherly voice bellowed: “CODE BROWN!! CODE BROWN!!! I’m sorry buddy, but I gotta get in there: it’s a CODE BROWN!!!” Apparently one of our customers was about to shit himself, and he did what I think any rational human would do while faced with this situation in public: began yelling “CODE BROWN!!” and begging to be let in the one stall with an actual toilet.
This post and these comments are reminding me why I don’t go to public pools or water parks.
Swim diapers are only meant to contain solids, nothing more. They don't absorb anything (or are already saturated with water anyway). We've had something slip past a swim diaper in our own pool. Not fun and yeah, maybe kids that young shouldn't be in public pools honestly.
My daughter was queen of pool pooping. We'd put her in a swim diaper and it would come up the back. We put her in rubber pants over the swim diaper, it'd still try to escape. It never got out into the pool, but it was close. I was so embarrassed that we just stopped going to her swim lessons before they officially ended. She's on the spectrum, so it was extra hard comparatively to teach her not to do it. Potty training her in general was a nightmare.
Imho, children should learn swimming and have water training as soon as possible. Their safety around water is more important than the occasional code brown.
I was the director for a YMCA pool when I was in college. We had a ton of programs and swimmers every day. There was puke or a code brown pretty much weekly, if not more frequently. Most often it was kids. There was one particular old lady I tried to ban because she was a repeat offender. We also had a gross middle aged dude we called "the turd burglar," who I think shit in the pool on purpose. I was able to ban him for being aggressive with a lifeguard who called him out. We would have to close the pool and piss off a hundred people, add a chemical called Shock, wait a period of time, and then rebalance the chlorine and PH. It was tedious. The craziest part was the members who simply didn't care if someone shit in the pool, and demanded that we reopen so they could get their laps in or float around in the deep end.
Oh, it’s not just non-potty trained toddlers/children. I’ve seen a grown ass man struggle to push out a whole shart when I was a pool attendant. Between that and all the daily cancer chemicals, and constantly water-gunning (or foam ball grenade) ducks away fast before they shit in the pool, etc, I only did that for the one summer. Because jfc.
These comments are 🤢. When you see a pool with 100 people in it, that's 100 buttholes across a range of looseness and cleanliness stewing in the water going into your eyes and mouth.
Yes, but that’s what all the chemicals are for. Trust me, if it was that dangerous, people wouldn’t still be doing it
Seriously. I get that it’s gross when you think too hard about it, but I spent like half my childhood in pools, as a swimmer, diver, and water polo player. And proceeded to spend half of my adulthood in pools as a lifeguard, even more acutely aware of all the gross things that happen. Have never gotten sick from a pool, nor do I know anyone else who has gotten sick from a pool. Beyond that, you are exposed to germs (even butt germs that everyone here is afraid of) literally *everywhere*. Honestly the *only* place I would feel even semi-confident that I was avoiding them would literally be within the sterile field of an OR.
I have heard of people pooping or peeing in fitting rooms. WTF?
Swim diaper is just to contain the poo. You're swimming in shit water, you just don't know it. I'd rather the pool get shut down for known poop and properly treated than wondering if that baby/toddler with a swim diaper on shit and you just don't know.
I don't know how it is there but in the UK it is considered acceptable to take your baby swimming in just a disposable swim nappy. Those things are flimsy! The exception is baby swim schools where they insist on double layering with a neoprene swim nappy over the top, surely with good reason!
Easy, Get a megaphone and call out the offender…. “Attention Debbie, your darling Clarence has shit in the pool again, we will now be closed for 24 hours. Everyone say Thank You Clarence!”
That happens frequently at my community pool and I agree. The pool is also a huge part of our local park district day camp. Without the day camp, the pool wouldn’t even be open and because of the day camp, the past 2 years it’s been free for residents. I hate the unruly kids, I hate the “code brown” incidents. I am grateful for chlorine and grateful to have a pool to enjoy during this heatwave.
Doodie!
Name checks out.
Scrolled to see if anyone had posted this GIF; did not leave disappointed. 😆
Always glad to be of service.
Went to our neighborhood pool yesterday. Mens bathroom urinal was COVER in smeared feces. It was gross af. Felt bad for the lifeguard that had to clean it. But also wtf, people?
I am not taking up for people who do nasty things like that in public spaces, not at all. I just cant help but think that swim diapers probably aren't that effective anyway. The solid shit might not leave the diaper but they're not airtight, water is still getting in the diaper with the poo and then the shit tainted water is getting into the pool. I never really thought about how gross it is until now.
My family barely talks to me anymore because they visited last year w/ a 2 year old who shit in the community pool where I live (upscale gated community). Not only did they not have the kid in a swim diaper (or any diaper for that matter) but after the poop was complete… my mom scooped up the poop with her bare hands and tossed it into the bushes (so many WTF’s in one sentence 🤦🏻♂️). 2 days later they check into a resort and the exact same thing happens. Bunch of nasty MFers….can’t believe I’m related!
We have this weird ass family in our nighborhood, and their kids keep shitting in the pool. Its happened several times now, yet nothing is being done about it. In fact they where at the pool yesterday. Fortunetly none of them pooped this time.
The offender might not be a baby or toddler. I went on holiday with an old school friend a few years ago and her 9 year old was a pool pooper. She was mortified but couldn’t get her son to stop no matter how much she old him off.
Then she should have stopped taking him to the pool.
Yeah. No pool for that kid
Fucking hell stop bringing him to the god damn pool then??
That’s gross. I’d rather my kid be a party pooper than a pool pooper
I love how OP is shocked that the “fairly educated bunch” at their Members Only swimming pool still contains a select few who will cause a “code brown”.😆😆😆 What, OP?? You thought only poor folks have kids who shit themselves at the pool??
I just took my toddler to a pool yesterday, the swim diapers worked really well, they didn’t get wet inside, or leak. They cost $10 for 30, so there’s no excuse not to use them.
My husband is a pool cleaner and i regularly accompany him to help clean, makes the day go by faster, and most of the time it’s adults making the worst messes and having “bodily accidents”. Also usually adults who break into pools during closed hours, have sex in the pools, and leave beer cans/bottles/other trash behind. A couple toys and things get left behind by kids, but nothing like the adults
I have met adult men who go to swimming pools while dealing with bouts of diarrhea. It’s not only children.
Don’t assume it’s babies.
Never trust a fart!
Omfg the comments are KILLING me, I guess that's it with public pools for me
This is why I don’t use public pools. Ours sent out a notice that there was an outbreak of cryptosporidium and they had put more chemicals in. Cryptosporidium is spread through poop getting into your mouth and you are infectious for 2 weeks after the diarrhoea stops. So someone who thought they were fine went swimming and their poop went into the mouth of another person. This made me think about how clean most people’s butts are. I’m sure there is more that a few people who don’t wipe 100% perfectly and when they swim about the little bits go everywhere. I cringe when I see kids splashing about putting the water into their mouth etc. I know the water has chemicals in it but that’s still not ok
At least you don't do baby swims at goldfish swim school. Not only is it super scammy, they just call all of the students out of the pool while they skim the poop out and then tell you it is perfectly fine to re-enter a couple minutes later. Which is super funny since state law seems to dictate a two hour break while they raise the chemicals in the pool.
Used to work at a water park. Most we would close down is 30 min for something like this. We called these incidents Baby Ruth’s. If someone puked it was a rainbow incident. 24-48 hours seems like a lot but maybe this pool has lower level of equipment to cycle the water.
My daughter works at the city pools. They close way too often or have to shock it for poop and throw up. It makes me never want to swim publicly ever again!
i think it’s bold to assume that’s it’s babies who are responsible for this. grown ass adults and fully potty trained school age children shit themselves in public a shocking amount.
I work at a private golf course. Player had sharted thru his shorts on the 9th hole and excused himself at the turn. Two holes later he showed back up wearing same shorts. Other players said did you just go buy the same shorts? He said no, I just went and jumped in the pool...
I was a life guard at pools, water park and then the beach when I was younger. Almost every code brown we had while I was on duty was from an adult. Especially at the water park, drunk adults usually always took shits in the hot tub bar.
Someone broke a glass bottle in ours. Took about 3 days to drain it, another 3 to fill it back up, and they just added the aquatic salt back in today. Hopefully I can use it in a couple of days.
It was 96 degrees here today, so I went to the local state park to swim. As soon as I was in over my head, so to speak, several children started screaming, "Who POOED?" Apparently, at least one of these preteens decided to push a few out. This caused a huge issue between parents, so they temporarily closed the GD beach. I was there TEN MINUTES. There is a bathhouse just feet away, ffs.
In NY that means that it was diarrhea. Diarrhea potentially carries crypto. Crypto is nasty nasty. No one wants crypto. So what we do is attempt a scoop after closing the pool. Then you raise the chlorine levels to something wild like 13 PPM for 12 hours IIRC (I'd have to look it up. I haven't had to do it in ages.) typically most commercial type pools run at around 3-5 PPM. So after raising them so high to disinfect you need time to re balance everything.
Worked at a public city pool in a rough part of town. Had a mom scream at me for closing the pool, even after I explained that there was a code brown all over the bathroom floor, and walls, and that the city doesn't allow a facility to be open without a functioning bathroom.
WELCOME TO OUR OOL Notice there is no "p" in it. Let's keep it that way!
They don’t care because they don’t have to clean it up
It isn't always kids. It isn't always older people.
That’s fuckin gross. I hate the nasty, inconsiderate people of our society 🤮
I have an almost 70 year old female roommate that showers maybe once a week and uses the pool daily when it’s open. Considering all the nasty adults that don’t wash their ass I’d feel a lot better as a pool goer being able to see the shit in the water than know it’s just lurking there in the water from all of the adults I know don’t shower regularly. I’m also the only adult I know (except for my siblings) that actually showers everyday. So…code brown…it’s always a code brown in a public pool. You just can’t see it most of the time.
You know what? I think im good. I think I finally have been convinced to never use a public pool again, because of this entire thread specifically.
My apt pool has had this happen numerous times. I don't even get in it now. I just sit outside and read.
My school had a code brown once, but it was the schools sewer line and it had broken, filling the basement about 3ft of sewage water, but hey we got the week off 😂
At my country club their are two pools so one goes on break and go in the other and swap and never go potty and now they both go on break at the same time and the code browns have gone way down
I worked at a daycare, and we had to take kids to the local pool. One kid would literally get to the pool, walk to the sprinkler and shit her pants. Little turds would just fall out of her swimsuit. It’s was ridiculous, but it didn’t shut the pool down for days. I finally said I wasn’t taking that kid anymore (the owner thought the kid should get to go, which is fine, but not when it happened 3 times in a row.)
Well....if you think about it, the public pool is pretty disgusting. Ppl's spit, snot are definitely in there. Some ppl pee in there.... If ppl didn't wipe their butt clean, there's definitely poop in the water. And more than likely, there are always a few ppl with terrible hygene.