Making sure public pools are clean enough for kids - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

June 20th is the official first day of summer. It's getting hotter outside and if you haven't made your way to the pool by now, you probably will before the summer is over. But before you wade in the water how do you make sure that the water you're in is clean?

"What we see in the summertime when we do get into pool season is that you really need to keep the chlorine levels up because if you don't keep the chorine levels up then the water does become very easy to transmit diseases," said Debra Williams.  Williams is the Assistant Health Officer at the Madison County Health Department.  She said the diseases that could come with every splish and splash can make you sick.

"We see lot of Salmonella and Shigella in the summertime we see lot of diarrhea disease in the summertime," Williams said.  "We also see other parasites in pool water like Cryptosporidium and Giardia. They too have diarrhea associated with them."

Adding more water is the key to fighting the infections before they float your way.

According to the Water Quality and Health Council seven out of ten swimmers don't rinse off before getting into the pool. It may seem counterintuitive, but showering before you take a dip can make a big difference.

If you want to know more about the water you are diving in, just check your chlorine levels. 

"If the levels are too high that's normally not going to be the case, they may be high and that's good because when you are putting small children in baby pools you want a higher chlorine level because the accidents they may have in the water and a good strong chlorine level will take care of that," said Mick Roney. Roney is the swimming activities coordinator at Brahan Spring Natatorium in Huntsville. 

Roney said swimmers need to be concerned about are getting low chlorine readings or no chlorine reading at all.  "If that is the case, do not put your child in that water," Roney said. 

He recommends swimmers do their own pool water inspection. You can buy test strips your local pool store for $20.

"They are very reasonable, it's a small amount of money to pay for your children's safety," Roney said. 

Roney said pools should have a log that documents the levels are healthy  for anyone to swim in.

State health officials said no one is assigned to regulate or maintain public pools, but there should always be enough chlorine in the water to kill bacteria, while not irritating skin.  Chlorine levels should read at two if you are using your own testing kit.

Copyright 2012 WAFF. All rights reserved.