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Fredrick Ongeche
Fredrick Ongeche was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. He moved to Wichita in 1998 and graduated from Friends University in 2002 with a Bsc in Chemistry and minor in Mathematics. He is a devoted to his family, his wife, two daughters and two sons. His hobbies consist of reading and jogging. For further information please visit their web site at www.sanitech20.com or he can be reached at (316) 765-9106
Pool & patio
2007-09-01 09:59:00
Before you swim, please take a shower then shut your mouth
How safe is the water in swimming pools and spas?
wimmers are more likely to get diseases and infections from pools, hot tubs and water parks than from lakes and rivers. According to CDC, 60% of all Recreational Water illnesses occur in treated water. RWIs are diseases acquired when one contacts infected water in places like swimming pools, beaches, spas, hot tubs, lakes and water parks. Favorable temperatures and readily available organic nutrients make pools, spas and hot tubs ideal environments for the growth, proliferation and spread of waterborne germs. Some common RWIs are E.Coli, Giardia, Legionnaire’s disease, Cryptosporidiosis, Hepatitis A, pseudomonas, Norovirus, shigella and many others. The germs can be present in fecal material, urine, blood, vomit and sewage that easily get in water through swimmers, birds, animals, contaminated rainwater or raw sewage. These contaminants can survive for weeks in poorly treated water waiting to infect unsuspecting bathers. Swimming with your mouth open makes it easy to accidentally swallow contaminated water. According to recent studies, kids tend to swallow twice as much water as adults while swimming. Symptoms of infection such as diarrhea, stomach cramping, vomiting, fever among others may take several days to appear and the victims can become a Trojan horse spreading the germs from one pool to another. Being proactive through education, awareness and properly disinfecting pool water is the best way to prevent RWIs. The first line of defense against RWIs is educating bathers about the importance of proper personal hygiene. Signs posted at the pools are common but a good percentage of people hardly take note. If your swimmers cannot mention at least two RWIs and their prevention, you are doing a poor job. Infections and outbreaks will not occur without swimmers so make them an integral part of your prevention plan. Proper disinfection of water is a crucial step in preventing recreational water illnesses. The chances of an outbreak occurring increases dramatically when water treatment cannot keep with increased number of bathers, heat and sunlight, aging equipment and poor staffing. According to CDC, Cryptosporium account for 50% of all recreational water illness. Cryptosporidium parasite is especially challenging; it is highly resistant to chlorine and too small to be removed using standard filters found in many pools. Moreover, the presence of fecal material in water, which can add up to several pounds per day in a typical pool, makes disinfection by chlorine difficult. Giardia and Legionella are also relatively resistant to chlorine disinfection. It is no longer sufficient just to throw a bucket of chlorine shock and adjust pH. Pool and spa owners must find a better means to disinfect the water. The addition of Ozone, Ultraviolet Light and Copper Silver Ionization are rapidly becoming the norm because of their ability to destroy chlorine resistant germs. If you are not willing to make your swimmers part of the solution and adding a secondary disinfection here is my advice; be patient, make sure you have a good lawyer and a deep checkbook. After the 2005 Cryptosporidium Outbreak in New York, followed by a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit, the City of New York mandated Ultra Violet light disinfection in many swim venues.
 
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