Responding to Pool Contamination

Key points

  • Animals and body fluids (such as poop, vomit, and blood) are the most common pool contaminants.
  • Pool owners and aquatics professionals should take steps to clean the pool as soon as possible after a contamination event.
A pool net being dipped into a pool.

Overview

Keeping pools clean and free from germs helps to ensure healthy swimming experiences for all swimmers. Responding to contamination events in pools, whether they are related to animals or humans, should be done as quickly as possible.

Animals may carry germs that can contaminate pool water. It is important to take precautions when animals have been in or near the pool.

Many of the germs that cause swimming-related illnesses, such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia, are spread through fecal matter (poop) in the water. If a person throws up previously eaten food into the pool, it can also contain illness-causing germs. Both poop and vomit should be immediately cleaned up from pool water and surfaces.

Learn More

Pool net scooping something out of the pool water.

What to Do When There is Poop in the Pool

How to clean up poop from the pool or hot tub and disinfect the water.

What to Do When There is Blood or Vomit in the Pool

Man with a hat holding a pool net over a pool.

Responding to a Dead Animal in the Pool

What to do if you find a dead animal in or around your pool.
A duck standing on gravel.

Responding to Birds in and around the Pool

What to do you if you find birds in or near your pool.
A large raccoon climbing a tree.

Responding to Raccoons in and around the Pool

What to do when finding a dead raccoon or raccoon poop in your pool to prevent infection with germs.
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Content Source:
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID); National Center for Environmental Health