Preventing Diarrheal Illnesses

For Everyone
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Key points

  • Diarrhea is the most common illness linked to water we swim in (like pools and lakes).
  • You can get diarrhea by swallowing water that has germs in it.
  • Avoid spreading or getting diarrhea: Stay out of water when you have diarrhea and don't swallow water you swim in.
Young kids sitting in the shallow end of the pool together.

Overview

When you go into a swimming pool, hot tub, splash pad, lake, river, ocean, or other water, you can swallow germs that cause diarrhea.

Diarrhea-causing germs include Cryptosporidium (Crypto), Giardia, Shigella, norovirus, and E. coli O157. These germs can survive in properly chlorinated water for minutes to days, depending on the germ.

Exposure

Swallowing even a little water can make you sick

If someone has a diarrhea accident in the water, millions of diarrhea-causing germs can get in the water. If you swallow even a small amount of that contaminated water, you can get sick.

Germs can also get in the water from small amounts of poop rinsing off swimmers' bodies.

Chlorine doesn't kill germs instantly

Filters and disinfectants (chemicals like chlorine or bromine) in pools work together to help kill germs. Filters remove debris (such as leaves), which can use up the disinfectant in the water that is needed to kill germs.

Pool staff make sure chlorine or bromine is at the level needed to kill most germs in the water within minutes. However, you can still be exposed during the time it takes for the disinfectant to reach and kill the germs. You can also get diarrhea from germs that are hard to kill, such as Crypto.

Some germs survive for over a week

Crypto can stay alive for more than 7 days, even if pool water is properly disinfected. Crypto spreads easily and can make you sick with watery diarrhea for weeks.

Germs can spread to multiple pools

Facilities with multiple pools often use one filtration system for all the pools, causing water from multiple pools to mix. This means germs from one person's body could contaminate the water in more than one pool.

Prevention steps and strategies

We all share the water we swim, play, or relax in. Each of us can help protect ourselves, our families, and our friends from germs that cause diarrhea.

Take the following steps when swimming or playing in the water:

Do not

  • Poop in the water
    Germs from one accident can spread throughout the pool and make others sick.
  • Swallow the water
    Swallowing even a small amount of water containing germs can make you sick.

Do

  • Stay out if you are sick with diarrhea
    If you have Crypto, don't go back in the water until 2 weeks after your diarrhea has completely stopped.
  • Rinse off before going in the water
    A one-minute shower removes most of the dirt, sweat, and oils on your body that use up the pool chemicals needed to kill germs.
  • Take kids on bathroom breaks
    Regularly take kids to the bathroom so they don't have to go in the water.
  • Check diapers every hour

    Remember, swim diapers are not leak-proof. They can only delay poop germs from getting into the water for a few minutes.

    Change diapers away from the pool to help keep germs out of the water. Always wash your hands after.
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Content Source:
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID); National Center for Environmental Health