We asked infectious disease doctors and water-quality experts which hygiene mistakes they see most. Here's what you're probably getting wrong—and what to do instead.
Ordinary bacteria don't stand a chance: "Chlorine, when it comes into direct contact with bacteria, in less than a minute, that bacteria dies," says Kelly Reynolds, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona who studies how pathogens spread. But a virus like hepatitis, which can be contracted through water, can take about 15 minutes. And the Cryptosporidium bug—the single most common cause of pool outbreaks in the U.S.—can live in chlorinated water for roughly 10 days. To kill it, operators have to "shock" a pool with around 20 times the usual chlorine, and even that takes hours. Most of the time, though, Crypto is removed gradually as the pool's filtration system continuously circulates and filters the water.
That's also why you don't want to swallow any of it: You wouldn't gulp bathwater after a few other people had been soaking in it, Reynolds says.
You skip the pre-swim rinse
"If you shower before, you could help keep the pool cleaner," says Lisa Cuchara, a professor of biomedical sciences at Quinnipiac University who teaches a course called “The Infections of Leisure,” about the germs people encounter while swimming, traveling, camping, spending the day at the spa, and pursuing other recreational activities.
Neither one has to be elaborate. If your pool has one of those little rinse-off showers by the deck, 30 seconds before you get in—and another quick rinse when you get out—goes a long way.
"When people have open wounds and then they go into the pool, they're exposing their body to a lot of potential pathogens," says Dr. Daniel Egan, an infectious disease specialist at Orlando Health. "It's true that chlorine reduces risk of infection in these pools, but it never sets it to zero."
That means sealing it with a waterproof dressing (such as Tegaderm), rather than a standard bandage, before you get in. Once you're out of the pool, pat the skin dry and replace it with a fresh dressing. And if you've recently had surgery, don't assume you're ready to swim just because the stitches are out. Your skin may still be healing, so get clearance from your doctor before jumping in.
You never wash your feet
Research suggests the more often people lather up their feet with soap, the fewer bacteria they tend to carry there. Going from washing once a day to twice a day drops the bacterial load on your skin dramatically. One of those bacteria is Pseudomonas, which also thrives in under-sanitized pools and happens to cause swimmer's ear. In other words, that classic summer ear infection may have started on someone's foot.
Most people file this one under gross-but-harmless. Yet peeing in the pool is actually “really bad," Cuchara says.
That’s why the ocean gets a pass. "The urine itself isn't the problem," Cuchara says. There's no chlorine out there to sabotage, and the volume is, well, the ocean. "The whales are peeing in the ocean," she points out.
You marinate in a wet bathing suit
The instinct to lounge around in a damp suit all afternoon is working against your skin. Waterlogged skin is more permeable, and a wet suit keeps it that way. "It's like a party of fungus, yeast, bacteria, and viral agents," says Dr. Kimberly Eickhorst of Dermatology Associates of Western CT—all of which love a warm, damp, dark environment and are happy to set up camp when your skin barrier is softened.
Change out of your wet swimsuit as soon as you're done swimming, then take a quick shower. You'll wash away chlorine, help restore your skin's natural pH, and make it a lot harder for unwanted microbes to settle in.
"You wash your underwear every time you wear it," Vij points out, and you should treat your swimsuit the same way.
You let your ears drip dry
"A pocket of still water sitting in the ear canal is a recipe for disaster," Egan says. There are always microbes living on your skin, and trapped moisture gives them exactly the environment they need to multiply.
After swimming, tilt your head side to side to let trapped water drain, then gently pat the outer ear dry with a towel. The goal isn't to get every last drop—it's just to avoid leaving water sitting there for hours.
The germ Eickhorst worries about most is molluscum contagiosum, a common childhood skin virus. It's benign, and it runs its course. It's also unsightly and itchy. "We're always counseling our patients: don't take baths with siblings, and don't share towels, because the virus can be transferred," she says.
You let little kids turn the pool into a bath
Ask Reynolds what makes her cringe, and she points straight to the shallow kiddie pool. "We put the population with the poorest hygiene and the poorest potty control into the smallest volume of water," she says.
Swim diapers don’t solve the problem either since they leak, Reynolds says. By the time you notice, the pool already has whatever the diaper was holding.
Instead, she wants parents to make a few simple habits part of every pool day. Build regular bathroom breaks into the day, she suggests, and wash little hands with soap—not a quick swish in the pool. Change diapers away from the water. And teach kids not to drink from the pool or treat splash-pad spouts like drinking fountains.
You get back in the water too soon after being sick
That's two weeks after your diarrhea stops—not two weeks after it starts, and not just until you feel better. The reason is Cryptosporidium, a parasite that can keep shedding in your stool for up to 14 days after your symptoms disappear. Even trickier, the diarrhea can seem to clear before flaring up again because the parasite is still reproducing in your gut.
And it's not just little kids who spread germs in pools. Reynolds says plenty of outbreaks have been traced back to competitive swimmers who didn't want to miss an event. "They've been traveling, they have traveler's diarrhea, and they're like, 'I can't miss this competition,'" she says. "And they get everybody sick."
She understands how hard the recommendation can be. Imagine saving for years for a family vacation, only to tell your child they can't swim. But if you're still contagious, getting back in the pool doesn't just affect your family—it can make dozens of other people sick, too.
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