How Bacteria Free Are Toronto’s Pools?
Posted August 22, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
But a test of the pool H20 in Montreal may have changed your mind.
A series of secret checks into what’s in the eau of La Belle province’s biggest city has been both eye opening and frightening. An experiment by a local media outlet showed many of the swimming holes there contained a disgusting mix of bacteria, parasites and viruses – and that’s despite the use of chlorine.
The upshot: new rules from the Quebec government mandating any pool that fails even a single chlorine test will be ordered closed until the problem is resolved.
If it happened there, could it happen here?
That’s what CityNews tried to find out, as we tested a handful of pools across the G.T.A. We sent the samples to Gelda Scientific in Mississauga and the results will be revealed on our 6pm newscast Wednesday.
Are most people afraid of what we might find?
Not really.
“I’m not really worried about the pool quality in Toronto,” assures pool user Melanie Kastle. “I think we’re pretty good at keeping up our standards.”
No one was made sick by the Montreal pools and there’s no indication anyone here was made ill, either.
But the idea that you’re swimming in such filth may be enough to make your confidence take a dive.
