We were all sitting around the pool yesterday joking about peeing in the pool and eventually some one motioned there was a chemical you could put in the pool to detect when someone pees. I have heard this for years and always assumed it was an urban legend.

I have

So I will ask the experts. Is there such a chemical and has anyone seen it work?

Yes, it's called water. If you add a little bit to a pool, then you are guaranteed to have pee in it.

Nope. None that I have seen.

I have heard of pool owners that tell all swimmers, "If you pee in the pool, I have put in a chemical that will turn the water dark blue all around you" There is no truth in it but some say it does cut down on peeing in the pool.

I thought I heard years and years ago about something you could put in the pool and someone pee'd in the pool it would turn red.....or maybe this was something they told kids, so they wouldn't do it

chris

Urban legend!
http://www.snopes.com/science/poolpiss.asp
However, if you tell people that you have put a chemical in the water that will turn red around them if they pee in the pool it might stop them!

I told my 6 year old nephew that we put this chemical in the pool. Later he came up to me and said, "The water never turned red!"

that's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time.
besides the obvious gross factor, if you have a bunch of kids in your pool, and obviously the peeing that goes along with it, what are the disadvantages? if you are following proper chlorine/cya dosing should you be fine?

Just know your chlorine demand and keep adding sufficient chlorine to keep up your levels. If you have an unusual number of swimmers, or unusually young (or old, for that matter) swimmers who are more likely to pee, add extra chlorine after they leave.

I knew a guy that used to fill a small dispenser-type squirt bottle with a food color/water solution and sneak up behind someone in the pool and squirt a colored cloud between their legs when they weren't looking. Then he'd slink away as the cloud began to spread out.

okay, that's funny

I'm gettin' ideas for when the grands will be in town in two weeks!

When someone new swims in the pool and says "It tastes salty." Tell them there had been a bunch of kids swimming yesterday. I guess I should shock it.

Sorry, in bad taste.

I did this to some 8 year olds. After they got out of the pool I got out my test kit. I told them if anyone pee'd in the pool the water would change color as I added drops. Of course I was just testing for TA but they didn't know that. When the water changed color one of the kids ran into the back of the house. Busted....

Not that this makes it any less gross, but technically urine is sterile unless you have a urinary tract infection.

The real question is how long and how much chlorine does it take to remove it from your pool?

At a typical Free Chlorine (FC) amount that is around 10% of the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) amount, at 77F (warmer temps go faster) it takes around an hour to oxidize around half of the ammonia in sweat and urine and around 3 hours or so to get rid of 90% of it. Urea is the largest component of sweat and urine and can take days to oxidize, but in sunlight and in warmer water it seems to get oxidized quite a lot faster. This assumes a one-time dose, but in reality it is getting continually introduced and oxidized. Unfortunately, though a lot of research has been done on the oxidation of ammonia by chlorine, there is very little research on the oxidation of urea by chlorine (in any detail).

Since one does not normally measure much Combined Chlorine (CC) in a properly managed residential pool, the sweat and urine is probably being dealt with in a reasonable time frame, pretty much going away before the next day of pool use.

Richard

I find it interesting that it's the chlorine that offsets the urine. When it comes to stain removal, the method of choice is usually baking soda, not chlorine bleach. Plus when my kids were small (admittedly quite some time ago) you didn't bleach the urine soaked clothes until after washing as the chlorine and ammonia from the pee might react and actually set stains instead of removing them.

I had at one time seen such a product sold (tablets that you drop in to a pool) but they were nothing more than a gag item.

IF I remember correctly they were made by Adams Jokes and Novelties. Adams is basically all just magic tricks these days. I fondly remember their garlic flavored chewing gum!

Funny topic and very informative. We have a compromise for our 3 year old, told him he can just go pee behind the shed.. hopefully easy enough for him that he won't go in the pool. Thought it was a great idea until he got in trouble at school the other day on the playground.. peeing behind the tree. Had a hard time explaining that one (to him and the teacher!)

On a slightly different but similar note, I was hoping to hear thoughts on blood in the pool. I'm sure everyone may be grossed out, but kids have scabs that get wet and rip off and bleed, or feet that bleed after being in the pool for 30 hours straight, etc. Is blood a major concern, like a Caddy Shack evacuation? Or just another intruder the chlorine will seek and destroy?

Just another intruder that chlorine will seek and destroy. Of course, blood can contain viruses, but most are killed very quickly by chlorine.

I told my 3-year-old daughter to just get out, pee through her suit while standing on the deck and tell me when she's finished. It takes me all of a minute to hose off her bottom and the deck ad turn off the hose. She's back in before I'm done. Sure it works for boys, too. Some may not approve, but it's a pain to dry her off and send her into the house. Plus, she doesn't mind at all and I'm happy she's learned not to pee in the pool. I doubt I'm creating some habit such that she'll be doing this when she's 16.

Don't worry about the blood.