LOL Do swimming pools change colour if you piss in them?

"Swimming pools have a special dye in them which changes colour if somebody urinates in them."

We were discussing this the other day at work. It is one of these stories your told as a child, everybody knows the story but is it actually true or just an urban legend to stop children pissing in swimming pools? As somebody who swims five days a week i hope its true, but i doubt it is. There is an obvious way to test the theory but not one i would like to try out.

Does anyone know if it is true and what other similar things where you told when you were growing up?

 

LOOOL.
You do (AFAIK) get Dye that actually DOES do that, but I seriously doubt that anyone uses it...
What you can try (without peeing into your pool) is taking a bucket of pool water, then peeing in THAT...

 

..I am so curious as to whether anywhere uses this I might start peeing in pools...

 

I vaguely remember reading that there is a dye that does this but it isn't perfected and other substances can also make it change colour so they don't actually use it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine-indicator_dye

 

I have peed in pools (don't do it anymore... promise...that was years ago... hey... WTF! MOM!!! stop reading my posts)... they never changed colours...

 

We were told at school that the water would turn purple and the colour would follow us so there was no escape!!

 

To make a pool turn yellow, you'd probably need about a million guys that haven't drunk enough water, to all piss in it.

You'd also have a dirty flood.

If even 100 guys piss dirty yellow piss in a small pool, that's like ~10 litres of yellow mixed with ~150,000+ liters of clear... and that's for a small 10x10x1.5m pool.

And a plane on a conveyor will take off.

 

In my (vast) experience, I've never had the water colour change on me

It wouldn't surprise me if such a dye does exist, but it clearly isn't used much!

Going for a leak in a pool must be pretty common (among kids anyway) so if everytime it happened the water turned purple, it would cost a fortune... everyone would have to get out the pool, drain all the water, top it back up, heat it, ... that's a time consuming and expensive thing to do. It's far more economical just to put more chlorine in to disguise it!!

 

The story I've heard is that it was tried but the pool immediately turned purple due to the amount of urine already in it. Not only was there no deterrent factor but nobody would swim in the purple pool anyway.

Moriquendi

 

Urine, plasters, scabs and snot are the reason I don't visit public swimming pools anymore.

 

then get 100 guys to drink 150,000 litters of beer!

 

The reason I don't visit is because I deem it to be exercise! Swimming is on par with running - it may be good for you, but it's so dull and boring I'd rather be doing a real sport and be having fun!

Having been measuring my urine output recently, you're numbers are slightly out. On average I pissed 500ml each go so 100 guys is more like 50 litres. Worst case, I did 1300ml so that's130 litres... Of course, your point is still stands as it is still an absolutely tiny amount relative to the size of the pool!

 

These are free boosts to your immune system, crocodiles live in bacteria infested waters and seem to be immune to almost anything! You missed the biggest danger in public pools, fake tan running, I almost pissed myself at the spectacle of stripy chavettes.

 

You're taking the concept of watercooling too far

 

It's an urban legend. This question routinely comes up in pool forums, but there are no legitimate products on the market that will change the color of the water to identify someone who has urinated in the pool.

Basically, it is something that parents tell their children to discourage the behavior.

-monkey

 

We'll I'm going to a cottage later today until friday... I won't have to worry about getting out to urinate :O I'll just swim away and keep my mouth shut, followed by a nice shower.

 

Has no-one considered taking a cup of poolwater and pissing in that?

 

*need the toilet* mmm fink i may go for a swim now.....

 

Has been suggested, waiting for someone to take it up and try it... pics or GTFO counts, as always

 

As a frequent pool-peer I can attest to this being an urban myth.

On a side note, pee to pool ratio is huge and I shock monthly. I also have to re-fill often due to climate and elevation. Especially now in the dry, windy winters; usually every 2-3 days.

Are you sure you wanna go there? It will be in 12.3Mp high res.