What exactly does chlorine kill!?

[snowflake4727]

Chlorine also kills dive gear.

 

[Sas]

Yea I never thought about this issue when I was doing OW but perhaps I should have... When we had to do mask replacements too, we had to swap masks. Most people spit in their masks... I think there are hygiene issues as I doubt the chlorine kills germs that quickly.

I remember getting an insta-buddy on a boat one day whose mouth was *covered* in cold sores, and thinking "I really hope nothing happens that would require us to buddy breathe!"

 

[spt29970]

Just remember, when you share air, you are sharing air with every buddy your buddy has ever had.

 

[scubagal295]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Its all very intresting stuff!

 

[Hoomi]

Yea I never thought about this issue when I was doing OW but perhaps I should have... When we had to do mask replacements too, we had to swap masks. Most people spit in their masks... I think there are hygiene issues as I doubt the chlorine kills germs that quickly.

I remember getting an insta-buddy on a boat one day whose mouth was *covered* in cold sores, and thinking "I really hope nothing happens that would require us to buddy breathe!"

Salt water on cold sores.

Ow ow ow.

On a side note, I hope I'm never one of the insta-buddies that gets posted about in discussions such as this.

 

[Diver0001]

After class I was thinking about it and realized that I had just successfully "swapped spit" with 3 different people in less than an hour

And how often do you get to do THAT can call it sport, eh?

R..

 

[SkipperJohn]

Chlorine is a powerful oxidizer. It will kill most bacteria, have some affect on viruses, return most metals to their ore state, and dissolve rubber. It will also burn your skin, eyes and other membranes. But, for most of those reasons, not in the concentration found in pools.
More people get sick from pool water, even properly treated pool water, when on vacation. They usually chalk it up to something they ate. Nope, chalk it up to that family that ignored the signs about only properly trained babies in the pool.
Chances are, the rinsing/diluting effect of the water will save you from any bug. But not the chlorine. Not nearly enough time for the dosage found in the pool. (assuming they use chlorine, in some environments other chemicals are used. Common in indoor pools or very hot pools such as hot tubs and the like)

 

[tomboyy]

A baby in a diaper in a swimming pool is like a tea bag in a cup..... yuk !!!

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Also, pee is not taken care off by chlorine in a swimming pool. Pee is sterile to began with, what it contains are electrolytes, water, left over vitamins, minerals and various non-living waste chemicals.

Chlorine only reacts with organics and living stuff. Oh, and causes faster corrosion of metals.

This is only partly correct. Yes, urine in a healthy individual is sterile. It is also a combination of organic and inorganic compounds. The most detrimental of these compounds to a pool are the nitrogen containing compounds. These compounds create disinfection by products in a pool. You are most familiar with these in an indoor pool as evidenced by the strong chlorine odor. This is caused by combined chlorine or chloramines. So, yes, chlorine reacts very well with urine, and sweat, and body oils...

 

[Hatul]

So, today in class we were playing with hula hoops. One of the last exercises we did had us trying to get 3 people though a series of 6 hoops using 1 tank (we had a primary and a secondary regulator) this obviously required us to buddy breath though the whole thing. After class I was thinking about it and realized that I had just successfully "swapped spit" with 3 different people in less than an hour (I was buddy breathing with my usual buddy for another exercise we did before this). I know chlorine can take care of things like pee in the water, but how good is it!? By moving the regulator quickly though the water will the chlorine actually kill anything that manages to latch onto it? For the 2 breaths that a regulator is in your mouth, can you actually pass on a nasty cold or anything else?? (Not that you would be diving with a bad cold) .... Im not really too worried about this, just very curious. Any input would be appreciated!

I doubt you swapped much as it's washed off by the water. You don't have to kill something that is not there.

Adam