If you grew up with your own swimming pool or if a neighbor had a pool, we’ll bet you heard these swimming pool myths & wive’s tales from your mom! The swimming pool contractors from Advanced Pools, Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee share these myths — some funny, some silly!

Swimming pool myths & wive’s tales

    1. Wait an hour after a meal before you swim or you’ll get a cramp and drown. We’ll bet your mom told you this on more than one occasion, whether you were going to a friend’s pool or if you were on a family vacation. There is some truth to this… after you eat your stomach is digesting your food and if you overwork your muscles you may get a cramp. Chances are it won’t happen, but maybe you want to eat a lighter meal before you go swimming.
    2. If you smell chlorine, that means the pool is clean. Chlorine is odorless and tasteless. IF you smell chlorine that means there is too much bacteria in the pool and the smell is “free chlorine” interacting with, and “attaching” to the bacteria. When you smell chlorine, test the water and add chemicals or call your pool contractor and let him know.
    3.  If I have blonde hair the chlorine will turn it green! That’s not true. It’s not the chlorine that turns your blonde hair green, it’s an excess of copper in the water that will attach to proteins in your hair and turn it green.
    4. Ow the chlorine is burning my eyes and turning them red! Again, it’s not the chlorine’s fault! Your eyes will burn if the water is too acidic and if the pH is too low. Test the water and add chemicals to bring them back in line or call your pool contractor if your eyes are red and if your skin is dry and itchy.
    5. Don’t pee in the pool… we put in a chemical that will turn the water around you blue! We aren’t certain we’d want to know about how much blue water could be in a swimming pool full of people. This is a myth and there is no chemical that can detect if your guests are peeing in the water — let’s hope they aren’t!

Enjoy these pool myths and let us know what myths you’ve heard!