A Chloramine Problem or Please Don’t Pee in Our Pool

1. A Chloramine Problem or Please Don’t Pee in Our Pool Presented by Mark Banister & Michael Fouch

2. Pool Survey In a recent survey conducted by the Water Quality and Health Council in April and May and cited by CNN, a 1000 U.S adults were asked if they relieved themselves in a swimming pool…. Can you guess the percentage that admitted to “peeing”in the pool ?

3. Survey Result 17 % or about 1 in 5 Including decorated swimmer Michael Phelps

4. More Results • 11% have swum with a runny nose • 7% with an exposed rash or cut • 1% when ill with diarrhea

5. Background Carnegie Mellon University University Center Pool Area Pool Chemistry Chloramines Source of Nitrogen

6. The Problem and Causes The Problem Exposure to trichloramines The Causes Pool maintenance Ventilation Poor hygiene practices

7. Testing Ventilation Trichloramines Indoor Air Quality Pool Water

8. Responses Installation of overhead fans UV water treatment Increased pool “shocking” Improved ventilation

9. Lessons Learned What worked and what didn’t and some things we are not so sure about….

10. Carnegie Mellon University Located in Pittsburgh, PA 10,000 students (undergraduate/ graduate) 7 colleges and schools

11. Carnegie Mellon University $280 million in sponsored research 65% male 35% female 38% White, 4% Hispanic, 58% Other (14% international)

12. University Center Pool

13. University Center Pool Lap pool - 303,000 gallons, 80 degrees F, pH 7.5 Dive pool - 231,000 gallons 84 degrees F, pH 7.6 Room holds approximately 428,000 cubic feet of air

14. Hypochlorous Acid When chlorine is introduce to water it forms hypochlorous acid. (HOCl) Hypochlorous acid further dissociates to hypochlorite ion (OCl-). This dissociation is reversible and pH driven.

15. Pool Chemistry Both pH and temperature affect the concentration of HOCL and OCL - . Both are capable of oxidation and disinfection, but HOCL is a more effective disinfectant.

16. Effects of pH As HOCl is used to kill algae, or as it evaporates, the hypochlorite ion shifts back to HOCL to maintain the pH mandated equilibrium.

17. Chloramines Group of chemicals – NH2Cl NHCl2 NCl3

18. Reaction Chloramines are formed when hypochlorous acid is introduced to nitrogen compounds, such as ammonia or amines. Reaction of ammonia and chlorine in water are: NH3 + HOCl NH2Cl + H2O monochloramine NH2Cl + HOCl NHCl2 + H2O dichloramine NHCl2 + HOCl NCl3 + H2O trichloramine

19. Formation of Chloramines The types of chloramine formed and concentrations are affected by the concentrations of chlorine and ammonia as well as pH and temperature. The lower the pH and the higher the Cl:NH3 ratio, the greater the tendency to produce NCl3.

20. Sources of Nitrogen Body oils Urine Sun tan lotions Make up Deodorants

21. Trichloramine • Is a brownish-yellow gas, has a pungent chlorine odor • Strong irritant • Has low solubility, aerates easily, and decomposes rapidly in sunlight

22. Effects of Exposure Eye and respiratory tract irritation appear to be the primary effects of exposure, although asthma has been documented in lifeguards and swimming instructors.(Lifeguard Lung) Occupational exposure criteria for NCl3have not been established.

23. Our Problem Complaints about burning eyes, throat irritation and headaches Coach threatened to quit

24. CMU’s Swim team 54 members with 4 coaches Practice 2 hours a day, six days a week Season runs approximately October through February

25. Pool Maintenance Total and free chlorine at the improper levels can cause combined chlorine (trichloramines) concentrations to increase. Early testing showed a combined chlorine concentration around 1 ppm, which according to some experts is too high. ( < 0.5 ppm recommended)

26. Ventilation Ventilation of the UC pool area was two 32,000 cfm fans providing theoretically 9 room changes per hour. This appeared to be inadequate when the pool is being heavily used, causing high levels of CO2 and chloramines to build up in the air above the pool surface.

27. Winter in Pittsburgh Also, during cold weather (below 40 ° F) the damper that controls the fresh air/return air mix closes and does not allow any fresh air into the ventilation system.

28. Poor Pool Hygiene After conducting a very informal survey/observation period it was felt that only a small percentage of pool users were following the pool policy of taking a shower before entering the pool. This is one source of nitrogen compounds.

29. NIOSH Method 7607 Not evaluated Media Flow rate NIOSH uses this method to test food processing plants and recently, water-parks

30. Problems with NIOSH • High volume electric pump • Since the method is not evaluated, found only one lab that would provide and analyze the media • Did not have a good feeling for the data

31. NIOSH Results Two samples: 0.21 mg/m3 0.38mg/m3 Since there are no established criteria, it is hard to determine if exposure is significant from sampling results.

32. Indoor Air Quality Using an IAQRAE multiple gas detector readings for temperature, humidity and CO2 were recorded.

33. IAQ Results Temp RH CO2 Low occupancy ≤ 25 76 56 416 High occupancy> 25 80 70 1200

34. Chlorine Testing Using a pocket photometer both the lap pool and the dive pool were tested for total and free chlorine concentrations. Combined chlorine is simply the difference between total and free chlorine.

35. Chlorine Results Two tests per day (morning and afternoon) for one month. Lap pool Dive Pool Total Chlorine: 2.09 ppm 1.63 ppm Free Chlorine: 1.90 ppm 1.24 ppm Combined Chlorine: 0.19 ppm0.39 ppm

36. Installation of Overhead Fans Overhead fans were installed above the lap pool to help “mix” the air directly above the water surface.

37. Smoke Tests

38. Smoke Test Results While some improvement in symptoms was observed over time complaints resumed.

39. UV Water Treatment An UV water treatment system was installed to help eliminate biological contamination and reduce the amount of chloramines.

40. No detectable decrease in combined chlorine levels (chloramines) was observed UV Results Before UV treatment Total coliforms: 0/100 mls Noncoliforms: 110/100 mls Standard plate count: 26/ml After UV treatment Total coliforms: 0/100 mls Noncoliforms: 0/100 mls Standard plate count: 0/ml

41. Pool Shocking Shocking, or "super chlorinating", drastically raises the chlorine level for a short time. The chlorine level becomes so high that bacteria or anything organic in the pool water is completely destroyed. The idea is to keep the pool at or past the “breakpoint” when the pool returns to normal levels of chlorination.

42. Breakpoint The breakpoint is where all added residual is free available chlorine. Some resistant chloramines can still be present but they are not a concern.

43. Improved Ventilation 10,000 cfm booster fan Additionally, the damper was fixed to allow it to continue to operate in cold weather allowing fresh air into the ventilation system.

44. Lessons Learned Learn everything you can about pool water maintenance systems. Learn everything you can about the ventilation system of your pool area. Always try to verify your data.

45. Lessons Learned Use resources at hand, Dr. Jeanne Vanbriesen, from Carnegie Mellon’s Environmental and Civil Engineering department was a valuable source of information regarding water/pool chemistry.

46. Lessons Learned Look at the BIG picture.

47. Lessons Learned Keep in mind things change and what is right today maybe wrong tomorrow…

48. In Closing… Turns out over half of our swim team routinely relieved themselves in the pool during practice, which brings us in a complete circle…. Please don’t PEEin our POOL!