Our community pool was very cloudy on Monday afternoon, on Tuesday they had swim team practice and then closed the pool for the remainder of the day. On Friday, at least 3 children from the team were diagnosed with swimmers ear. Could there have been something in the water that caused this? Is there anything I can do as a concerned parent to prevent this in the future?

Question:

Our community pool was very cloudy on Monday afternoon, on Tuesday they had swim team practice and then closed the pool for the remainder of the day. On Friday, at least 3 children from the team were diagnosed with swimmers ear. Could there have been something in the water that caused this? Is there anything I can do as a concerned parent to prevent this in the future?

Answer:

The outbreak of swimmer's ear may have resulted from unbalanced water in the swimming pool. Of primary concern is the sanitizer level. When there is not a sufficient level of chlorine to protect swimmers from bacteria in the swimming pool, swimmer's ear can occur. The water stays in the ear canal of the swimmers for some time exposing a sensitive area to germs and bacteria that would usually be non-existent in a properly treated swimming pool. Knowing that, there are some steps that you can take to protect your swimmers. Find these recommendations and other information on swimmer's ear at: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/illnesses/swimmers-ear.html

Did you find this answer helpful? View more cloudy-murky water FAQs here.