I can absolutely assure you that adding chlorine is not for show. Greater and greater attention has been paid by local health departments to the threat of water-borne illness, and because of that, more stringent regulations have been passed.
I have a certification as AFO, Aquatic Facilty Operator. This is the most stringent licensure available, with the most thorough training available. Without a doubt, I know my shit. Without getting into the weeds about pool chemistry, the quick version is this: chlorine is the best sanitizer available. Period. Chlorine used in pools is either gas chlorine (100% content), calcium hypochlorite (65% content; granules, pellets, and pucks), or bleach (12%). Chlorine effectiveness is affected by factors like pH, water temp, sun exposure, residues of other chemicals, organic load in the water, and other variables. Health codes usually mandate that free chlorine residual meets the level of 2.0 ppm at a pH of below 7.4 for at least 30 minutes after the poop has been removed before reopening.
Even with ppm and pH levels met to code, there’s stuff in shit, and especially in diarrhea, that is impervious to chlorine. Crypto and giardia are two agents that can’t be killed by normal levels of chlorine. In the event of diarrhea, pools can only be reopened 24 hours after the stuff has been removed, but the chlorine residual must be 20ppm with a pH of no higher than 7.3 for a full 24 hours. If the levels aren’t sustained, the clock starts again as soon as 20/7.3 are met. Then, the pool must be diluted of chlorine, since 20ppm would bleach hair and suits.
The only part that’s “for show” is lifeguards or managers throwing something into the pool to make it “appear” that they’re doing something. In fact, they should have set the auto chem feeders to start circulating immediately, because that’s more effective than throwing stuff in the pool, if you think about it. The poop particles have circulated at the time the poop was pooped, when everyone got out, and when the guard used the strainer to remove it. It’s vastly more efficient to circulate chlorine mechanically.
Most savvy managers will throw in a few scoops of baking soda near the site. It’s about optics. Baking soda is used for pool chemistry anyway, so there’s always some around. Baking soda is certainly much safer to throw in than granules of calcium hypochlorite, and cal hypo is hard to dissolve. But the real stuff is already in motion.
As for crap particles in people’s cracks, farts, dingleberries, skid marks, etc, maybe you understand why there really should be enforcement of the soapy shower rule for anyone about to go swimming.
Don’t hassle the guards or managers. They’re trying to protect you.
