Al's Morning Meeting

It may be easier than you think to find the scores. In Birmingham, Ala., for example, they are listed online -- everything from lap pools to club spas. Same goes for Johnson County, in Kansas.

A Centers for Disease Control & Prevention report says swimming is the second most popular exercise activity in the United States (a claim that I find hard to believe). When CDC researchers conducted a national study of pool inspections in selected cities and states back in 2002, they found that more than half of the pools inspected had violated health and safety rules. More than 8 percent of the violations were serious enough to close the pool in question. More than a third of the violations had to do with chemicals, and another third dealt with filtration and circulation.

The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel has looked at this issue a couple of times over the years. The paper always finds the same thing: tons of problems. Inspectors, they find, are always shaking their heads at the fact that so many pools have insufficient chemicals to control bacteria and other "ick" in the water.

The paper reported last year:

An Orlando Sentinel check of 4,465 inspections of Central Florida pools this year found that at least one in eight failed tests for chlorine, meaning they could pose a health risk for swimmers who use them.

That's similar to the findings of a federal study of 22,131 pool inspections, most of them in Florida, three years ago. Both reviews, as well as a check of more than 4,000 pools by the Sentinel in 2001, found that pools failing tests for chlorine were most commonly found at hotels and apartment complexes.

Despite stepped-up efforts by health authorities this decade to call attention to the risks of pool-borne illnesses, pool inspectors continue to see lax attitudes and poor training among the people responsible for maintaining water quality in pools used by thousands of local residents and tourists every day.

"It's really frustrating," said Tim Carroll, a three-year inspector in Orange County who said he tries to educate and encourage pool owners. "They don't want to take five minutes [a day] to do it. There's really no excuse."

Bart Bibler, bureau chief of state Health Department water programs in Tallahassee, said his agency would like to see the violation rate decline but is nearly overwhelmed by the twice-annual inspections of more than 33,000 pools and spas statewide.

This year's Sentinel survey found chlorine violations at mobile-home parks in Lake County; hotels and motels along U.S. Highway 192 in Osceola County; apartment and condo complexes in Seminole County; beachside motels and resorts in Volusia; and at subdivisions, apartments and condos in Orange County.

Swimming and Illness

Make no mistake about it, swimming-pool "ick" can be serious stuff. Look at this, from the CDC:

When people swim in pools, water parks, spas, hot tubs, lakes, rivers and the ocean, they share the same water. If someone is ill, he or she can contaminate the water for everyone who is swimming. Contaminated recreational water can cause a variety of illnesses such as diarrhea or skin, ear, eye and upper respiratory infections. Kids who wear diapers are just learning to control their bowels and are more prone to contaminate the water. These young kids are more likely to have fecal accidents and, if they are ill with diarrhea, the germs in their stool can contaminate the pool. Once the pool is contaminated, patrons may accidentally swallow the fecally contaminated water, which could make them ill. In addition, some germs such as Crypto (short for Cryptosporidium) may take days to be killed by chlorine, increasing the risk of spreading illness.

Why should pool owners and staff think about illnesses spread through the water?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been gathering information from State health authorities on recreational water illness (RWI) outbreaks in the United States since 1978. Diarrhea, which is currently the most frequently reported symptom, is caused by germs such as Crypto (short for Cryptosporidium), E. coli O157:H7 (E. coli), Giardia, and Shigella. Since 1985, the number of outbreaks of diarrhea connected with swimming pools is on the increase. Some of these outbreaks have affected thousands of swimmers. Much of the diarrheal illness reported to health officials, such as that caused by Crypto, happens during the summer swim season. CDC information from the past few years shows that Crypto is the major germ that causes outbreaks in swimming pools and water parks, where its high chlorine resistance and small size make it a difficult problem for even the best-equipped and well-maintained pools. E. coli is sensitive to chlorine so most outbreaks have occurred in locations where no chlorine is added, such as lakes. E. coli outbreaks appear to be a rare occurrence in chlorinated pools with only two having been reported.

Approximately 10 diarrheal outbreaks linked to swimming pools are reported each year and each one can potentially cause hundreds to thousands of people to become ill. However, pool staff need to keep in mind that most diarrheal illnesses are not reported to health care providers and health officials. This means that the number of outbreaks reported is probably only the tip of the iceberg. Because fewer than 10 percent of people with diarrhea ever go to see a health care provider, public health officials never hear about most cases of illness. Therefore, illness prevention should be a part of every swimming safety program just like the prevention of drowning, injuries, and sunburn.

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Governments Pushing Wi-Fi

Governing magazine pulled together this collection of articles to help get you thinking about the story of local governments trying to spead Wi-Fi -- but it has not been a smooth ride for them.

Miami-Dade officials want to provide affordable wireless Internet access across the entire county. But it's an expensive and untested technology, an expert warned county officials. Daniel Aghion, executive director of the Boston-based Wireless Internet Institute, said few cities have actually deployed the networks and that a lot of the experiments "will probably not go as planned." [From The Miami Herald]

In Washington, D.C., the metropolitan-area transit agency plans to grant companies the right to install wireless Internet access at bus stops and in tunnels, recouping their investments by charging for services or selling online ads while sharing revenues with the transit agency. [From Washington Business Journal]

Philadelphia officials defend Chief Information Officer Dianah Neff's acceptance of trips to conferences indirectly paid for by existing and potential city wireless vendors, saying the trips benefit the city and conform to ethics rules. [From The Philadelphia Inquirer]

Strategies for building municipal wireless networks are evolving fast. But are they prudent in the long run? [From Governing]