We’ve all heard urban legends about swimming pools. But are they true?
Let’s take this popular one: If you tinkle in a public pool, a little red ring will follow you around the pool, exposing your secret? Fiction. Scientists say it’s just too difficult to get dye to react to just urine and not to some other organic compound.
How about this one? You can’t swim for a half hour after eating or else you could be overcome by cramps. Fiction. Snopes.com says the urban legend may have been born from a 1908 article in Scouting for Boys magazine, which indicated you can actually die from the cramps caused by swimming too soon after eating.
Here’s a more scientific legend. Checking the water level in your swimming pool after an earthquake can tell you how bad the earthquake was. Fact! Earthquakes cause seiches, which are essentially stationary waves that cause the water to slosh out of the pool.
Did you enjoy that? Hope so. Happy swimming!