Question: A friend with a pool invites us over quite a bit. … We appreciate the generosity. The thing is her youngest child sometimes has an accident in the pool (fecal matter). They remove it but don’t make everybody get out of the pool (my kids do so on their own). They say the chlorine takes care of it. Is this OK?
Answer: No, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which explains how to handle a “fecal incident” in a private, residential swimming pool. Step 1: Close the pool to swimmers.
You can find more information at 808ne.ws/fecswim, but here’s a summary of the CDC’s advice on how to remove fecal matter (including diarrhea) from a private pool and disinfect the water:
>> Close the pool to swimmers.
>> Put on disposable gloves.
>> Remove fecal matter using a net or bucket. Do not vacuum it from the pool.
>> Clean as much fecal matter as possible from the item used to remove it from the pool and dispose of the fecal matter in a sanitary manner.
>> Disinfect the item used to remove the fecal matter by immersing it in the pool during the 30-minute disinfection period described below.
>> Remove and dispose of gloves.
>> Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
>> Raise the free chlorine concentration to, or maintain it at, 2 parts per million (ppm) and maintain the pH at 7.5 or less for 30 minutes.
>> Confirm that the filtration system is operating properly.
Again, those recommendations are for private pools. The rules are different for public ones. “For public pools, the pool operator should raise the free chlorine concentration very high for hours if someone has diarrhea in the pool since it might contain the chlorine tolerant parasite Cryptosporidium. This recommendation does not apply to residential pools. Members of one family or the same household are less likely to spread Cryptosporidium to each other if they use the same pool. Additionally, raising the free chlorine concentration very high for hours increases the risk of pool chemical injuries to residential pool owners (for example, respiratory distress or chemical burns) if the pool chemicals are mishandled,” the CDC says.
Q: Why don’t they have the Pali contraflow open on the weekends? It would help.
A: Because closing the Pali Highway completely on weekends and holidays speeds up the overall pace of repairs and repaving, which the state hopes will be “substantially complete” by the end of August, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Contraflow access to the Pali Highway is available Mondays through Fridays from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Honolulu-bound and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Windward-bound. This schedule serves motorists and passengers commuting to and from jobs and schools.
The Pali Highway Emergency Work began after landslides in late February destabilized the slope above the roadway. The repaving of the Honolulu-bound lanes between Castle Junction and Waokanaka Street was planned prior to the landslides, and is being done during the emergency closure to avoid disrupting traffic again after the highway reopens.
Auwe
To the driver of a green compact car who drove around a Camry waiting for pedestrians to cross at Ala Moana Shopping Center on Monday at about noon: Stop being so impatient! Not only could you have hit someone then, but you continued on without allowing other pedestrians you encountered further down to cross the street. Thank God these pedestrians did not step in front of your car! — Susan
Mahalo
Thank you to the awesome person driving the BMW who paid for our drinks at the Starbucks Kahala drive-thru on May 11. I will pay it forward! — Appreciative
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
