That Pool Smell Isn't Chlorine—It's Pee (and Poop)

Here's something that'll make you think twice before your next cannonball: that sharp, distinctive "chlorine smell" at the pool? It's not chlorine. Pure chlorine is basically odorless. What you're smelling is chloramines—chemical compounds created when chlorine meets nitrogen-containing waste from swimmers' bodies. We're talking urine, sweat, and yes, fecal matter.

The cleaner the pool smells like "chlorine," the dirtier it actually is.

The Chemistry of Disgust

When hypochlorous acid (the active disinfectant in pool water) encounters ammonia from urine and sweat, it creates three types of chloramines: monochloramine, dichloramine, and trichloramine. The last two are the main culprits behind pool smell—and they're not just unpleasant. These compounds irritate your eyes, skin, and respiratory system. That burning sensation you get after swimming? Not chlorine protecting you. It's chloramines attacking you.

Here's what makes it worse:

• Trichloramine is volatile and hovers right above the water surface (it's heavier than air)
• Indoor pools trap these gases, creating that overwhelming smell
• Chlorine + uric acid can even produce cyanogen chloride, which is literally classified as a chemical warfare agent

Wait, There's Poop in the Pool?

Unfortunately, yes. The CDC confirms that fecal matter—whether from «accidents» or just residue on unwashed bodies—is a common pool contaminant. While chlorine kills most germs, parasites like Cryptosporidium and Giardia are chlorine-resistant and spread through fecal contamination. A single diarrheal incident can contaminate an entire pool.

The irony is brutal: we add chlorine to kill germs, but that same chlorine reacts with the very bodily waste that introduces those germs, creating irritating compounds that make pools less pleasant while we're trying to make them safer.

So What's a Clean Pool Supposed to Smell Like?

Nothing. Or maybe a faint hint of chlorine, but not that eye-watering, nostril-burning smell. A properly maintained pool with good chlorine levels and minimal contaminants should smell neutral. Strong pool smell means high chloramine levels, which means the water is loaded with reactions between disinfectant and human waste.

Pool operators combat this through "shock treatment" or superchlorination—essentially blasting the water with extra chlorine to break down chloramines. But there's a simpler solution: everyone should shower before swimming. Rinsing off for just 60 seconds removes most sweat, oils, and yes, trace fecal matter from your skin, dramatically reducing chloramine formation.

Next time you're at a pool and someone says "smells nice and chlorinated," you'll know the truth. That smell isn't cleanliness. It's the aromatic evidence of hundreds of people marinating in their collective filth while chlorine desperately tries to keep up. Suddenly those "please shower before entering" signs seem a lot less optional.