Can you actually get a UTI from spending time in your gym’s water areas, especially if you swim laps or do water aerobics?
I know a mom to a special needs adult who won’t let her go swimming at the YMCA because she fears this will give her a UTI.
“Kelcie” so badly wants to get in the water, but thanks to her mother, she’s being deprived of one of the very few forms of exercise she’d like to do.
However, is there some validity to this fear?
Perhaps you believe you yourself might catch a UTI from being in your gym’s pool despite the chlorination.
A UTI from being in a chlorinated pool?
Being in a properly chlorinated pool does not increase the risk of getting a UTI.
Chlorinated water reduces bacteria exposure because free chlorine (as hypochlorous acid) can rapidly kill microbes by penetrating their cell walls.
According to the CDC, properly maintained pools and other water areas (1 ppm chlorine, pH 7.0-7.8) can make E. coli inactive within a minute.
Chlorinated pools are designed to lower infection risk. The chlorine keeps bacterial levels in the water low, and UTIs are not associated with swimming in clean, well-maintained pools (indoor or out).
Pool water doesn’t deliver bacteria into the urinary tract.
Pool water doesn’t deliver bacteria into the urinary tract.
- Swimming doesn’t push water into the urethra.
- The lower urinary tract doesn’t open to water during swimming, so the water itself isn’t a pathway for infection.
Why It Can Seem that Being in the Water Can Cause a UTI
What can we tell Kelcie’s mother to convince her to let her sedentary 30-year-old daughter get some much needed movement via a pool?
Wearing a wet or tight swimsuit for long periods creates a warm, moist environment around the urethra, which encourages the growth of bacteria from the skin or gut.
Friction from tight fabric can irritate the urethra, making it easier for bacteria to enter and cause a urinary tract infection.
The solution is to avoid long periods of being in a wet swimsuit, and to get swimwear that isn’t tight.
With these guidelines activated, you can fully enjoy your exercise or fun time in a chlorinated pool.
If being in a regulated pool actually drove up the risk of UTIs, don’t you think that children left and right, especially during summer months, would be catching UTIs?
And adults, too; plenty of adults spend time in chlorinated pools.
We’d see a gigantic spike in urinary tract infections during the summer if, indeed, something about being in water — even non-chlorinated — led to this condition.
Finally, remember: Due to anatomy, water cannot enter the urinary tract.
