Everybody loves the swimming pool. But how clean is the water in the average backyard or public pool? If you trust chlorine to take care of germs, you're in for a surprise.

每個人都喜歡游泳。但，普通的自家后院的泳池和公共泳池中的水干凈嗎？如果你信任氯的殺毒功效，本文會讓你大吃一驚。

Chlorine and other disinfectants do indeed help to clean the water, but some germs can survive in even the best-kept pool. For example, cryptosporidium may live in pool water for several days. Crypto causes a diarrheal illness and may rinse off the bodies of infected people or diapered children into the pool. If you swallow infected pool water, you may become sick.

氯和其他一些殺菌劑的確可以幫助凈水，但就算在衛生條件最好的泳池里，一些細菌仍然能夠存活。比如，隱孢子蟲能夠引起人的腹瀉，并可以在泳池中存活幾天。受感染者或使用尿布的兒童都能將隱孢子蟲帶到泳池內。如果你嗆了口有隱孢子蟲滋生的池水，你可能會生病。

Other germs may live for a few minutes or a few hours in a chlorinated pool: Giardia, Shigella, and E. Coli may cause diarrheal illnesses. Pseudomonas Aeruginosa may cause an ear infection called swimmer's ear and also a skin infection called "hot tub rash," that is usually associated with very warm pools and spas.

在用氯消毒過的泳池內，有些細菌能夠存活幾分鐘或是幾小時：鞭毛蟲，志賀氏桿菌，大腸桿菌。它們都能引起腹瀉。通常，在水溫較高的泳池和溫泉中，綠膿桿菌能感染人的耳部和皮膚，導致游泳性耳炎和毛囊炎的發生。

While keeping the correct chlorine and ph levels will minimize water-borne illness, prevention is also a good idea. Keep diapered children in the water for only brief periods and keep sick people out of the water altogether. And, don't ever swallow pool water.

控制好水中的氯的含量和PH值會減少水傳播疾病的可能，除此之外，做好防護工作也是一條可行之路。不讓還戴尿布的孩子長時間在水中逗留，生病的人都不要下水。還有，不要嗆到池水。