Advertisement

Alberta mom’s bleached bathing suit spurs questions on chlorine safety in Airdrie pool

Click to play video: 'Bleached bathing suit worries Airdrie mom after swim at Genesis Place'
Bleached bathing suit worries Airdrie mom after swim at Genesis Place
WATCH ABOVE: Bathing suits often fade because of exposure to chlorinated swimming pool water. But an Airdrie mom says the after a swim at the local public pool, the damage to her suit was extreme. Mia Sosiak shows you how white it turned, and what officials say about chemical levels in water – Dec 1, 2016

An Alberta mother whose bathing suit was bleached after wading in the City of Airdrie tot pool with her young daughter is raising potential health concerns, despite being told the chemical levels were safe.

“It may be safe within Alberta standards, but what about for people to swim in that?” Jenny Wagner told Global News.

“It obviously bleached my bathing suit; I can’t see how that would be safe. It would be like swimming in my washing machine on a bleach cycle.”

An Alberta mom says her bathing suit was bleached after swimming in the City of Airdrie tot pool in November 2016. Provided by Jenny Wagner

Wagner said she was at the pool with her daughter from about 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on Nov. 29, but noticed “extreme” bleach spots all over her bathing suit when she got home. She had health concerns, so she called the pool. She said she was told the levels were safe: on a scale of one to 10, they tested at an eight at 12 p.m.

Story continues below advertisement

City of Airdrie spokesperson Lynda Phelan told Global News the levels never exceeded the provincially-approved standard. She said water samples are sent to Alberta Health every few days and the city is notified if the water is outside of the range, which would result in a pool closure.

The latest health and medical news emailed to you every Sunday.

She said between 400 and 500 people use the tot pool per day and there haven’t been any other reports of faded bathing suits.

But Wagner said she’s heard similar concerns from other moms and remains concerned despite the official chemical level.

“I want [pool management] to be more considerate of the people in the pool,” she said. “It (is unfortunate) if they have to close the pool down for contamination, but I would still go and pay if that means I have to wait an hour for the pool to be clean, rather than be worried about chemicals.”

Wagner said despite being in the middle of swimming lessons for her daughter that have already been paid for, her family has decided not to visit the Airdrie pool until the issue is resolved in her mind.

An Alberta mom says her bathing suit was bleached after swimming in the City of Airdrie tot pool in November 2016. Provided by Jenny Wagner

With files from Mia Sosiak

Advertisement

Sponsored content

AdChoices