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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
With files from Mia Sosiak