Parents have on-going concerns fortheir children’s health despite test showing that water quality inHanoi’s main swimming pools legal guidelines.
Dr. Nguyen Hoa Binh, deputy director of the Hanoi Preventive Medicine,said water at the 20 pools checked since the start of May meet basichygiene requirements. Central Hanoi has 50 pools.
The standard level of chlorine used to disinfect the water and helped remove bacteria is 0.3 to 0.5 mlg/l.
The water in 14 of the pools checked was within the guidelines and theother six were above or below but not enough to cause serious diseases.
“All the checked pools meet the standard requirements in pH and micro-organism checks,” said Binh.
Despite the tests, parents’ concerns remain.
“When I took my son to a pool early in the morning, the whole area was full of a strong chlorine smell.
“I seems like the managers only use chemicals to make the waterclearer, but do not change the water from previous days,” said PhamQuoc Tuan, who lives in the Quan Hoa Ward of Cau Giay District.
“My children usually feel itchy after swimming even though thepool water looks clear,” he said, even though he realised a smell wasunavoidable as chlorine was needed to keep the pools clean.
Most large pools use automatic filtration systems of a Spanish design.
The chemicals, mostly imported from Japan , are automatically added to the system when required.
“People in the pools are the main source of bacterial contamination,” Binh said.
During hot periods or during weekends, about 500 to 700 people swimeach day in popular pools in Hanoi , such as Thai Ha, Tang Bat Ho, TayHo and Bon Mua.
“Many have clean and modern bathrooms. People are required to showerbefore swimming but most only have a quick wash or skip this step,”said Binh.
Doctor Le Thi Hang, from the Ear-Nose-Throat Faculty of the VietnamSport Hospital , said “All pools have rules that say people who haveheart disease, asthma or infectious diseases are not allowed to swimbut it is hard to check every person.”
“The first priority for many pools is maximising profit and they do notpay serious attention to the likely threats from overcrowding,” Hangsaid.
The manager of the Bon Mua pool in Hoan Kiem District, who did not wantto reveal her surname, said “We cannot restrict the number of peoplewho come to our pool each day, even though we know it is overcrowded.”
Dang Quynh Hoa, who lives in Doi Can in Ba Dinh District, said: “Insummer, pools are always crowded. I have seen many irresponsibleactions of other people while swimming. I decided to take my daughterto pools in big hotels even though the cost is much higher than normalpools.”
Pools in leading hotels such as Daewoo, Hanoi Horizon or Bao Son areusually small and indoor, with a clean water source and fully equippedfiltration systems.
A mother said the cost of swim there was high – usually 10-15 USD eachtime – so it was only suitable for foreigners or the rich. Doctor Hangsaid wearing swimming goggles and caps helped avoid skin and other ear,nose and throat diseases. After swimming, people should carefullyshower and use shampoo and also an eye wash./.
Dr. Nguyen Hoa Binh, deputy director of the Hanoi Preventive Medicine,said water at the 20 pools checked since the start of May meet basichygiene requirements. Central Hanoi has 50 pools.
The standard level of chlorine used to disinfect the water and helped remove bacteria is 0.3 to 0.5 mlg/l.
The water in 14 of the pools checked was within the guidelines and theother six were above or below but not enough to cause serious diseases.
“All the checked pools meet the standard requirements in pH and micro-organism checks,” said Binh.
Despite the tests, parents’ concerns remain.
“When I took my son to a pool early in the morning, the whole area was full of a strong chlorine smell.
“I seems like the managers only use chemicals to make the waterclearer, but do not change the water from previous days,” said PhamQuoc Tuan, who lives in the Quan Hoa Ward of Cau Giay District.
“My children usually feel itchy after swimming even though thepool water looks clear,” he said, even though he realised a smell wasunavoidable as chlorine was needed to keep the pools clean.
Most large pools use automatic filtration systems of a Spanish design.
The chemicals, mostly imported from Japan , are automatically added to the system when required.
“People in the pools are the main source of bacterial contamination,” Binh said.
During hot periods or during weekends, about 500 to 700 people swimeach day in popular pools in Hanoi , such as Thai Ha, Tang Bat Ho, TayHo and Bon Mua.
“Many have clean and modern bathrooms. People are required to showerbefore swimming but most only have a quick wash or skip this step,”said Binh.
Doctor Le Thi Hang, from the Ear-Nose-Throat Faculty of the VietnamSport Hospital , said “All pools have rules that say people who haveheart disease, asthma or infectious diseases are not allowed to swimbut it is hard to check every person.”
“The first priority for many pools is maximising profit and they do notpay serious attention to the likely threats from overcrowding,” Hangsaid.
The manager of the Bon Mua pool in Hoan Kiem District, who did not wantto reveal her surname, said “We cannot restrict the number of peoplewho come to our pool each day, even though we know it is overcrowded.”
Dang Quynh Hoa, who lives in Doi Can in Ba Dinh District, said: “Insummer, pools are always crowded. I have seen many irresponsibleactions of other people while swimming. I decided to take my daughterto pools in big hotels even though the cost is much higher than normalpools.”
Pools in leading hotels such as Daewoo, Hanoi Horizon or Bao Son areusually small and indoor, with a clean water source and fully equippedfiltration systems.
A mother said the cost of swim there was high – usually 10-15 USD eachtime – so it was only suitable for foreigners or the rich. Doctor Hangsaid wearing swimming goggles and caps helped avoid skin and other ear,nose and throat diseases. After swimming, people should carefullyshower and use shampoo and also an eye wash./.
