British researchers recently claimed that chlorine in swimming pool water could kill the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in about thirty seconds. The results of this work enabled scientists to ensure that no contamination was possible in swimming pools treated with chlorine.
Chlorine inactivates the coronavirus
In May 2020, we wondered whether or not contamination was possible by bathing in sea water. According to Ifremer in France, the coronavirus is not present at all. neither in seawater nor in shellfish. At the same time, work by the Superior Council of Spanish Scientific Research (CSIC) affirmed that the risks were zero with regard to swimming pool water. According to the results, swimming pool water is able to reduce the virality of Covid-19 due to the presence of chlorine. A recent study from Imperial College London (United Kingdom) has produced similar results. They even claim that swimming pool water is able to inactivate the virus in just thirty seconds.
“By mixing the virus with the swimming pool water that was delivered to us by the Water Babies team [une société, NDLR], we were able to show that the virus does not survive in swimming pool water. He was no longer contagious. That, added to the huge dilution factor of the virus that could find its way into a swimming pool from an infected person, suggests that the risk of contracting Covid-19 from swimming pool water is negligible. ”, said Wendy Barclay, lead author of the study in a statement April 16, 2021.
A study that remains to be verified
As part of their work, the researchers mentioned a concentration of free chlorine of 1.5 mg per liter and one pH between 7 and 7.2. This configuration would reduce by more than a thousand times in just thirty seconds the capacity of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 to infect. However, these results should be viewed with caution. Indeed, the study has not yet been published in a scientific journal. There was therefore no peer validation.
In addition, other tests have confirmed that the chlorine contained in the pool waster is even more effective. at a lower pH. For researchers, this is excellent news for anyone doing a professional (or sports) activity related to swimming pool water. Does this research really bode well for a reopening of the swimming pools this summer? Nothing can confirm it.
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