Am I more likely to come in contact with someone else's urine after they've peed in my shower or my pool?

Question

Essentially I am trying to settle a long debate amongst friends, whether it is more sanitary to pee in the shower or the pool. Assume that someone pees in the shower and I hop it after him/her, and that I am swimming in your averaged sized pool at the same time the other person pees. Does the chlorine, etc. in a pool + vast amount of water immediately dissolve the urine? Doe the shower's constant flow of water effectively wash all of the urine away?

Answer 1

haha! I wouldn't know, but I'm guessing -

SHOWER -

I think it is more sanitary if you pee in the shower - only if you are standing up, not if you are going to be sitting down in the water that the other person has peed in.

Peeing in the shower gets rid of athletes foot! haha - I heard that on two and a half men.

POOL -

I think pool is just yuk - the chlorine would wash away some of the bacteria but you will be swallowing it if you put your head under???

Maybe write this question into MYTH BUSTERS!

Answer 2

Have you ever seen someone pee in a pool, and the yellow cloud in the water around them, until the pee disperses into the rest of the pool?  The pee doesn't go away.  The chlorine might kill the germs in the water, but it doesn't eat up the pee instantly.  In a shower, at least the pee will go down the drain.  Also, your feet don't have any openings, if you want to think in terms of germs gaining entrance to your body, so standing in someone's pee is less likely to do you any harm.

Tell your friends that the most sanitary place to pee is in the toilet.  It's a good habit to acquire.  If you're worried about the possibility of pee in the shower when you use it, you can buy a spray shower cleaner with bleach, and just give the shower floor a few squirts and let it sit a couple of minutes, then rinse it, and you'll know it's clean enough to use.  Another idea would be to tell your friends they aren't allowed to use your shower if they're likely to pee in it.

Answer 3

well, in a shower, unless they're doing something rather bizarre, the only place you'll possibly come into contact with it is on the bottom of your feet.

whereas in a pool, you can suddenly swim into that worryingly warm bit......

either way, the chlorine's probably more harmful than the pee.