Can chlorine kill coronavirus? As pools reopen, here's how safe public swimming is

Indoor swimming pools in England have been given the green light to reopen to the public at the end of the month.

After being closed due to coronavirus restrictions, the nation will able to get back to their breast stoke from July 25, the Government announced.

But before you run and get your "cozzie" from the cupboard, you should be aware that increased social distancing measures will be in place — so it might be a different experience to what you were used to pre-lockdown .

We take a look at what is being done to counter Covid-19 transmissions at swimming pools.

Does the chlorine in the swimming pool water make it a safe environment?

According to The Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group (PWTAG) chlorine, which can break down chemical bonds of bacteria and viruses, could be an effective way to minimise the risk of transmitting Covid-19 in pools.

It has developed guidelines along with Public Health England about the amounts of chlorine needed to be used in the water.

A PWTAG spokesman said: “The available evidence shows that the physical effect of the pool water and an appropriate relationship between free chlorine and pH value should inactivate the virus within 15-30 seconds.

"The dilution of virus in the pool water volume will also reduce the risk of exposure and transmission.”

The World Health Organisation has also spoken about using chlorine and said coronavirus can be "sensitive" to the chemical.

It said: “Conventional, centralised water treatment methods that utilise filtration and disinfection should inactivate the Covid-19 virus.

"Other human coronaviruses have been shown to be sensitive to chlorination and disinfection with ultraviolet (UV) light.”

Richard Lamburn, Swim England’s Head of Facilities, said until a vaccination or treatment for Covid-19 is found there are always risks when undertaking any activity.

However in this country "swimming pools are well-managed spaces with numerous risk control measures in place," he said.

"We are recommending additional measures to further reduce the risks, such as maintaining social distancing wherever possible and not sharing equipment."

Is airborne transmission of the virus a particular problem in swimming pools?

Mr Lamburn said the air circulation systems at indoor pools are designed to undertake at least four complete air changes every hour.

He explained that they remove the air from "above the surface", which in turn "should assist in removing airborne transmission of viruses".

"There is also anecdotal evidence that suggests that higher temperatures and humidities we have in pools can play a positive effect in reducing transmission of airborne particles," Mr Lamburn added.

"Again, we are also recommending further risk control measures, such as maintaining social distance wherever possible, reducing the maximum number of swimmers allowed in a pool at any time, widening lanes where appropriate, ensuring each lane swims in the same direction and encouraging swimmers to breathe to the other side when crossing within a lane."

What is a "bather load" and how many people can be in a pool

There are guidelines about how many swimmers can be in a pool at one time.

Much like a music venue has a crowd capacity limit, a swimming pool has a bather load.

Before the pandemic hit it the Government said each swimmer needs an area of three square metres.

This has not been increased, and Mr Lamburn said it would not be possible to maintain social distancing under the existing guidelines.

"We believe this to be an error within the Government guidance and we have raised this with the department for clarification and amending," he told the Standard.

"We worked closely with the department on their guidance and this figure was not included in any of the discussions we had.

"Pool operators should follow our guidance on maximum bather loads to ensure social distancing can be maintained.

Can groups of more than six people go swimming?

Yes. The Government guidance states that Covid secure venues, such as swimming pools, can host larger groups.

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