Ask Ars: How much pee in a pool would kill you?

Pee plus chlorine yields a chemical warfare agent. Here are some deadly scenarios.

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[Alyeska]

If you could get at that pool without dying of either suffocation or drowning in other people's urine

Thank you for that image Ars. I don't think I will be eating dinner tonight. I also sense a new South Park episode in the making.

 

[Carbon Fibre]

Excellent report. I always avoided hotel pools.

 

[theJonTech]

What are you a camel?

 

[tinycritterfromthesea]

Phew... one less thing to worry about.

 

[Sephoroth]

Alyeska[/url]":1zdz9n8u]

If you could get at that pool without dying of either suffocation or drowning in other people's urine

Thank you for that image Ars. I don't think I will be eating dinner tonight. I also sense a new South Park episode in the making.

You're late to the party: http://beta.southparkstudios.com/clips/ ... t=playlist

 

[Acidicpack]

A very interesting read!

This I why I avoid public pools and just prefer to just pee in my own pool =)

Thanks, Casey

 

[Alyeska]

Sephoroth[/url]":2rl5anum]

Alyeska[/url]":2rl5anum]

If you could get at that pool without dying of either suffocation or drowning in other people's urine

Thank you for that image Ars. I don't think I will be eating dinner tonight. I also sense a new South Park episode in the making.

You're late to the party: http://beta.southparkstudios.com/clips/ ... t=playlist

Cartmans suffering from younger children is not sufficient. We need a literal tidal wave of pee as described by Casey. Skin melting chorline wouldn't hurt (well, OK, it would).

 

[Deleted member 192806]

I assume the "virtualization" tag means this is something we can do in The Sims?

 

[rwxatc]

Our local pool sterilizes its water using UV light and Bromine (I think, but not chlorine).

So does this mean our water is safer? Or does this mean that our water is just getting increasingly pissier?

 

[Demonantis]

Thanks for putting some rationality to an irrational fear. Reminds me of xkcd's What if? posts.

 

[Benji XVI]

Channelling Randall Munroe, here!

 

[Drakkenmensch]

If you and three million other people could get at this pool and unload your pee into it before your bodies melted, before the crowd crushed you to death, and before you drowned from the massive tidal wave of pee... yes, you could feasibly die of cyanogen chloride poisoning originating from chlorinated water and pee.

Admittedly, that would be the most awesome "Faces of Death" video the internet has ever seen.

 

[rwxatc]

To be honest, to answer your "how much will kill you?" question, I can safely say that if I had ever admitted to my mom of having done this, even just a little bit, she would have killed me on he spot!

 

[Meathim]

Geniune consumer advice right there. Many thanks.

 

[Sephoroth]

Alyeska[/url]":2uhbv91f]

Sephoroth[/url]":2uhbv91f]

Alyeska[/url]":2uhbv91f]

If you could get at that pool without dying of either suffocation or drowning in other people's urine

Thank you for that image Ars. I don't think I will be eating dinner tonight. I also sense a new South Park episode in the making.

You're late to the party: http://beta.southparkstudios.com/clips/ ... t=playlist

Cartmans suffering from younger children is not sufficient. We need a literal tidal wave of pee as described by Casey. Skin melting chorline wouldn't hurt (well, OK, it would).

Perhaps I should have linked to this clip instead: http://beta.southparkstudios.com/clips/ ... t=playlist

Skin-melting would have helped but I guess we'll just have to settle for explosions .

 

[zneak]

Feels like Ars is stepping on what-if.xkcd.com grounds! (which is not necessarily a bad thing)

 

[smunter6]

Benji XVI[/url]":3l6pabtv]Channelling Randall Munroe, here!

I have no problems with this whatsoever. More ridiculous science!

 

[BadSuperblock]

Alyeska[/url]":syjjdix6]Cartmans suffering from younger children is not sufficient. We need a literal tidal wave of pee as described by Casey.

All that would involve is simply a cross between the South Park pool pee and Worldwide Brown Note episodes.

 

[Thank You and Best of Luck!]

The closing paragraph is magnificent.

 

[Logicsol]

So effectively we'd run out of Chlorine in the pool before any dangerous levels present.
This of course is why there are filtration systems fitted to most pools.(well not JUST this)

 

[Chimel31]

Except in a pool of Tom Daley's pee: you'd die from an overdose of awesomeness, not poisoning!

 

[mewmew]

This could make a reasonable (if gross) plot for a new softcore porn. "Weapons Of Ass Destruction II: Golden TIde, coming soon to Cinemax"

 

[NoOneSpecific]

Cyanogen Mod?

Just saying... =P

 

[Manic Miner]

Excellent article. I came to Ars for the iPod destruction and stayed for the informative science articles.

At least I know I don't have to go before getting into the pool now.

 

[Galeran]

smunter6[/url]":k5k66zcp]

Benji XVI[/url]":k5k66zcp]Channelling Randall Munroe, here!

I have no problems with this whatsoever. More ridiculous science!

Nobody said channelling Randall was a bad thing! Would have liked some stick-figures a-la Aurich

 

[pen_sq]

The question as originally asked: I have a failed septic field, and a pool that's just sitting out there that the kids pretty much only used the first year I got it. Can I get away with just running my toilet into that?

 

[Drakkenmensch]

 

[Nilt]

You asked...

*laughs* Love this sort of weekend thing. Ars rocks!

 

[Jurrasic]

Best. Article. EVER.

This is just what I need to chill out my elderly mother who believes everything she sees on the TV news or in an article she reads, and phones to tell me what's going to kill me now.

 

[rwxatc]

Is this a one time article, or part of a series on the topic of domestic aquatic pollution?

I suppose the theme could be expanded to expound on the best method for straining and filtering out organic solids, or the psychology of why anybody out if diapers would see a pool as the same as a toilet.

Btw, growing up we had a 21,000 gallon concrete pond in our yard ... When I was like 6 I learned the word Superchlorinate from my dad, after David Matson covertly produced a baby ruth and left it behind in the pool. Strange kid. Dad banned him and his siblings from our pool for life.

 

[carldjennings]

robert.walter[/url]":39y8ytep]Is this a one time article, or part of a series on the topic of domestic aquatic pollution?

I suppose the theme could be expanded to expound on the best method for straining and filtering out organic solids, or the psychology of why anybody out if diapers would see a pool as the same as a toilet.

Btw, growing up we had a 21,000 gallon concrete pond in our yard ... When I was like 6 I learned the word Superchlorinate from my dad, after David Matson covertly produced a baby ruth and left it behind in the pool. Strange kid. Dad banned him and his siblings from our pool for life.

He got the Baby Ruth thing from Caddyshack, I think.

 

[SpecTP]

Now you've done it.. the TSA will make us all pee before we board the airplane. And they'll have someone there to check you peeing.

 

[Wisetrader]

So South Park was spot on? For Science!

 

[Deleted member 250988]

So with 2.5million liter water in the pool and 3million people peeing 0.8L (totalling 2.4million liters of pee) that won't work.

The obvious solution (no pun intended) is 1/2 a pool of water topped off by half a pool worth of pee.

Also I remember from highschool tests, that the 'chlorine' smell in pools is mainly caused by peeing in the pool. you hardly smell it when there is no urine in the water. (And yes that means if the pool you enter smeels of chlorine people peed in it, it does not mean it's clean with plenty of chlorine)

So I don't even want to imagine the smell of that mixture ...

Damn you Ars, I'm having too much fun ...

 

[The_Analog_Kid]

If you and three million other people could get at this pool and unload your pee into it before your bodies melted, before the crowd crushed you to death, and before you drowned from the massive tidal wave of pee... yes, you could feasibly die of cyanogen chloride poisoning originating from chlorinated water and pee.

[JimCarrey] So you're saying there's a chance... [/JimCarrey]

 

[snowman<ca>]

My first thought is if this was even remotely close to possible or having happened before, rumors among school age children would be rampant many years ago.

 

[alohadave]

robert.walter[/url]":1dg47nm9]Our local pool sterilizes its water using UV light and Bromine (I think, but not chlorine).

So does this mean our water is safer? Or does this mean that our water is just getting increasingly pissier?

The UV kills pathogens/organisms (algae) in the water, it doesn't oxidize (the Bromine is an oxidizer and is used as a direct replacement for chlorine-but they are not compatible with each other).