burning eyes in public pool

[jam]

i swim in a heated outdoor pool in central florida. yesterday my eyes were burning for 6+hours after swimming. i usually wear goggles but didn't yesterday. also the pool was not as clear as usual.
i saw the pool operator (aren't they supposed to be certified?) with a bright pink result when testing. i can't smell excess chlorine. the person in charge said no one has mentioned any problems with the readings.
hmmmmmm, could the daily addition of 50+ water aerobics' ladies covered in lotions, make-up, hair products, perfume (!!!!!) and sun screen have anything to do with this?
i want to have a little education from you before i go into the office complaining (again).
many thanks. it has been a long time since i was in charge of my own pool.
jam

[mr_clean]

their not allowed to use CYA in public/commercial pools so chlorine levels are normally high sense it has no protection. Depending on what type of chlorine they use liquide or gas can effect PH probably being on the high side also causing eye problems.

Water being cloudy could be them having lots of people in pool & needing to backwash sand filters.

[jam]

thanks for your reply. so i'm not quite sure what to do. i have my suspicions that the ones dealing with the pool are not certified pool ops. when i worked at the YMCA, all pool ops had to have a certificate of training. wondering if FL requires same.
thanks,
jam

[South TX Poolguy]

If you do smell chorine, the pool does not have enough chlorine.

Always wear goggles in public pools.

Wrong Ph levels cause your eyes to burn. Thats why shampoo burns your eyes.

[chem geek]

their not allowed to use CYA in public/commercial pools so chlorine levels are normally high sense it has no protection. Depending on what type of chlorine they use liquide or gas can effect PH probably being on the high side also causing eye problems.

Water being cloudy could be them having lots of people in pool & needing to backwash sand filters.

It's possible that they aren't using CYA, but only New York state has banned its use in public pools (due to a large Crypto outbreak). In most states, CYA is used to protect chlorine from breakdown from sunlight in outdoor pools.

I suspect the eye irritation is either coming from (as you say) the pH being off (away from 7.5) or from their not using enough chlorine so that there is a buildup of monochloramine (chlorine combined with ammonia/urea from sweat) which smells and is irritating.

jam, if you have your own Taylor K-2006 test kit, you could go and measure their pool water parameters.

Richard

[muss08]

On alot of test kits pink is high chlorine or high pH. Really high. Besides pH the burning eyes can also be caused by chloramines. These are a byproduct of chlorine oxidizing organic material. These cause your eyes to burn and is also the "chlorine" smell. Even a pool with a high chlorine level shouldnt smell like it. The pool needs to be shut down for a day and shocked.

[jdlloyd1183]

Ifyou dont smell chlorine, its probably a pH or total alkalinity related problem if you do smell CL, then it needs a good shocking to get rid of chloramines.