I'm _fairly_ sure it's not true.
I believed my classmates when they said that the people who ran the swimming pool had added a special chemical that turned bright red when you pee in the pool so everyone can tell it's you and they'll throw you out of the pool.
( sanityclause is waiting until, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 15:51, 20 replies)

I know this is just a common urban myth and April fools joke
but I always wondered - why isn't it true? This seems very sensible to me.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 15:52, closed)

I think it's because
lots of other bodily secretions (sweat, tears, sebaceous stuff, etc) contain the same substances you'd use as a marker for wee.

In other words, if there was such a chemical, it wouldn't just be urine that set it off, the whole pool would gradually turn pink.
( sanityclause is waiting until, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 15:54, closed)

And therefore render it gay, putting off hundreds of potential kids
Who would stay at home playing computer games instead, becoming increasingly frustrated and violent through the prolonged exposure to war games, to eventually burst forth onto the streets as pre-primed psychotic killing machines hell-bent on the destruction of mankind, so NO. It's NOT a good idea.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 15:56, closed)

Maybe not in the short term, but I'm sure in the longer term it could be used as an excuse to justify massive pay cuts, rationing and curfew laws, plus further increases to the cost of living.
Anything that keeps the üntermenschen in their place can only be a good thing.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Sat 21 Jan 2012, 0:11, closed)

The way to test this would be to pee in the pool.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 15:52, closed)

despite having a biochemical-type degree...
I still had to resort to Snopes:
www.snopes.com/science/poolpiss.asp
( sanityclause is waiting until, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 15:52, closed)

I believed this well into adulthood.
Until I read about it on snopes in fact.
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 16:17, closed)

There's a public swimming centre somewhere near me
which has a sign:

SWIMMING OOL.
You'll notice there's no P in it: please keep it that way.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 16:03, closed)

Round our way, there's the LOOSE BOWLS CLUB,
which never fails to raise a smile.

Yours is better, though.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 16:24, closed)

I also was told this story many times so, in high school, my last swimming class of my last year, we are all standing in the shallow end being called out one by one to see our mark for the year and then go shower....I was called when still many were standing around. Voided my bladder the whole way to the front. No dye.
(tyrellsOwl, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 16:38, closed)

I belileved this too
Though I'm not sure why. I used to like swimming underwater, and there was ample evidence in most busy public pools (well, the one at Pontypool anyway) that all kinds of detritus didn't seem able to make the water go pink. Used sanitary towels and tampons, false teeth, soiled nappies, the works. Some of the nappies clearly had yellow "fumes" leaking out of them, and they didn't go pink.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 17:31, closed)

The weirdest thing I've seen on the bottom of Ladywell Pool:
an IUD.

No, not a bomb, one of those contraceptive things. Haven't a clue how someone managed to, er, expel it.
( sanityclause is waiting until, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 17:59, closed)

On many an occassion
I've realised that goggles are both a blessing and a curse, but that beats all.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 19:46, closed)

We do scuba training in a pool
and it is truly disgusting what lies on the bottom. The worst is how much chewing gum there is down there!!
(Studentken is looking for motivation on, Thu 26 Jan 2012, 13:35, closed)

Literally pissing myself
at the yellow 'fumes'
(Cancer Joy was short lived, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 21:23, closed)

i always thought it was purple
( nikdude, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 20:11, closed)

Fuck me....
...I'm 39 and believed this until reading this thread.
(FUXTIX Not my words, Carol, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 21:03, closed)

Snap.
39, and I thought it turned blue.
(dchurch bah, Fri 20 Jan 2012, 23:19, closed)

I'm 32
And still not *entirely* convinced it's not true. I've never pissed in a pool in my life, just in case.
(runawayscreaming I'd like to thank the Academy..., Sun 22 Jan 2012, 12:11, closed)

Live dangerously....
do it!

And by "dangerously" of course I mean "inconsiderately unhygienic".
( sanityclause is waiting until, Tue 24 Jan 2012, 16:55, closed)