Body fat is stored in cells so unless someone is performing DIY liposuction on the pools edge
it can't be that Anyone who keeps fish will know just how hard it can be to keep algae growth down
Ok, sorry for the strange subject.
Friend is learning to be a swimming instructor. Yesterday they got told that the red stuff in grout where you shower and the reason some tiles are
slippy is cause human body fat coats things. Its something to do with the chlorine in the water.
She asked her sister who is also a swimming instructor and she said "yeah we where told that". Personally she thinks this is an urban myth
and maybe they mean the oils in your skin.
So .... in true challenge locostbuilders .... whats the answer? Is it body fat, is it body oils is it just some cleaning substance or .... ?
The clock has started ticking.
i would have thought it more likely they mean oils and things at the surface of the skin being washed out and chemically extracted from your skin and getting on the tiles, reacting with chlorine or whatever to create soapy substance, i wouldnt have thought its actually body fat, else people would be sitting in pools waiting for thier excess fat to get washed away!
Its skin oils and dirt + algae
Body fat is stored in cells so unless someone is performing DIY liposuction on the pools edge it can't be that
Anyone who keeps fish will know just how hard it can be to keep algae growth down
Its the blood of those people who play tricks on the lifeguards.
i would highly doubt that it is body fat! for one how would it get from under the epidermal layer of shin into the water! 
it is more likely to be
the oils from the skin.
fat molecules in the body are made up of 2 main parts, a phosphorylated hydrophilic (water liking) head and a polysaturated or poly-unstaturated
hydrophobic (water hating) tail. when fat molecules come together in water they form a ball with the hydrophobic tail pointing towards the centre and
the hydrophilic heads facing the water. this also happens when fats find surfaces to bind to. ie the side of the swimming pool or a shower cubicle
etc.
as mentioned already it is more likely to be some form of bacteria or algae biproduct that has stained the tiles.
glad to be of service
If it's true then I'mm off down the baths with a pack of choccy HobNobs
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
If it's true then I'mm off down the baths with a pack of choccy HobNobs
For years I've hated the idea of bathing in the same sh!tty water that everyone else has been in.
This has definately concluded for me that I won't be going swimming any time soon!
Cheers,
James
mmmmmmm, choccy hobnobs.
To expand the OP's thread a bit. Is it just his local baths that suffer or is it others too
quote:
Originally posted by DarrenW
mmmmmmm, choccy hobnobs.
To expand the OP's thread a bit. Is it just his local baths that suffer or is it others too
I worked at a sports centre a few years ago and they used a jet wash to clean the showers of what we were told at the time was body fat
quote:
Originally posted by woodster
I worked at a sports centre a few years ago and they used a jet wash to clean the showers of what we were told at the time was body fat
brill
I think it is some kind of algae.I work in a food factory and it seems to develop in areas which are warm and damp and does not seem to be killed by
the usual chlorine based cleaners, it also seems to occur mostly on plastic pipework and cladding.They alternate between chlorine and peroxide type
disinfectant cleaners as it seems some are more effective than others for different algaes bacteria etc.
Paul
Um.........if swimming is supposed to keep you thin , then why are whales so fat ?
Utter cobblers regarding body fat theories I'm afraid. Body fat does not simply dissolve out of people, if it did I would spend far longer in
the bathroom!
The pink/red deposits you sometimes get in grout is caused by a class of bacteria called
Methylobacterium, which are harmless to healthy people.
As a former leisure centre manaager, I can confrim this is true...! The body fat (aka oily skin etc) is the slippery feeling underfoot. We are not
talking of people dropping pounds at a time on the floor!
Another gross you out truth - if you go to a pool and your eyes hurt, it is not too much chlorine, it is too much pee! Too much chlorine will make
your eyes hurt, but only after it has bleached your costume (which I have seen!).
One more - if you poo in the pool, it is only closed to make the public feel better. In reality, we scoop the lumps and continue. The only exception
is the runs, where we have to close while we check chlorine levels, then take a water sample, then reopen!
Enjoy your swim!
[Edited on 24/2/09 by twybrow]
Used to use pools when I was a kid... then I realised how rank-rotten the bloomin things were and haven't been in years!