Duck Poo in the Pool

So you are aware. We are concerned about the possibility of cryptosporidium bacteria in the pool from duck stool. A duck pair has decided our pool is the perfect habitat for their growing family. • Cryptosporidium (crypto) is a nasty and hard to eliminate bacterium which, if ingested, can sicken our residents. We are aware of this risk. At this point, we have no indication that the ducks, or any of our residents, are so infected. • No reliable do it yourself test for crypto is available. The only reliable test is in a certified lab, and that normally takes weeks to get a response. • Chlorine, at normal levels found in pools, such as ours, isn’t very effective in killing crypto. It’s somewhat chlorine resistant. We have asked our pool service company to increase the chlorine level in our pool as a preventative measure. • The best way to ensure crypto does not infect our pool is to prevent the ducks from entering the pool. So far our efforts to do that have ended in failure. We continue to look for a reliable method. • We have purchased a pool vacuum system and will clean the pool whenever the ducks leave us a "present".

• If we suspect the pool is contaminated, we will close the pool for two days while we super shock the water to kill the crypto.