Swimming in Natural Waters versus Swimming in a Swimming Pool
Although it is enticing to swim in wild waters, there are real dangers compared to swimming in a swimming pool. Wild water may contain toxins from nearby industrial areas and farms. Animals may have defecated into the water or sewage from nearby cow pastures may leak into it. Rats living in sewers adjacent to fresh water rivers or lakes carry urine with the bacterial pathogen Leptospira. This bacterium causes Leptospirosis (Weil’s disease), which can make you sick.
More dangers in in natural water bodies
E. coli, Norovirus, hepatitis A and B may be in your natural water body, if sewage made its way into it. One particular danger comes from blue-green algae bloom in the summer. It releases a toxin that is harmful to humans and can be lethal to pets. Overall it is much safer to swim in a managed swimming pool where the pool maintenance team controls the chemical concentration to make it a safe environment for swimming and relaxing.