Your health: Make sure your pool isn't a health hazard

Make sure your pool isn't a health hazard

Ah, summer. A time when young and old alike flock to the local pool or splash park for relief from heat.

That is, unless the particular public pool, hot tub or water playground you flock to is among the thousands that are forced to close each year because of serious health and safety violations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency recently detailed inspection data, collected in 2013 in which researchers examined the outcomes of 84,187 routine inspections of 48,632 public aquatic facilities, including hot tubs, pools, water parks and other spots where people swim in treated water, The Washington Post reports.

They found that almost 80 percent of the time, inspectors documented at least one health or safety violation.

More than 12 percent of inspections resulted in an immediate closure, due to a serious violation.

About one in every five kiddie pools was closed - the highest proportion among the types of venues inspected. The most common problems: improper pH levels, faulty or inadequate safety equipment and improper concentration of disinfectants.

Michele Hlavsa, chief of CDC's Healthy Swimming Program, said, "Almost one-third of local health departments do not regulate, inspect or license public pools, hot tubs and water playgrounds. We should all check for inspection results online or on site … and do our own inspection before getting into the water."

How to do your own inspection?

The CDC recommends that parents of young swimmers use a test strip available at most superstores or pool-supply companies to determine whether the pH and the concentrations of chlorine and bromine are at appropriate levels in the water.

In addition, officials recommend ensuring that the drain at the bottom of the deep end of a pool is visible and in good shape; that lifeguards are on duty; and that safety equipment such as rescue rings are readily available.

So, happy swimming. And maybe think twice about the kiddie pool.

A fidgety person's guide to meditation

If you're not already into meditation, there's something slightly comical about trying to do it.

You have to think about thinking. Or, stop thinking about thinking. Or think about not thinking. What you're mostly thinking is "Why can't I meditate?"

Which happens to be the title of Nigel Wellings's new book (subtitle: "How to Get Your Mindfulness Practice on Track"), reports The Washington Post.

Wellings, a British psychoanalytic psychotherapist who's been interested in meditation since he was a teenager 40 years ago, aims his book not at skeptics or raw beginners but at the many people who perceive the value of meditation, who have tried it, maybe taken a class, but can't keep it up.

As a frustrated student named Tess puts it: "My mind still goes blah, blah, blah!"

There are more than 300 pages of explanation, anecdotes, encouragement, examples and so on, but let's jump to the end of the book, where there's a "Quick-Fix Chart for the Struggling Meditator."

Problem: Can't find time to meditate every day. Possible solution: Don't wait for the meditation mood to strike you - do it routinely, like brushing your teeth, whether you feel like it or not.

Problem: Falling asleep. Possible solution: Keep your eyes open. Or try meditating while walking.

Problem: Boredom. Possible solution: Be mindful of the experience of boredom itself - what is it like? (That's also a possible solution for being distracted, Wellings says - the biggest problem for would-be meditators. "A distraction you are mindfully aware of … is not a distraction - it is your object of mindfulness.")

Problem: Disappointment, the feeling that meditation just isn't working for you. Possible solution: Cultivate loving kindness toward yourself. Be patient. Develop a sense of humor.