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Comment by cm2187 | Hacker News Reader

The water is "so clean" that you have mandatory showers before going in... But it's France, so how would you live without pointless regulations?

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Isn't a shower before swimming in a public pool a universal thing? It's always required in France.

A swimming pool isn't a gigantic body of moving water that is already barely clean enough to be swimming in it in the first place.

I haven't been to a public pool in ages, but growing up in a small US town I can't say I remember any of the kids at the community center taking a shower before using the pool. It may be different now, but I would be disinclined to say a shower is universal at least based on my experience.

It’s pretty standard now.

But not so much for hygiene standards (the chlorine takes care of that), but more for maintenance issues.

Rinsing off before going in reduces the organic load in the pool, which reduces the amount of chlorine consumed, which reduces the amount of chemicals needed to maintain clean water (not to mention reduces chloramine levels which can irritate swimmers lungs).

I also grew up in a small U.S. town, and the posted rules said you had to do this, but I don't think they were consistently followed or enforced.

I am staying at a north American hotel with a pool now, and I have noticed that absolutely nobody showers before (and they come with dry hair), despite the sign asking them to do so. I have been wondering if this is a cultural difference between Europe and America.

It's absolutely disgusting.

Yes, but pools aren’t natural bodies of water that already don’t meet sanitary standards, not to mention the water is constantly moving so it’s not like the water is worse when someone goes in later.

I thought running through the shower area between the changing room and the pool and trying to avoid the cold water as much as possible was the norm, but maybe it's different in France.

People wear all sorts of oils and perfumes and deodorants that should be washed off before swimming.

it's a river. Couple hundred people swimming in it with deodorants is meaningless.

I'd say it's the same rules as any other (swimmable) river in France, from the big to the small. Maybe it'd make more sense just for smaller rivers, but where do you draw the line? Like it's easier and simpler to just use the same set of rules

Maybe that was the initial thought? It’s a river, a handful of homes emptying sewage there is meaningless. And centuries later, here we are.

This is true, but shortsighted. The overall Paris-Plage plan is a resounding success. Re-opening the Seine to swimming is likely to be just as popular.

I was dubious so did a fact check, and it is indeed necessary! Not sure what the reasoning is, I wonder if it's some rule about public swimming which was originally created only for pools? Or maybe there are some wildlife concerns with certain lotions/etc getting in the water.

> Y a-t-il des douches ? > > Oui ! Chaque site de baignade propose des douches – obligatoires avant d’aller se baigner –, un accès à des toilettes, un poste de secours ainsi que des espaces pour s’asseoir et profiter du soleil.

https://www.paris.fr/pages/baignade-en-seine-toutes-les-ques...

My guess is while there are few people swimming in the river now, it's easy to imagine there will be tens of thousands in a couple years. Paris-Plages is a huge hit. The city probably figures it's better to ease people into the habit rather than try to force it on everyone afterward.

Maybe they're just erring on the side of caution since they just cleaned the place up.

I won't be surprised if the shower drains back into the river.

I wonder if the water from those showers is drained directly in the river ?

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