Blurry eyesight after swimming today

[Simmons99]

Okay - somewhat similar question. DH swam at his Dad's pool last week - after about 30 minutes his eyes started hurting really bad. He got out - within an hour they were runnig nearly constantly - after 3 hours he couldn't open them (I almost took him to Urgent Care - but he wouldn't let me) - after about 6 hour - he could start opening them again and they were okay the next day.

I thought this would be caused by low PH - but could it be caused by high chlorine levels as well? His dad said that he added a whole bunch of chlorine in that morning, but thought it was fine to swim in.

[Poolsean]

High chlorine most likely will coincide with high pH, which can also cause irritation to the eyes.

[CarlD]

Actually, Ben's shown that higher pH is LESS irritating to eyes. 7.8 to 8 is supposed to be very, very gentle, but, unfortunately, it makes chlorine less effective. High levels of FREE chlorine don't tend to be irritating either. However Combined Chloramines tend to be very irritating to eyes as do other chemicals.

Adding chlorine should not raise pH, and, as it breaks down, it LOWERS it. This is why bleach, with a pH of 11, generally has zero effect on pH--it's alkaline enough to offset the acidic reaction of chlorine breakdown. It's also why di-chlor, which is virtually neutral, tends to lower pH.

Don't blame chlorine for these eye irritations. Something ELSE is clearly wrong with the water.