In this modern era, people recognized swimming as a beneficial recreational activity for the health, skills and one of the popular sport among Malaysian. Moreover, swimming is an artificially enclosed body of water intended recreation or other bathing activities that involve swimmer (Perkins, 1988). Swimmers background come from the adult and children, most of the public swimming pool provide with baby swimming pool (baby pool) that usually differs from the adult swimming pool in term of depth and size. Most of the people in the urban country choose the swimming pool rather than the beach or waterfall might be due to its safety and cleanness. However, the swimming pool water can be contaminated by variety pathogenic microorganisms which may be obtained via several ways for example from excretion products from the swimmers, airborne contamination, or low sanitary status of the swimming pool itself (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2011). In deep, swimmers one of the leading causes swimming pool water will be contaminated, it may come from swimmer secretion such as saliva, blood, urine, stool, swimwear, skin tissue, sweat, and cosmetics produces (deodorant, make-up, sunscreen, etc.). This contaminated water leads to a variety of waterborne disease including diarrhoea, skin rashes, ear infection, and upper respiratory infection particularly when the swimmer's head was inundated, or the swimmer accidentally swallowed the contaminated water (WHO, 2004; Agbabiaka, 2010).
The swimming pool needs proper sanitation to maintain the hygienic regulation of swimming pool by WHO and to ensuring the safety condition of the swimming pool toward the public. The goal of sanitation is usually to prevent the spread of diseases and pathogens between users. (Totkova et al., 1994). According to Agbabiaka, (2010) the water swimming pool safety, especially toward cleanness and sanitization aspect should be one of the most important things taken as count toward public since it impacts the swimmer health. Some alternative pool system to maintain sanitation include use saltwater or UV treatment system.
Recreational water illnesses (RWIs) or waterborne disease are one of the illness which causes by germs spread by swallowing, breathing in mists or aerosols of, or having contact with contaminated water in swimming pools, hot tubs, water parks, water play areas, interactive fountains, lakes, rivers, or oceans (CDC, 2008). It defined as any illness coming from the consumption of or water contaminated with producing agents including bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, and their products as well toxic substances which not a microbial origin. It is one of the important factors toward public health community problem, which caused a big impact on economic and trade in the developing country, especially in Malaysia. (Sharifa Ezat et al., 2013) Chlorine level is one of the methods used to check the cleanness of swimming pool water. The chlorine concentration in pool water might reduce due to urine, stool, sweat, and any discharge from swimmers’ bodies, which may lead to less effectiveness to pathogenic bacteria. Furthermore, according to WHO (2006), droplets or mists come sunlight might free chlorine concentration. That is why the free chlorine concentration must be routinely tested. It is important for chlorine level to be check at least once a day to make sure it at the standard range between 1.5 to 3 ppm (WHO, 2006) to avoid formation or growth of pathogenic bacteria in the swimming pool. The chlorine levels bather load is usually much higher at 3 -5 ppm, but if the chlorine levels between 5-10 ppm are still safe to swim. As the side effect swimmers may exposure and provoke potentially skin and eye irritation, lung irritation and asthma. The objective of this study compares the microbiological water quality and chlorine level between the adult public swimming pool and baby public swimming pool in Klang Valley.