eli5, how come public fountains and water features don’t become cesspools of legionnaires disease and other diseases of that nature?

Question

eli5, how come public fountains and water features don’t become cesspools of legionnaires disease and other diseases of that nature?

In: 12

Answer 1

Because water contains fluoride and pools contain chlorine. These act as antibacterials/antifungals/antivirals, basically killing anything that could be potentially virulent.

Answer 2

u/-LsDmThC- gave a good answer, although fluoride is usually there as a health measures to keep teeth healthier. Chlorine is also very often used in municipal water systems.

That being said, outbreaks do happen, for an example see: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/08/fecal-fountains-cdc-warns-of-diarrheal-outbreaks-linked-to-poopy-splash-pads/

ETA: Here’s another one: https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/06/its-summer-and-that-means-disturbing-swim-advisories-heres-our-top-5/ since the first linked discussed areas where regulations may not require the use of disinfectants in water features.

Answer 3

Because safely maintained fountains will be chlorinated in a similar way that pools are. The chlorine inhibits dangerous pathogens.