Official: Cobb Swimming Pools Safe

Despite a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found fecal bacteria in more than half of the water samples taken from metro Atlanta public swimming pools, Cobb officials said the county's pools are safe.

Last summer, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett and state environmental health specialists worked with the CDC to collect samples from public pools.

A report released Thursday found that 58 percent of the pool filter samples tested were positive for E. coli, bacteria normally found in the human gut and feces.

No need to be alarmed, Bob McCallister, aquatics manager for Cobb County Parks and Recreation, told The Marietta Daily Journal.

He said any pool that has human bodies in it will likely have traces of fecal matter. However, the treatment process sanitizes whatever harmful bacteria exists, he told the MDJ.

"Water in Cobb County pools," McCallister said, "is probably the best in the Southeast."