“It's kind of similar to swimming in a toilet,” a Columbia University microbiologist says of one of the pool's test results.
On the Las Vegas Strip, wild pool parties are the hottest ticket in town.
Some pools are so jam-packed, it's standing room only. Revelers are packed in like sardines and just about anything goes. Sometimes it's so crowded, you can hardly see the water.
Inside Edition sent a team of producers to collect water samples at three of the most popular pool clubs in Las Vegas to see what was in the water.
The state of Nevada requires such pools to keep the filtration system in "continuous operation” and keep the pool "clean of debris, slime and biofilm."
But when our producers went to the Marquee Day Club at the swanky Cosmopolitan Hotel, we found cigarette butts, fingernails and all kinds of disgusting foamy debris in the pool water.
Inside Edition collected samples and then shipped them to IEH Laboratories in Seattle, Washington, for testing. Then the results were reviewed by Dr. Susan Whittier, clinical microbiologist at Columbia University.
“Wow, we found a lot of fecal bacteria in some of these pools,” Whittier said. “The potential for an infection occurring seems inevitable."
At the Marquee Day Club, the lab found a total bacteria count of 15 million. Whittier says that can be potentially harmful to your health.
That nasty foam floating throughout the pool tested positive for E. coli.
Whittier says if this were a public pool or the beach, it would be shut down.
Over at MGM’s Mandalay Bay Resort, if you want to beat the heat, the place to be is the Daylight Beach Club. General admission will cost you $30.
But Whittier says their pool had a whopping bacteria count of 100 million and tested positive for E. coli.
“It's kind of similar to swimming in a toilet,” Whittier said.
But it wasn't all bad news.
At the world famous Tao Day Club, general admission may be a pricey $60, but at least the pool water was clean, with no evidence of E. coli, according to our test.
MGM Resorts, which owns The Cosmopolitan and Mandalay Bay, says in a statement: “The health and safety of our guests is our top priority. Our pool operations adhere to all health regulations set by the Southern Nevada Health District and we test them multiple times a day to ensure proper levels of disinfectant. We constantly evaluate our policies and make adjustments whenever necessary. We are examining our pool procedures and will continue working to ensure they are as effective as possible.”
