ABSTRACT
Swimming pool and river is one of the most effective ways for people to relax and have fun all around the globe, therefore it must be constantly maintained to ensure healthy swimming environment.Pollution in swimming waters is not rare and as such, it is a threat to public health internationally and locally. This study focus on the Assessment of Recreational Water Facility in Benin City and ten distinct hotels was randomly selected including one river for assessment. pH, Temperature, Turbidity, Electric Conductivity(E.C), Chlorine, Total Coliform, Faecal Coliform, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus Aureus, Total Heterotrophic Bacteria Count(THBC) was tested in the laboratory and the results were compared to WHO standards, all the swimming water samples for ph did not meet standards, all sample met standard’s temperature with the highest value at 29.3oC. Soft Touchpool was the only sample to meet Electric Conductivity standard at 1.5us/cm, Ogba River and Soft Touch pool did not meet Chlorine standards. All the water samples had microbial pollution, only Staph. Aureus and THBC standards were met. Also, 242 questionnaires were administered in the selected locations and all were returned valid.The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 24, bar graph, simple percentage, cross-tabulation, and pie charts were used in the analysis. Access to swimming facilities is very high with people preferring close facilities (63.9% in Ovia North-East LGA) than those far off. The most preferred choice for swimmingisa pool with 80%, 55.8% rarely ingest water, 56% do not have irritations after swimming, rashes (15.3%)are the most common type of irritation.Objects were found in most swimming waters. 88.8% of the population accept that safety measures are in place except in Ogba River. Suggestions and recommendations were made, among which are; swimmers' education on safety means, regular changing of swimming pool waters, setting up committees to be in charge of monitoring swimming waters in Benin City.
