Is ingesting water during swimming harmful? Sometimes I feel the water in the pool is heavily chlorinated. However it is impossible for me to swim without ingesting some water. I am only a learner but even advanced swimmers do concede that they do ingest some water at times.

Could this be potentially harmful depending on the chemical content in the pool? Are there studies which advise on the extent of permissible chemicals that can be added to a pool?
Could this be potentially harmful depending on the chemical content in the pool?


Probably not, unless you managed to drink quite a bit of pool water. Worldwide, millions (hundreds of millions?) of people have collectively ingested millions (billions?) of liters of pool water - with varying chemistries - over many decades (myself included), and nobody seems to have suffered too much. I believe this falls into the "generally regarded as safe" area.


  Are there studies which advise on the extent of permissible chemicals that can be added to a pool?


Numerous ones, Google away. These guidelines, from the State of Indiana, are representative of the recommended levels of various chemicals present in common swimming pools.