Girl, 7, hospitalised after chemical burn swimming in lagoon at Settlements Cove Brisbane

A seven-year-old girl was rushed to hospital suffering effects similar to chemical burns after swimming in a public pool.

Emily Lee was cooling off in the lagoon at Settlement Cove in Brisbane’s Redcliffe with her mother Sophie, 31, on December 23 when she began to feel severe pain.

The girl is one of many other swimmers at the popular spot who claims to have experienced shooting pains and itchiness after swimming.

The Moreton Bay Council, which regularly tests the site, denies that the water is harmful, but advises anyone with a sensitivity to chlorine to avoid the pool.

A seven-year-old girl who swam for an hour in the lagoon at Settlement Cove (pictured) in Redcliffe, north Brisbane, was hospitalized with pain in her private parts similar to chemical burns.

Ms. Lee said her daughter had only been in the water for an hour before alerting her to pain in her private parts.

She was rushed to a hospital two hours after they left the park because Emily couldn’t urinate without being in excruciating pain.

“Her belly was so swollen that she needed to urinate so badly, but she didn’t want to urinate because it hurt too much,” Ms Lee told the Courier Mail.

“Now she’s too scared to go in a pool because she thinks the same thing will happen again.”

However, the Moreton Bay Council has denied that the lagoon water is harmful.

“Comprehensive water testing regime at all public swimming facilities, which exceeds industry standards and ensures we have the best possible water quality,” a council spokesperson said.

Anyone with a health or skin condition that may be triggered by chlorine exposure is advised to seek specialized medical attention.

An independent test of the water by Queensland Pool Supplies showed it to have a high pH, ​​which can cause skin rashes, and low levels of stabilizers.

“The council immediately reviewed its water analysis records after being made aware of an online forum post confirming that the water quality readings that day were within a safe range.”

Water drawn from the lagoon on January 8th was used in an independent water safety test conducted by Queensland Pool Supplies.

The test showed that the lagoon water had a high pH of 7.7 – higher than the normally excepted range of 7.3 to 7.6 – with pH levels of 7.8 being enough to cause skin rashes. .

The water also had high levels of phosphates, while also having low levels of alkalinity and cyanuric acid, both pH and pool stabilizers.

“The test has shown that the buffer is low, leading to low alkalinity and the stabilizer is low and there are also trace amounts of phosphates in the water,” said Krissie Meldrum, director of Queensland Pool Supplies.

“I’ve never seen this happen with stabilizer before.”