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I feel like in the lake or a natural pond there's plenty of bacteria who will be more than happy to eat it up. In a pool you specifically kill all the bacteria, so you forever swim in a soup of chemicals and urine until the water is replaced.

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Or the other way to look at it, is that there's so much bacteria, algae, rotting plant and animal matter, bird shit, fish shit, etc. in lake and pond water that a little human urine won't appreciably add to the risk of swimming in it.

Urine is (usually) sterile, it's really just a social issue other than the eye irritation.

If that's true then why do people go nuts if you shit in a river while camping?

They are picturing themselves drinking your shit most likely.

Historically human beings contaminating the same water they draw from has been a substantial cause of illness even if campers now are much more apt to get water from a bottle.

Wouldn't it be very diluted, to the point it is no more harmful than whatever else may be in that river water?

Historically this doesn't seem to be true but obviously it was a much larger group of people polluting the water.

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