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I don't enjoy reporting this, but the fact is that each year when I go to the mikvah on Erev Yom Kippur, by about 2 -3 hours after the mikvah has opened, the water looks murky and disgusting. The mikvah rooms tend to look sloppy.

As I don't go to the mikvah other than Erev Rosh Hashanna and Erev Yom Kippur, I'm giving benefit of the doubt that this unhygienic appearance occurs only on these days. It shouldn't.

My bigger concern, though, is that these same mikva'ot are used by women, and they are open nightly. While the nightly volume is nowhere as busy as it is on Erev Yom Kippur, I am concerned about the general hygiene in mikva'ot for some of my friends and relatives. Some women have told me some "horror" stories about things that they've seen in the mikvah that really churn my stomach.

In a small town that has 1 or 2 mikva'ot, there's little choice of where women can go. But in a large city where there are numerous mikva'ot, I wonder if anyone has published a "rating" or evaluation of the health safety and appearance of mikva'ot. I would gather that the city or state health department inspects these places, also, no? If they do, I think they publish any findings.

As I told a M.Y.'er in a recent comment, if I were a different gender, perhaps, I would evaluate and publish my own rating in my own area, at least.

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  • It might be a problem since it mainly helps people to say Loshon horah
    – hazoriz
    Sep 20, 2017 at 16:24
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    I can confirm your assumption that judging a mikvah by how it is erev yom kippiur is totally unfair. I go every day pretty much and even the very best mikvahs can't handle the crowds when there are that many people.
    – mroll
    Sep 20, 2017 at 16:40
  • @hazoriz Possibly. It depends how it's used. If there is a serious hygienic / health problem, reporting this may be "to'elet" as people would need to know. Of course, all the places should be well-maintained so that everyone can know for certain that every place is "safe". There's little excuse for uncleanliness in these places.
    – DanF
    Sep 20, 2017 at 17:10
  • @hazoriz See my answer. At least as far as my mikvah is concerned, there's no Lashon Hara. If I post a comment, I'll try to be positive after tomorrow.
    – DanF
    Sep 28, 2017 at 21:58
  • @hazoriz See answer, below. So far, no lashon harah that I could notice.
    – DanF
    Oct 16, 2017 at 19:59

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I guess I shouldn't be surprised that just about everything is on the web except the fear of heaven.

While looking up the hours for my local mikvah, I found mikvah.org. I typed in the name of my local mikvah, and one of the tabs says "Ratings & Comments." It has "star" ratings as well as a text area. The specific mikvah that I looked up has no comments. Hmmm ... I may be the first one to enter one after IY"H going there tomorrow (Erev Yom Kippur.)

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