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THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS
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| March 22, 2017 www.watershapes.com |
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SUSTAINABLE TRENDS
Beyond the Tap
Needing to testify to the sustainability of a fountain project is now common. The good news, writes Robert Mikula, is that it’s becoming easier to defend the inclusion of any type of watershape if you make resource conservation a clear, distinct, reachable goal from the get-go. [more] |
 FEATURE ARTICLE
A Fuller Experience
Some clients want all the benefits of a manufactured spa to go along with their inground pools. As Dave Hoffman explains here, there’s a ready-made option for these folks, one that’s easy to design into a poolscape so long as you keep a few basic practicalities in mind. [more]
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TRAVELOGUE
Worst Expressions
In his hunt for watershapes worth visiting, Jim McCloskey
has never had occasion to discuss one that is so unremarkable that he advises you to stay away. He breaks with that practice this time, however, highlighting a fountain so bland that it gives ‘lackluster’ a bad name. [more]
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Decorative-concrete artist Tommy T. Cook has built a reputation for being able to create almost anything from concrete using an array of highly refined and boldly artful processes. In this feature, he demonstrates a portion of that skill by describing how he uses the gargantuan Gunnera plant to craft watershapes in which replicas of the plant’s outsized leaves serve as uniquely natural fountain basins and spillways.
This article, originally published in WaterShapes in November 2010, has been digitized for all readers. Click here to see the full text and enlarge the images to study them in detail.
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TECHNICAL BRIEFING
Beware of Exploding Lava Rocks
These days, an increasing number of projects include fire effects as part of the package. This can lead to troubling results, notes Scott Cohen, if you’re careless in selecting the material used to cover the burners. Here’s a look at what can happen — and how to avoid big trouble. [more]
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WATERSHAPES WORLD
Pee’s in the Air
The Internet’s been buzzing with a ‘revelation’ that there’s urine in the average swimming pool. Jim McCloskey wasn’t surprised by that fact, of course, but he’s been shocked by the way news outlets have covered the story without giving certain realities due consideration. [more]
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WE BROWSE SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO . . .
Generosity Hurts Dept.: Thai turtle gobbles up change tossed in fountain, gets a bad stomach ache. [more]
Vet finds 915 coins in a critter nicknamed ‘Piggy Bank’
Art Oddities Dept.: Australian photographer installs giant photo of one resort within the pool of another. [more]
It was there for a day, then vanished like a dream vacation
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WATERSHAPES CLASSIC
The Currency of Beauty
Back in 2002, David Tisherman wrote passionately about setting aside the ‘sales mentality’ used by many watershapers, urging them to dig deeper and conjure up something superior for their clients. [more]
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Pentair Introduces High-Performance Heat Pump
Pentair Aquatic Systems (Sanford, NC) now offers the UltraTemp heat pump. Charged with non-ozone-depleting refrigerant, the unit has a titanium heat exchanger for long, corrosion-free performance; LCD controls with intuitive, easy-to-follow readouts; and a system that monitors water temperature to maintain desired heating levels. For details, click here.
Natural-Boulder Fire Features from Stone Forest
Stone Forest (Santa Fe, NM) offers fire features made using split natural boulders. Designed for outdoor use only with a custom gas kit and tempered-glass fire rocks in light blue or black, the units are approximately 18 inches high and come with varying diameters of up to 50 inches wide and 40 inches deep (size, shape and color will vary). For details, click here.
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WPN UPDATE
Building
Your Brand
If you design and/or build pools, spas, fountains, ponds, streams, waterfalls and other forms of contained, controlled water, you have the ability to create projects of great beauty. But how do you spread the word about your skills and talents to those who might want you to help them make water part of their daily lives?
The WaterShapes Professional Network can help yiou there. We’ve built a web site where dozens of designers and builders of watershapes of all types participate as an Internet collective — a grouped entity large enough and interrelated in ways that make search engines treat you with respect. So if it’s a strong (or even just a stronger) web presence you’re after, please do take a look and get involved.
The Network is working just the way we’d hoped: Time to click aboard?
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