Plain Silly

I have my opinions – some of them quite strong – but I’m also what I would consider to be a tolerant, open-minded guy: I weigh a broad spectrum of ideas in forming my perspectives, and I try my best to judge people by their thoughts, actions and merits.

Every once in a while, however, my reserves of patience get pressed to the limit. When that happens, I believe it’s valid and useful to stand up and call things as I see them.

Let me cut to the chase: On February 25, 2009, The New York Times ran a piece in the paper’s Home & Garden section by Kimberly Stevens titled, “Fireplaces Step Out for Air.” In it, she relates the story of a southern California couple who decided to install an outdoor fireplace and dining area in their backyard.

That was all well and good, except for a comment offered at the beginning of the article by the couple’s landscape architect, Jay Knowlton, regarding the decision to forgo a swimming pool: “Anyone with a conscience right now,” he said, “is not going to dig a hole in the ground, line it with cement, fill it with 60,000 gallons of water and some chlorine and wait for it to evaporate.”

REALLY?

Before I jump on his case about that mind-numbingly silly comment, let’s step back and consider some context.

First, we know that these are difficult economic times – certainly the most trying I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. With “business as usual” so far off balance, the media have become positively frothy and overwrought, dealing in all sorts of hyperbole about environmental doom, global economic collapse and our country’s political swings. Apparently, this has also become an opportune time for some people to speak out against swimming pools.

Second, atop everything else that challenges our industry these days, we’re also facing the public handwringing and regulatory gridlock surrounding the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act. As has been widely reported, this legislation, intended to protect children from suction-entrapment incidents, has mainly resulted in difficulties in compliance and reports of the closure of some public swimming pools.

(The Act mandates the use of drain fixtures that weren’t available on the market at the time the legislation passed; to my mind, it’s a classic example of the government getting involved without a full understanding of the situation in the real world. Nobody in the watershaping industry opposes the elimination of suction-entrapment incidents – or any other form of water-related mishap, for that matter – but legislation of this sort only makes things worse by adding layers of confusion.)

Third and finally, we live in a time when everything under the sun is “turning green.” Public concern over ecological issues has led to the evaluation of virtually every product we use through the lens of its effects on the environment. Again, just as I believe pool safety is a critical issue, I agree that protecting our environment is of the upmost importance as well. At the same time, I think the near- religious zeal with which some people are approaching these issues is overblown and perhaps even counterproductive.

The result of these three streams of concern that are influencing the general public – that is, the economy, safety and the environment – is that some people find themselves indulging in feverish, uncompromising, short-sighted rhetoric. That is exactly the slippery slope this landscape architect stepped onto by prefacing his remarks with “Anyone with a conscience.”

If there was ever a counter-argument against the old saying that “ignorance is bliss,” this statement is it!

BLISSED OFF

Now, if this comment had come from someone from well outside the watershaping industry – some sort of passionate (yet uninformed) environmental extremist – I could overlook and even forgive the silliness.

But when I consider the fact that this came from a landscape architect providing an exterior environment for the home of an affluent couple who wanted a slice of the good life in their backyard – someone who is ostensibly in the same sort of business that I am – I’m simply stunned that he would cop this attitude about swimming pools or any other type of watershape.

The New York Times story covers the clients’ decision to opt for a fireplace in their backyard. No harm done – indeed, perfectly fine, because I think outdoor fire features are wonderful. But for their design professional to be quoted as asserting that stepping away from a swimming pool is a matter of “conscience” stands as one of the most absurd, self-righteous and uninformed statements I’ve ever heard.

I assume, based on his quips about evaporation and chlorine, that his moral outrage about swimming pools stems from deep-seated environmental concerns, so let’s look at those two issues specifically.

Yes, chlorine has long been a bane to environmentalists, and there’s no doubt that some chlorine byproducts and derivatives are not good for the environment or the human body. When it comes to water and the forms of chlorine use to treat it, however, we cannot forget that it was the introduction of chlorine to water at the turn of the 19th Century that virtually eliminated waterborne diseases.

To this day, in fact, most regions of the United States owe the safety of their drinking water supplies to the careful, measured use of chlorine. On that level, it’s almost beside the point that modern methods of chlorinating watershapes have overcome past associations with bad odor, green hair, eye irritation and faded swimsuits. Furthermore, there are other methods of sanitizing pool and spa water his clients might have heard about that don’t involve chlorine at all!

As for evaporation, well, yes, water in swimming pools and spa does evaporate. But so does water used to irrigate landscaping, especially lawns. Yes, we should be wise in our consumption of water, but to suggest that evaporation from any type of watershape somehow threatens our supply of fresh water is gross exaggeration. It’s similarly absurd to say that watering plants is a bad idea, and it’s my guess that Mr. Knowlton did not suggest eliminating plantings from his clients’ exterior design.

Furthermore, I would argue that if you want to look at the environmental effects of recreational activities, you could make a good case that a family staying at home to have fun and relax around a pool has a far smaller carbon footprint than that same family would in flying to a resort or driving across country in a recreational vehicle to enjoy quality time by a lake, ocean or river.

MISSING THE POINT

Granted, I’m expending a lot of energy addressing one comment from one designer in a single newspaper article. I do so because I know that Mr. Knowlton is not alone in his dismissal of swimming pools or in his apparent ignorance of their value.

In March 2009, for example, Vice President Joe Biden added another item to his long registry of silly side comments: When asked about the stimulus package that was under debate at the time, he said, “There are no swimming pools in this bill.” Presumably his comment was a rhetorical means of asserting that there was no frivolous spending in the bill (which, frankly, I have trouble believing), but in his comment he revealed that he, like Mr. Knowlton, doesn’t recognize the true value of swimming pools.

For starters, let’s consider the social worth of public swimming pools. In many cases, municipal aquatic centers are places where kids who wouldn’t have any other way to escape summer’s heat can go to cool off, socialize and engage in healthful play. These children learn to swim, which reduces their lifetime risk of drowning; they also burn energy that in some cases might be put to less constructive or even destructive use in other settings; and they work at building stronger, healthier bodies.

And as we all know, pools and spas are used to heal the sick and rehabilitate the injured; serve as venues for athletic competition; attract tourists to resort properties; and provide employment for tens of thousands of lifeguards, service technicians and more. In backyards, pools give families places to be together in the security of their own homes. Commercial or residential, these watershapes are gathering places where life happens and some of our fondest memories are forged.

Then there are the benefits that flow from the use of swimming as a form of exercise. As has been reported in the pages of this magazine, researchers are finding that swimming, if not the healthiest of all exercises, is certainly one of the best forms of physical activity. And this news comes at a time when our population is aging, the cost of healthcare is a major public concern and rising rates of obesity, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes are increasing concerns.

Just imagine if every single person in the country swam regularly: How much healthier would we be as a nation? How much longer would we live? How much better would we feel? How much more productive might we be in the other facets of our lives? All I know is that swimming and other forms of aquatic exercise increase life spans, reduce disease and add to an overall sense of well-being.

And swimming is fun. When I watch people jogging or lifting weights, I very often see faces twisted in anguish because of the great exertion involved. For most participants, by contrast, swimming is an activity in which the predominant facial expression is a smile: Being in water makes people feel good because it’s fun.

And, finally, there’s the fact that so many of us plain enjoy being around water, even when we don’t get wet ourselves. Is there really anything immoral or unconscionable about appreciating the beauty of a reflection, being soothed by the sounds of moving water or delighting in its presence in a landscape?

With all that in mind, I would argue that our products are not a luxury, they’re a necessity!

LIFTING SPIRITS

As I see it, there’s an undercurrent in these public flagellations of swimming pools: that is, an insidious message that when times are tough, we should stop enjoying ourselves.

Yes, most of us have tightened our belts. Yes, we all have a social and moral responsibility to be caretakers of the environment and resolute participants in economic recovery. Yes, as producers of consumer products, we must dedicate ourselves to making them as safe as can be. But, no, I do not believe anyone who doesn’t want to should be told to seek an austere life, vacant of joy.

In fact, the thought that things are bad (or good, for that matter) is one of the factors that drives the economy as well as social trends. Being in a positive mood and having a good attitude in tough times doesn’t mean ignoring reality or sticking your head in the sand, but it also doesn’t mean giving up on the things that make you happy.

Again, returning to Mr. Knowlton’s comment, if his clients had really wanted a swimming pool, I can’t help wondering if he would have berated them for their lack of conscience – or if he would simply have found a way to give them what they wanted and believed would make them happy.

The fact is, when designed and built properly, our products make this world a much happier and healthier place – points that anyone with a conscience can see.

Brian Van Bower runs Aquatic Consultants, a design firm based in Miami, Fla., and is a co-founder of the Genesis 3 Design Group; dedicated to top-of-the-line performance in aquatic design and construction, this organization conducts schools for like-minded pool designers and builders. He can be reached at [email protected].