ARTICLES Archives - Page 180 of 315

Ripples #8

Compiled and written by Lenny Giteck U.K. Utility Company Offers Free Swim Lessons to Dead Woman - But She Doesn't Respond British Gas, a major energy provider in the U.K., recently offered free swimming lessons - among other services - to a customer who

The Real Dirt on Soils

Given the fact that swimming pools and most other watershapes are placed in the ground, I've long been of the opinion that it's incumbent upon all of us who design and build them to have a basic understanding of soils science and geology. As has been stated in this magazine and elsewhere more times than I can count, the nature of

Changing the Industry’s Focus

The time has come for a major change in the pool and spa industry: Time to think differently about how we promote and market our products; time to recognize that our products bring more happiness and excitement to people than anything else they can buy; and especially time to

On Grounding and Bonding

As I mentioned in an article in the last edition of this newsletter (November 3, 2010), many people misunderstand the relationship between electrical grounding and electrical bonding. Let’s pick up the discussion where we left off. Although grounding and bonding are closely related, they do serve separate purposes — both of which work together to increase

VOCs: A Highly Volatile Issue

There’s no way around the fact that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are nasty stuff. They smell bad, they are highly flammable, they damage the atmosphere and they can be acutely toxic to human and other living beings. At the same time, however,

Installing Spa-Side Controls Properly

Automation of some kind is standard with most swimming pool projects these days. Almost every project my company does, for instance, now includes an Aqualink system from Jandy (Vista, Calif.) or something similar. These systems feature a panel in the equipment area that controls

Ripples #7

Compiled and written by Lenny Giteck Woman Pleads Guilty in BizarreSwimming-Pool-for-Murder Plot Ripples notes with astonishment the case of an Indiana woman who offered her used aboveground swimming pool (plus $200 "in gas money") as payment to kill her

The Color of Uniqueness

Note: This book review was first published in the November 2008 issue of WaterShapes. Given what has happened in the economy since then, we think the book is just as relevant today as it was then — perhaps even more so. As 2008 draws to a close, it’s apparent that we are

How Pool Builders Can Avoid Being Sued

Interview by Eric Herman Through the past quarter-century, Skip Phillips - owner of Questar Pools in Escondido, Calif., and one of the founders of The Genesis 3 Design Group - has served as an expert witness in more than 300 lawsuits involving pool construction. He estimates that

Well-Grounded in Electrical Safety

Do you really know the difference between grounding and bonding? If you do, great. But the truth is that most people — including lots of construction-oriented watershapers who should know better — do not understand this fundamental distinction, which is why this