ARTICLES Archives - Page 42 of 315

Exploring New Efficiency Rules

It might be the biggest change the pool industry has seen since passage of the Virginia Graeme Baker Act: The U.S. Dept. of Energy is banning most single-speed pumps and changing the way all of these devices are rated.

Part of a team that recently completed an intricate splash pad on the shores of Washington's scenic Puget Sound, Kent Walker guides a tour of a design centered on a faux shipwreck -- and its cargo of interactive features.

A Beautiful Wreck

Creating custom interactive water features often involves not only understanding the needs of community stakeholders, but also the character and history of the place itself. That was certainly the case at Windjammer Park, a 28.5-acre waterfront recreational area located in the picturesque town of Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Nestled on the shores of the majestic Puget Sound, locals take

Fluid Engineering Goes Digital

In a ground-breaking presentation, Watershape University's Essential Fluid Engineering Workshop spread out over two intensive days of online instruction -- and it may have been a first-ever event for the industry.

Culture of Conflict

Will a flood of litigation compromise the watershaping industry's reputation and/or success -- and how might 'alternative dispute resolution' fit into the picture? Here's Eric Herman's take on both fronts.

Watershaper Reid Schindler was asked to create side-by-side designs for neighboring business partners. The kicker, he says in the first of a pair of articles, was that the two projects were direct stylistic opposites.

A Study in Contrasts, Part 1

Most watershape designers and builders I know largely rely on referrals to generate new business. That's certainly been true in my case and I've learned that word of mouth is extremely important, and arguably the best form of marketing. It is unusual, however, to have one referral from a satisfied client turn into two massive projects at the same time. That's exactly what happened, when one of my past clients

Detail: A201

This time, Dave Peterson shares a simple, reliable way to extend stone veneer from the deck surface all the way down into the pool's interior. It's a great way, he suggests, to create a transition from dry to wet surfaces that is durable, graceful -- and visually seamless.

Art of the Waterfall

No matter whether it's a pond, stream or swimming pool, waterfalls are an appealing part of the composition -- which is why Larry Carnes includes them in most of his projects. Here, he shares some approaches to making these features both naturalistic and completely mesmerizing.

Working with an ample budget, great clients and a large, open canvas all spelled 'opportunity' for Jason Brownlee -- a chance to integrate multiple design elements into a composition in which water, stone, tile and fire define a European look that also offers a dash of mystery.

Design and Desire

This project had it all - balance, symmetry, style and luxury on a grand scale, and fantastic clients. More than three years in the making, and recently finished this past spring, the design integrates a number of key principles and modalities with the clients' desires for elegance, all with a European flare. It was the kind of project that makes you love being a watershape designer. I'd worked with the pool contractor, Lee Seelig of Waterscapes Backyard Resorts in Nashville, on several past high-end projects. In this case, he was in the early stages

Botched Plaster Bonding

Construction defects often first reveal themselves on the plaster surface. When the concrete substrate isn't right, those issues will always transmit to the plaster and become painfully visible. Making sure that the shotcrete bonding plane is up to standards is key to successful plaster installation. While the subject of plaster's relationship with

Long Live the Sundlaugs

As an admitted word geek devoted to writing about all things aquatic, it's always exciting to learn a new term or phrase. I recently read a great story from bbc.com about Icelanders' love or even obsession with public swimming pools, which in the Icelandic language are known as "Sundlaugs." The story chronicled the day that public pools reopened in Iceland after two months of shutdown due the current pandemic. At midnight on that Sunday, throughout the