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At first glance, the California Aqueduct can seem almost unassuming, but in truth, it is one of the most ambitious and consequential feats of hydraulic engineering ever attempted in the United States — nothing less than a modern-day river sculpted from concrete and willpower, delivering life-sustaining water to millions of people and acres of farmland in an otherwise arid landscape.
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The “floating faucet” sculpture pictured here has become a popular type of feature with numerous iterations around the globe. In this case, Chris Trevathan and his team from Underwater Glazing International discovered that making the slight-of-hand watershape effect stand up and function was deceptively tricky.
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Preventable, yet tragic on a global scale, unsafe water, poor sanitation, and lack of hygiene kill millions each year—more than all acts of violence combined. Tracing the history of water treatment and today’s waterborne-disease crisis, calls for renewed commitment to clean water as humanity’s most essential defense.
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Stainless-steel vessels have grown dramatically in popularity over the past 20 years, observes Mark Holden and Jeff Freeman. That rise has created both opportunities and challenges: while stainless offers remarkable advantages, missteps in design or fabrication can lead to failures, costly remediation, or even litigation. Understanding both sides of the equation is essential for watershapers working in today’s stainless marketplace.
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RENOLIT has announced it is now offering a new, more robust 15-year warranty on its TOUCH and VOGUE Collections of 80-mil reinforced PVC membranes--offering Class C slip-resistant properties, a variety of colors, designs and textures--for new pool construction and renovating leaking or deteriorated pools. The new warranty offers pool professionals and their customers long-lasting protection backed by a waterproofing guarantee.
Learn more here.
Installing a beautiful and durable plaster or exposed aggregate finish begins with the surface upon which it is installed. Here Jon Temple breaks down the surface preparation process with a concise look at shotcrete and how it sets up a successful plaster installation.
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When designing landscapes around swimming pools, trees are among the most valued elements. They provide shade, scale, greenery, and privacy — all hallmarks of luxury backyard design. But the wrong tree in the wrong location can cause expensive pool and hardscape damage. Few species demonstrate this more dramatically than the ficus tree.
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The need to manage and control water is one of the defining challenges of human civilization. One visionary landscape architect believes the key to sustained success is to use natural processes to create “sponge cities” that ingeniously integrate manmade infrastructure with the widespread use of wetlands, rain gardens and green belts.
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Did you know bears love hot tub covers, specifically the smell and taste of vinyl? For hot tub owners in rural settings, it’s true that bears will sometimes steal covers and take a dip in the war water while they’re at it.
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Old. Old? OLD!