Pools & Spas
In this first installment of our new series exploring the “fine points” of watershape construction, Kevin Cobabe gets down to basics about running multiple pipes in trenches. As simple as it seems, he says, there are a handful of key issues that are important to keep top of mind when working beneath your feet.
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Algae are a class of organisms that are essential to life on earth. In a swimming pool, however, they become an affliction that compromises water quality and consumes chemicals. According to Haviland’s Kevin Vlietstra, although there’s an inevitable quality to algae, prevention is always the best treatment option.
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Products based on colloidal silicates have been used for decades as a way to increase the strength of concrete and other cementitious materials. Now being marketed as a way to stave off common plaster problems in swimming pools, it’s helpful to take a clear look at what these products can and cannot do.
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Departed watershaper, Grant Smith, left behind a legacy of excellence, integrity and service. Following his untimely death in 2021, a group of his colleagues and friends from Watershape University stepped up to complete a number of his unfinished projects, all of which came to successful resolution and lived up to the high standards he stood for.
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In its efforts to provide the industry’s finest education in formats and settings that fit a wide variety of student needs, Watershape University is presenting two outstanding summer programs, one live and in person, the other live and online.
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Air quality in natatoriums, and ultimately the comfort and health of people using and working at those facilities, relies on a careful balance between operating parameters and system design. As Eric Knight explains here, achieving outstanding indoor air requires understanding the interrelated nature of these spaces and the systems designed to maintain optimum conditions.
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The pool industry has always been challenged when it comes to discussing and promoting safety. As Eric Herman argues here, the way forward with the safety issue is to empower consumers with information about the benefits of swim instruction, as well as the importance of supervision and the spectrum of engineered safety systems and products.
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There is no question the bar for visual presentations has been raised dramatically in recent years. 3D modeling programs have transformed the way that watershape and landscape designs are created and sold. That’s why Watershape University is offering a new course aimed at elevating digital presentation skillsets.
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The labels watershapers use to describe who they are and what they do for a living matter in more ways than one, argues Kevin Woodhurst. Because professional terminology reflects an underlying value system and industry culture, there’s one term in particular that he believes should be permanently retired.
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A Question of Leadership