Professional Watershaping

Remembering Bob Lowry
For more than 50 years, pioneering industry chemist, Robert W. Lowry, worked to raise the pool-service industry’s knowledge of water chemistry maintenance, becoming of the best-known educators in the history of the industry. A long-time friend and colleague, Eric Herman, pays tribute to Lowry and remembers the first time they met.   ...
WU Steps Forward in Dallas
Watershape University rolled into Dallas, Tex., for the 2021 International Pool|Spa|Patio and Deck Expo in Dallas, Tex., Nov. 13-18 at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center with high expectations for a strong showing for the industry’s first return to major trade shows since the beginning of the pandemic. The event would prove an almost unqualified success. ...
Remembering Grant Smith
Watershaper Grant Smith passed away in his sleep on November 15th, leaving behind a legacy of honor, artistry, and leadership. Through his company, Aqua Link Pools & Spas, Grant was a frequent collaborator among the WU community and the watershaping industry at large. ...
Appearing in Dallas
Watershape University is set to present a dynamic slate of educational opportunities at the 2021 International Pool|Spa|Patio and Deck Expo in Dallas, Tex., Nov. 13-18 at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. ...
Custom Hybrids
Do custom pools always have to be built out of concrete? According to Oregon watershaper, Phoenix B. Owens, the evolution in package pools and stainless-steel wall systems, as well as vinyl liners, enables his company to match the creativity of shotcrete installations using alternative construction methods with more than a small dose of imagination. ...
Finding Flaw & Future Favor
What does it mean to create something that qualifies as “great”? Is it originality and inventiveness, reliability and function, or the ability to withstand the test of time, or all of those? Here Jeff Freeman & Mark Holden dissect that question with a look at the rehabilitation of a truly iconic and complex fountain system at the Los Angeles Music Center. ...
The Key to Collaboration
Designer Randy Angell believes in the power of working together, a value he learned as a kid singing in choirs. Today, he applies the idea of synergistic creativity to his design practice, bringing a team together to create unique environments based on a collection of talents working as one.    ...
Thinking With Your Eyes
French designer Logan Guinard relocated nearly 6,000 miles from his home to establish a career in California’s Coachella Valley. He came with faith in himself, a design education, practical experience but little else. In just two years, he has become established as a designer working for high-end clients who want only the best. ...
Detail P850: Surge Basin Drain Design
In WaterShapes’ most recent Beneath the Surface, Dave Peterson described and diagramed suction outlet fittings assemblies (SOFAs) for pool and spa applications, a topic also covered by Steve Barnes in a recent Wolfpack Webinar Wednesday. This time the focus shifts to suction in surge tanks, where safety isn’t the concern, but debris certainly is.    ...
Back to Trade Shows
When trade shows resume, will attendees return as well? It’s hard to know for sure, says Eric Herman, but as he points out, it’s very likely that the industry is about to find out. The first big test looks to be the upcoming International Pool | Spa | Patio & Deck EXPO set for Dallas in November, where organizers are betting on pent-up demand to overcome reluctance to attend in-person events. ...