Professional Watershaping

Watershape University Introduces Academic Portal and University Management System
Accessing the spectrum of Watershape University’s educational opportunities and certification is now just a few keystrokes away. The first of its kind for the industry, WU’s new Academic Portal and University Management System is up and running and ready to provide students with a host of convenient program features. ...
Pentair’s Commercial UV Systems
Pentair (Cary, N.C.) makes the BioShield Commercial UV disinfection system, designed to eliminate problems with waterborne pathogens and chloramine formation. The system is made of Schedule 80 solvent-welded PVC, available in standard sizes up to 2,335 gpm and are NSF 50 certified. The low-pressure, high-output UV lamps offer up to 12,000 hours of continuous operation. To learn more, go here.
Building Educational Bridges
Watershape University is ready to meet the increasing need for industry education, both online and in person, across a spectrum of mission-critical topic areas. Co-founder, Dave Peterson, recently appeared on an episode of Ask the Master’s podcast showcasing the range of programs WU is delivering in the post-pandemic era. ...
Voices from the Designer’s Den
As part of its Wolfpack Webinar Wednesdays live online series, Watershape University has presented three installments of Design 1921: Designers Den Series, hosted by Mike Nantz. The idea is to pull back the curtain on the design process through the eyes of some of the industry’s leading designers as a source of insight, advice and inspiration. ...
A Time of Abundance & Scarcity
To quote Charles Dickens, this is the best of times and the worst of times. As the industry grapples with extreme demand, it also faces a host of challenges that make meeting that demand all the more difficult. Now, it’s starting to look like drought can be added to the list of dark clouds looming on the horizon. ...
Career by Design
Becoming an independent aquatic designer is an aspiration for many watershape professionals looking to leave the rigors of construction behind. Working his way through nearly all aspects of pool design, construction and sales over a nearly three-decade career, Kevin Woodhurst recently made the full design transition, a journey, he says, that was both deliberate and, at times, also unexpected. ...
A Tribute: Albert “Al” Rizzo (May 27, 1934 – May 3, 2021)
The pool and spa industry recently lost one of its founding fathers and most influential figures, the magnetic, always colorful and sometimes irascible, Al Rizzo.  His career building pools spanned more than six decades, during which time he doggedly worked to unify and elevate the industry he loved. ...
Views on Views
Regardless of style, scale or budget, watershape design in one way or another is about forging connections with the surroundings, especially in the presence of natural beauty. Making those natural connections by way of orchestrating human experience is a philosophy that has driven some of history’s greatest designers and continues to resonate today.   ...
Riding a River
Lazy Rivers are among the most complex systems found in residential settings. In this installment of Direct Connections, builder Scott Payne details a recent backyard river project that pushed him and his company beyond their comfort zone, but one that yielded a treasure trove of knowledge and a river that takes the clients for a joy ride. ...
A Million Blue Marbles
As part of Wallace “J” Nichols Year of Blue Mind, he recently offered a reading from his seminal book of the same name. Here is Chapter 9: A Million Blue Marbles, a treatise that broadens perspectives by focusing on something simple and small. ...