WaterShapes World Blog
As you're probably aware, I live in southern California in the southwestern corner of the San Fernando Valley. You may also know that it gets wicked hot here, which is why this slice of the globe boasts more swimming pools per capita than anywhere other than maybe the Phoenix metroplex. What you probably don't know is
Although fall in southern California is my favorite time of year for its raw beauty, spring is a close runner-up because it is so busy. In fact, some of the heavy lifting is already done by the time March 20 rolls around: Early in that month, for instance, I'll typically take advantage of a warm day to vacuum away our pool's winter accumulation of
It was entirely coincidental, but the last edition of the WaterShapes digital newsletter included two of the most popular of all articles ever to appear on our Web site: Tommy T. Cook's "Casting Nature," which originally appeared in the printed magazine in November 2010; and Scott Cohen's "Beware of Exploding Lava Rocks," which was published exclusively through the newsletter on March 16, 2011. It's easy to recall how popular
All of a sudden three weeks ago, the Internet caught fire with what seems to be its annual round of stories about urine in swimming pools. As best I can tell, the story's current incarnation began with a March 1 report on the Web site of National Public Radio about research conducted by a group of Canadian chemists: These folks figured out that they could
During last summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the swimming pools attracted an amazing amount of attention. Unfortunately, it was only partly because of the outstanding in-pool performances offered up by swimmers, water-polo teams and divers - a feast of excellence that will
It's not all that often that I use WaterShapes World to discuss a specific item appearing in our current newsletter, but this time I can't resist: The first in a series of three great articles appears in this edition, and I want to call as much attention to it as I can. In my last blog (click here), I wrote about the important lessons water-oriented professionals have learned through coping with
We've had lots of rain and snow in California in recent weeks. So much precipitation, in fact, that nearly half the state is now officially out of the drought emergency that has bedeviled the state for the past six years. If current weather patterns persist through the spring, chances are good that the entire region will be breathing easier for a while. This is fantastic news for watershapers of every description who
In recent months, news has too often come as a shock. I am happy to say, however, that one piece of it I received a couple weeks ago actually came as a relief. The press release was headed "APSP & NSPF boards announce unification process ends," and I have to say I wasn't
Given the tumultuous way in which 2016 came to a close, I figured I'd kick off the New Year by being as upbeat as can be about what the future holds for watershaping. Two news stories I've followed through the last couple months put me in a suitable frame of mind for this exercise. First up was the hovering
My Christmas stocking saw its first visit from Santa a couple weeks early this year. It arrived in the form of a press release from the National Swimming Pool Foundation with a progress report on its Step Into Swim campaign, which started in 2012 with a mission of creating a million new swimmers by 2022. The program, which should be familiar to
