WaterShapes World Blog
Through the past couple years, I've followed with great and growing interest a collection of news items about international efforts to bring safe, spacious swimming facilities to urban waterways. If memory serves, the first stories I noticed were about the Flussbad ("river pool"), a proposal to transform a section of a canal into a
As I noted a couple weeks back, my to-do list of household projects has long included installation of a small fountain. In the place I had always intended to put it, I figured that the watershape would be visible from the redwood deck where we do most of our warm-weather entertaining; from the stone deck where we
The news wasn't great for public pools, hot tubs and waterparks in the days leading up to Memorial Day and the start of the 2016 swimming season: In five big states (Florida, New York, Texas, Arizona and California), a series of aquatic-facility inspections by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) found widespread violations and in some cases closed facilities pending remedial action. News of these inspections went viral
Every once in a while, the fact that I'm not getting any younger smacks me right upside the head. This time, it's had to do with becoming a grandfather for the second time - an event that's led me to do more than the usual amount of reflecting in recent days and, in particular, think about instances when I've intertwined my personal and professional lives. My oldest daughter was born in 1985, just before I returned to Los Angeles after a few years' absence to take on the top editor's job with Pool & Spa News. By the time
I'm still stunned by news of the intended merger between the National Swimming Pool Foundation and the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals. I've been a professional observer of the pool/spa component of the watershaping universe for more than 30 years now, and I was caught completely off guard by
I feel as though I've just taken a big step into the Modern Age - and now I wonder why the heck it took me so long to get here. Long story short, I was having a problem with one of the valves on our pool-equipment pad not long ago, gave up with fixing it myself and called in a service-technician friend of mine to have a look. He took care of the problem, then lectured me about
I see something of this nature on the web about once a week in peak season and about monthly this cooler time of year. In this instance, it was labeled as "55 Most Awesome Swimming Pool Designs on the Planet." I feel obliged to check out these things, but I always do so with a high level of reluctance because I've generally seen all of the collected pools before and almost invariably end up
The lengthy headline atop the news item definitely made the story worth a look. It read: "Couple blow £4,000 on two-year legal battle with neighbour over his 'noisy' water feature, which they claim makes them need the loo." The article appeared February 16 in the online version of the Daily Mail, a U.K.-based publication known for sensational headlines up top with detailed text below that doesn't always
Why don't more of us know how to swim? As I've discussed in several of my blogs through the past few months, I'm a firm believer that everyone should master this basic and essential survival skill. As fervently, I believe that encouraging comfort in and around water is the key to watershaping's future: Without it, why
