Jim

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Grand Effects Introduces Fire Candeleres
Grand Effects (Irvine, CA) has announced the availability of Fire Candeleres for residential and commercial…
Otterbine Barebo Offers Low-Voltage Fountain Lighting
Otterbine Barebo (Emmaus, PA) has introduced Fountain Glo low voltage LED lighting systems for its…
BaduJet Imperial from Speck Pumps
Speck Pumps (Jacksonville, FL) manufactures the BaduJet Imperial SwimJet System to provide a current to…
The Aquatic Quiz #7
Prince George Learns to SwimIn Buckingham Palace Pool    
Poolside Panache
When a backyard has a swimming pool, homeowners generally want their watershape to be a key visual component in the overall composition.  Too often, however - and this is particularly true of many of the older ones I see - the pool is unexciting both on its own and as part of the landscape. That's definitely not the style these days.  Homeowners either want to make a statement by having a pool that is a visual knockout complete with big rocks and grottos and waterfalls; or they want it to play a more understated role but be a major part of a
Preventing Plaster Dust
For more than 50 years, lots of swimming pool builders, plasterers and service technicians have operated under the assumption that the plaster dust they commonly see during the first two weeks after plaster application is normal, unavoidable and acceptable.  None of that is
2014/8.1, August 6 — Rethinking Paradise, Perils of Plaster Dust, Poolside Decor and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS August 6, 2014 www.watershapes.com PROJECT PROFILE…
Ripples #97
Congressman's Tongue-in-Cheek Idea: Install a Truth-Testing Swimming Pool
The Directory Is Back!
I have the great pleasure of announcing that another major service for users of the WaterShapes.com web site is now fully up and running in streamlined digital form:  The WaterShapes Resource Directory, which we last published as a printed document in December 2010 and have been updating
A Private Paradise, Revisited
In many ways, this project is a study in personalities:  of the original clients, of the home's architecture and, ultimately, of subsequent owners who purchased the property and called me back to it years after my initial work had been completed.   The first time through, the owners were close friends of mine.  We had remarkably similar tastes, so my basic charge was to do exactly what I thought needed to be done, much as if it were my own home. The house is a beautiful example of Mid-Century Modern, a style that fits well in the special environs of the Florida Keys.  But when I first visited the site, I could tell that someone had tried to turn it into