2017 Editions (January-June) Archives - Page 2 of 2

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS

January 25, 2017 www.watershapes.com

FEATURE ARTICLE

Working Out Front

There were some positives in the existing front yard, says Colleen Holmes. But the overall space needed lots of attention to turn the Koi pond and its bland, disjointed surroundings into a warmer, more effective transition from the public sphere to the family’s private retreat. [more]

WHAT IS IT?

#25: Water Wall

Water flowing down a wall brings a lot to the table as a source of visual and aural delight. But as Mike Farley discusses in introducing this video, there’s much more to these features than meets the eye, particularly if you want them to express their full and inspiring potential. [more]

TRAVELOGUE

The Eastern Way

The Huntington Botanical Gardens are a must for any watershaper or landscape designer who visits Los Angeles. While you’re there, writes Jim McCloskey, you should make time to stroll through and enjoy the show- stopping magnificence of its Japanese garden. [more]

ESSENTIAL

Up on Rocky Top

Even for a firm that specializes in massive natural-stone watershapes, this Pennsylvania project was one for the record books. Working for an enthusiastic client who demanded beauty and visual drama on a truly enormous scale, the staff at Glacier Inc. stepped well beyond the usual in renovating a 78-acre private lake while creating a long, cascading stone stream and waterfall — with a grotto thrown in for good measure.

This article, originally published in WaterShapes in February 2002, has been digitized for all readers. Click here to see the full text and enlarge the images to study them in detail.

TECHNICAL BRIEFING

The Case of the Vanishing Stone

A company was hired to build a pool with a waterfall made up of natural stone. Only one problem: Every time the water flowed, writes Scott Cohen, rock material would slough off and fall into the pool — and underlined another crucial lesson every watershaper should learn. [more]

WATERSHAPES WORLD

Collision Avoidance

At a time awash in unsettling news, Jim McCloskey was unusually happy to receive a bulletin indicating that the National Swimming Pool Foundation and the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals had called off their recently proposed merger. Oh, what sweet relief! [more]

WE BROWSE SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO . . .

More Winter Follies Dept.: Swim team wins a medley snow relay in what must be world-record time. [more]

But the fourth guy momentarily forgets he isn’t in a pool!

Even More Dept.: A gaggle of fun-loving ‘bros’ explore the ice shelf atop a frozen Roman fountain. [more]

Flocking in one place proved a not-so-great idea.

WATERSHAPES CLASSIC

Delicate Dynamics

In 2002, David Tisherman shared his approach to turning monotonous spillways into unique visual and aural design elements. In doing so, he started something of a revolution that’s still flowing strong today. [more]

THE SHOPPING CART

Hayward Commercial Releases HCP 3000 Pumps

Hayward Commercial Pool (Elizabeth, NJ) has introduced the HCP 3000 Series of pumps to provide the power and efficiency needed by commercial pools. Equipped with three-inch unions to achieve flow rates of more than 250 gpm at 60 feet of head, the units include removable, over-sized strainer baskets, TEFC motors and chemical-resistant Vitron seals. For details, click here.

Pebble Technology Introduces Concrete Bowls

Pebble Technology (Scottsdale, AZ) has added concrete bowls to its product mix. Offered in five styles (fire only, planter only, fire with water, planter with water and water alone) in three shapes and three colors, the bowls are designed for reduced weight and great strength. Water models include copper spillways; fire models work with gas or propane. For details, click here.

WPN UPDATE

Positioning Your
Business for 2017

These days, the Internet is the information resource of choice for those looking for goods and services. But it’s tough for an individual business to capture eyes amid the bewildering array of options facing consumers as they try to find ways to make water part of their home or working lives

That’s why we started the WaterShapes Professional Network — a place consumers are using to get basic information about pool. pond and fountain designers and builders before they start making direct phone calls to arrange for site visits and bids. It’s a new way of making initial contacts and getting in the game.

The Network is working just the way we’d hoped: Time to click aboard?

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS

January 11, 2017 www.watershapes.com

FEATURE ARTICLE

Working the Angles

The inside of the client’s home reflected her refined style sense, but the outside, well, not so much. That led Kurt Kraisinger to pursue a path that transformed her humdrum suburban backyard into a sleek Contemporary showpiece — one with a subtly nautical presence. [more]

POND Q & A

Bamboo Basics

When it comes to the plants he uses around his ponds, Eric Triplett always keeps an open mind. And that’s particularly true about one sort of plant that he loves to include when he can — but that many other landscape and pond professionals tend to avoid like the plague. [more]

FEATURE ARTICLE

First Impressions

An extensive facelift for Chicago’s famed Navy Pier involved creating a brand-new park at its entrance, complete with a large interactive fountain. Working in so public a space amps up the pressure, notes Asmaa Elkorazati — and puts a premium on having the right project team. [more]

ESSENTIAL

House Work

Among all of David Tisherman‘s many projects, this one carried him about as far as it could beyond his usual role as a watershaper: Not only did he design and install an impressive pool, but he also partnered in building the house that went along with it. Working in a rich color palette and soaring, eclectic architecture, he crafted a masterpiece of form and reflection and made the house seem to float on the watershape that embraces it.

This article, originally published in WaterShapes in February 2009, has been digitized for all readers. Click here to see the full text and enlarge the images to study them in detail.

TRAVELOGUE

Fountain Perfection

If you’re looking for a destination that includes — in just one place — several of the most beautiful and influential fountains of all time, you couldn’t go wrong in visiting this site. As Mark Holden sees it, Italy’s Villa d’Este is worthy of inclusion on every watershaper’s bucket list. [more]

WATERSHAPES WORLD

Looking Ahead

Before closing the book on 2016, Jim McCloskey felt obliged to revisit three news items that grabbed his attention late last year. Two are strongly positive and say a lot about watershaping’s potential, while the third is a source of concern that just won’t go away. [more]

WE BROWSE SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO . . .

Bad Winter Ideas Dept.: A wise-guy duo decides to run across the frozen surface of a swimming pool. [more]

Silly assumptions lead them to quick, fully clothed folly.

Bad Winter Ideas Dept., Part 2: A golfing genius decides to play it where it lays on a frozen pond’s surface. [more]

Cleats alone can’t save this guy from a truly epic fail.

WATERSHAPES CLASSIC

Are You Smiling?

Back in 2002, Brian Van Bower started the year by addressing the importance of putting your best foot forward in dealing with clients — a message that packs even more punch in today’s marketplace. [more]

THE SHOPPING CART

Blue Thumb Offers Twister Fountains

Blue Thumb Distributing (Saginaw, MI) markets the Twister Mini-Fountain Kit by Aqua Bella. Available as a 12-inch-tall, 12-inch-diameter cylinder, the funnel-shaped water effect provides high levels of visual appeal in a compact package. The kit comes with all needed components, including a basin, a pump, plumbing and a special cleaning pad. For details, click here.

Pentair Commercial Adds New BioShield UV Unit

Pentair Water Commercial Pool & Aquatics (Sanford, NC) has released BioShield, an ultraviolet water-disinfection system for commercial swimming facilities. The low-pressure units install vertically to save space and destroy harmful waterborne pathogens and irritating chloramines. They also have single-end, top-loading UV lamps for easy servicing. For details, click here.

WPN UPDATE

Ready for
the New Year?

The 2017 season is just around the corner — an opportune time to make certain that strong messages about what you do are found where homeowners and commercial clients will see them.

One such resource is the WaterShapes Professional Network, where increasing numbers of web searchers are looking for information and support that will help them make decisions about who to work with in adding water (and everything that comes with it) to their home and/or business environments.

The Network is working just the way we’d hoped: Time to click aboard?