chemistry

ClearWater Tech Publishes 30th Anniversary Catalog
ClearWater Tech (San Luis Obispo, CA) offers a digital product catalog covering its full line…
2015/11.1, November 4 — Durable Plaster, Rooftop Dynamics, Courtyard Charms and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS November 4, 2015 www.watershapes.com UP ON…
US Silica Introduces MysticBlue Pool Filter Sand
US Silica (Frederick, MD) has announced the availability of MysticBlue, a pool-filter sand in which…
Pool-Finish Stains Tarnish the Entire Industry
An Interview by Lenny Giteck When, in the 1980s, Jack Beane began formulating potions designed to prevent pool finishes from becoming stained and to remediate those that were already damaged, it was not with the intention of creating a company to manufacture and market such products. He simply wanted to help friends and relatives who were experiencing difficulties with their backyard pools. "I was taking it one pool at a time in
2013/7.2, July 24 — Saving a Great Lake, Defining a Modern Classic, Understanding Pond Maintenance and more
                             July 24, 2013         …
Keeping Clean
If there’s one thing all ponds and lakes have in common (beyond the obvious fact that they all contain water), it’s that they’re as different as snowflakes – highly idiosyncratic, often challenging and sometimes almost willful in the way they resist being manipulated. For the past 35 years, we at Diversified Waterscapes (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) have just about seen it all as specialists in maintaining man-made ponds and lakes and in remediating those that have fallen on hard times and suffer with severe problems.  We’ve found that every situation is different and that figuring out what’s going on involves the evaluation of countless variables – some obvious and easy to read, others less so. For all that, our experience tells us that the serviceability and sustainability of ponds and lakes is for the most part determined long before we come on the scene – even before they are filled with water.  When they’ve been designed and installed with a few key principles in mind, we find them to be cooperative and affordably manageable.  If a few of the more common mistakes are made, however, it’s a completely different and far nastier
When Ponds Go Bad
It's a fact:  A great many of the ponds and lakes in the western United States are simply not part of nature's scheme. Whether used for water retention, landscape beautification, fishing or swimming, these artificial, man-made bodies of water are inclined (and in some cases doomed) to be troubled, usually because of fertilizer- and pesticide-laced runoff from surrounding developed areas.  Indeed, some of these problem watershapes are filled with just about the worst water the environment has to offer. As our business has developed, a large portion of what we do has focused on setting things right in these troubled watershapes and
Free and Clear
Clear, polished water in well-designed, well-built lakes, ponds and streams:  What better way to communicate a powerful message about the value of the properties that surround them?   In a commercial setting, for example, clear water in a meandering string of ponds will readily translate into office space filled with happy tenants, while the murky-water alternative could be just the eyesore that holds down the image and limits the facility's financial success.    The same principle works for watershapes at apartment complexes, where unseemly streams will almost certainly draw complaints from unhappy residents while cool, translucent water will become a point of pride and source of relaxation for tenants who otherwise might reflexively hold their noses as they pass by.  Or consider the private estate where ponds are meant for swimming:  Without question, these waters must have a crystalline clarity that attests to the water's safety and potential for recreation. Delivering this level of water quality is more and more a part of