equipment

Atlantic Water Gardens Introduces Fiberglass Basalt Columns
Atlantic Water Gardens (Mantua, OH) has introduced fiberglass replicas of basalt columns for use as…
Raypak Offers Low-NOx Pool/Spa Heaters
Raypak (Oxnard, CA) manufactures four models of low-NOx gas heaters for residential pools and spas.…
Plumbed for Convenience
Of all the steps we've covered so far in this series of videos on pond installation, this is the only one that might be considered atypical, basically because the need for completing this operation depends on the type of filtration system you're using.   In this case, we're installing a permanent gravel bed in the waterfall/filter unit, which means we need to include a backwash system in the form of a three-way valve and a drain line to make the bed easy to clean, refresh and maintain.  The great thing is
Penny-Wise, Fountain Foolish
A news story out of New Zealand caught my eye the other day. It was all about a new fountain/waterfeature the city of Napier has added to a spot close to the National Aquaium and near beautiful Hawke's Bay. As you can see by clicking on the link below to get the full story and a photograph, it's a fairly pedestrian
A Pond After Dark
A surprising number of my clients come into the pond-buying process without having given any thought at all to how the watershape will look after the sun goes down.  That probably has something to do with the fact that the big natural ponds they've encountered in their lifetimes have not benefited from any kind of illumination beyond the occasional pole-mounted floodlight. So they're in for a treat when we complete their pond and they watch it
Avoiding Common Design Mistakes
Through all the years I’ve spent communicating with other pool designers and builders and in working directly for or consulting with clients, I’ve come across all sorts of design processes and decisions I’d classify as questionable (at best) or just plain wrong, foolish or even actionable (at worst). I’d originally listed them as ten common mistakes pool designers make (and should try to avoid), but a recent incident forced me to expand the list to cover
Aquascape Releases Its 2013 Watergarden Product Catalog
Aquascape (St. Charles, IL) has published its 2013 product catalog – the first that combines…
Jet Setting
People who design and build swimming pools with attached spas are always on the lookout for ways to differentiate themselves in the eyes of the client.  The spa, I think, is the perfect place to start. But the cold fact is that a great many watershapers who build spas do so very conservatively, whether out of habit or
2013/4.1, April 10 — Chicago’s Crown Fountain, Timely Pond Chores, Honors for Halprin and more
                             April 10, 2013         …
Indoor Fortitude
For professionals who tirelessly commit themselves to excellence in all aspects of their work, challenging projects are the butter on the bread.   At Drakeley Swimming Pool Co. of Bethlehem, Conn., we truly enjoy jobs with higher-than-usual degrees of difficulty because they generally involve us with clients who have strong ideas about what they want, force us to develop solutions to unique and interesting problems and see us perform on a level that invariably makes us proud.  As we see it, these jobs are the reward we get for years of focusing on doing our absolute best. True, these projects can be tough, but we’ve found that by sticking to our “quality without compromise” philosophy, we’ve managed to thrive through tough times and have always earned our share of interesting commissions.  It’s proof of the old adage that good things follow hard work, even in a soft economy. That was certainly