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SPN APR 2012 WorldNews
www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk worldnews
WORLD’S LONGEST POOL WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARD
POOL TRADE HELPS ON CHEMICALS THREAT
The Australian pool industry has been helping in the worldwide terrorism threat. The country’s Attorney-General’s Department has called for public submissions on a document that analyses four options for reducing the security risks posed by a number of chemicals that can be used to make homemade explosives.
The department is particularly interested in feedback from businesses that import, manufacture, distribute, transport, handle or use products containing the chemicals.
The devastating effects of
The project to turn the centre of Berlin into the world’s longest swimming pool has ended up being an international award winner. The Flussbad project has won the Holcim Awards Gold 2011 Europe for the sensational pool which is set to become one of the focus points for the city.
The designers of the project intend to transform an unused arm of the River Spree into a natural 745 metre swimming pool. The facility is the equivalent of 17 Olympic swimming pools with an average width of 28.8m, water depth around 2.2m, and features a 780m-long reed bed filtration system. The 3.9 hectacre site includes quay walls converted into generous stairs, similar to Indian ghats, providing access to the swimming pool, with functional lockers and changing rooms integrated unobtrusively into the terrain. Water entering the upper section of the river arm is purified through a 1.8ha reed bed natural reserve with sub-surface sand bed filters. A barrage at the lower end of the system prevents the backflow of unfiltered water from the main body of the river, and overflow outlets for the city’s mixed sewage network are channelled beneath the system.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the precinct experienced a 75% increase in resident population and an equivalent loss of open space. The Flussbad project will provide a public urban recreation space for both residents and tourists adjacent to the UNESCO World Heritage site, Museuminsel (Museum Island).
The jury commended the project due to its direct and very strong impact on the quality of urban life in an area of Berlin which has been previously overlooked. The project questions the ownership of the river itself that is currently used exclusively for shipping and drainage purposes but not for public activities. They said the idea of providing a public facility is convincing, feasible and easily transferable.
It is complemented with an ecological concept that supplies unpolluted water and with a simple design that adapts respectfully to the historic context of the adjacent buildings. The jury said it was an excellent example of what can be achieved within challenging inner city areas that possess a rich tradition and cultural heritage where the local public has often been overlooked.
precursor chemicals when a homemade explosive device was detonated in Oslo, Norway, killing eight people and injuring 90, has left an impact all over the world. Some of the chemicals used to make that bomb are readily available in Australia, including fertiliser, nitromethane and aluminium. Chemicals used for water purification are thought to be on the list which the Australian Government wants tighter controls and awareness on and the specialist pool trade has been asked to begin providing information as to how chemicals are stored and what security is in place.
ATLANTIC CITY SHOW STARTS THE US YEAR OFF WITH A BANG
Few deny the impact a successful trade show can have giving a lift to an industry.
Throughout the United States, the pool and spa industry says the success of the Atlantic City Pool and Spa Show held at the end of January, has made a huge difference to how the year has started to trade. Optimism for better trading conditions in 2012 and a raft of new products set the scene for the four day event.
The annual conference and expo, held from the 24 to 26 January at the Atlantic City Convention Centre and organised by the Northeast Spa & Pool Association, drew more than 12,000 visitors, beating last year’s figures – a success story which has catapulted the show up on the list of genuine ‘world’ trade shows. “I thought the show was fabulous,” said Bob Blanda, Show Chairman and President of one of New York’s biggest specialist pool builders. “It just seems like everything clicked. The exhibitors were very happy and buzzing with the feeling that leads were good. People were doing business … and we had perfect
weather. It has given the trade a great start to the year and that is exactly what we want.”
A total of 420 companies took part and the conference programme also grew, with 5,229 seats filled compared with last year’s seminar attendance of about 4,700. Reflecting the industry’s swing toward service, maintenance and repair, organisers devoted a significant portion of the conference programme – 17 classes – to chemistry topics. Manufacturer-led courses on repair and maintenance of branded heaters were also popular. The Atlantic City Pool & Spa Show has been an annual event on the East Coast since 1982 but in recent years it has grown in popularity with US and European companies and has suddenly ‘come of age’.
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