Renovating a half-century old RV park and campground pool

by brittney_cutler_2 | October 24, 2021 5:00 pm

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By Greg Keller

If one is looking for a place to beat the heat and get out into nature, Olympia Village RV Park & Campground is a great option. Nestled between farmland and forests on a quiet concession road in Waterdown, Ont., sits a hidden gem of southern Ontario camping. The park has all the staples of a great campground—playgrounds, ponds, a large, covered patio/entertainment pavilion, great people and atmosphere and, the focus of this article, the giant 13- x 25-m (42- x 82-ft) pool.

The park has been host to many film crews—from Disney to Netflix—who obtained permission to shoot projects there because of the old town charm the park offers. For example, there is still an old phone booth located right near the pool that provides a nostalgic setting for film producers. Above the surface, the park has the charm its residents and visitors love; however, below the surface the park has a completely re-built water treatment system, providing crystal clear safe drinking water throughout the park.

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A groovy pool gets a rad reno

The pool was built in the ’70s and underwent a renovation around 1989 when a new concrete deck was installed. Back in its early days, the pool had a 3 m (9.8 ft) diving board stand, a 1 m (3.3 ft) diving board stand (which is still in place), as well as a waterslide. Over the years the 3 m diving board and waterslide were removed due to end-of-life cycle and were not replaced. That said, better days were ahead for the park’s large pool.

From rad to lit

After an extensive renovation, recently completed by Acapulco Pools of Kitchener, Ont., the concrete pool is now here to stay for another 50 years. In fall 2020, the owners of Olympia Village contracted Acapulco Pools to completely renovate the park’s crown jewel—its massive pool. It had served the park well for the last half-century, but it was in desperate need of a complete overhaul.

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To achieve what the owners were seeking, the renovation was performed in two stages. Acapulco Pools was also hired in 2016 to replace two skimmers on the deep end wall as well as add two new wall drains. This involved installing new rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) schedule-40 piping from the new wall drains to the existing mechanical room. The owner knew a major overhaul was coming soon, but this was a great way to get some of the infrastructure in and break up the project.

The renovation details

The work in 2020 started with ripping out the pool deck (except for the new deck at the deep end) to allow for all new piping to be installed. Next, the coping stones were removed as they were deteriorating and needed replacement. This was followed by cutting out all the existing skimmers on the remaining three walls and replacing them with new ones. Additional skimmers were also added to meet current codes, while all the return fittings were cored out and replaced with new ones. Additional returns were also installed. All the new skimmers and returns were connected to new schedule-40 rigid PVC supply and return lines, and pressure tested to ensure they would stand the test of time.

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Years ago, when the pool was first built, it had large incandescent underwater pool lights. Over time, they all eventually stopped working and were too expensive to repair. As part of the renovation, the owners decided they wanted to replace the old lights with new light emitting diode (LED) underwater pool lights. To accommodate this request, Acapulco Pools installed four new pool lights providing the equivalent of 300 watts of underwater illumination.

The owner of Olympia Village, Paul Galvin, says lighting is the best security feature one can invest in as people are very hesitant to break a rule when they feel they are exposed or visible to potential authority figures. Therefore, having a well-lit pool would not only make it look beautiful in the evening hours, but would also deter visitors from using the pool during the hours it is closed.

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The existing mechanical system and equipment room was completely emptied, and the room is being repurposed. The owner built a new pool mechanical room beside the old one, much bigger to allow for the new larger filters along with the other upgraded equipment the pool would use. The filters consist of two 1219-mm (48-in.) vertical sand filters that are each capable of 1.1 m2 (12.2 sf) of filtration. Together, they offer a total of 2.2 m2 (24.4 sf) of filtration area. This, combined with the new skimmers and returns, brings the pool up to code with respect to turnover rates.

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Two new five-horsepower pumps which run on 575 V three-phase power and controlled by a variable frequency drive (VFD) were also installed. This new system will reliably pump the pool water through the system to be filtered while saving the owners a lot of money compared to the old energy sucking pump that did not use a VFD.

The chemical control system was upgraded, too. It comprises a new chemical controller that is connected to peristaltic pumps to feed liquid chlorine and muriatic acid as required to keep the pool water constantly sanitized to regulated levels per the Ontario health code, Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.7. This controller measures pH, ORP, temperature, as well as free chlorine in parts per million (ppm). The free chlorine reading is now required by the health code and helps operators see more easily what the pool’s chlorine level is. This controller offers a true ppm reading of the free chlorine in the water, opposed to other units that calculate a derived ppm which is not as accurate.

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The pool shell was also completely stripped of all existing paint, and a few areas were repaired where the concrete was deteriorating. This allowed Acapulco Pools to repair all the cracks by V-cutting, priming with epoxy, and filling with a non-shrink grout. The V-cut helps the repair material to ‘key’ into the crack, creating a mechanical bond in addition to the chemical bond between the patch material and the concrete.

There were also a few areas where the rebar had to be replaced and new concrete was poured. The entire shell was then coated with a layer of thin set to leave a solid, sound, and smooth surface to paint. Finally, two fresh coats of epoxy pool paint were applied throughout the pool to protect all the shell repairs, leaving a brilliant new finish for the pool.

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The finishing touches

To finish the renovation project, a new deck was installed around the pool, giving bathers plenty of space to lounge by the water and enjoy the sun, then jump into the pool to cool down. The new deck is a 127-mm (5-in.) thick brushed concrete finish, gently sloped away from the pool to encourage rainwater to drain away from and not into the pool. For an outdoor pool it is crucial to make sure the deck is sloped away, as too much rainwater can wreak havoc on the water chemistry. A new fence was also installed to update the look of the space and, of course, provide a layer of safety when the pool is closed at night.

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Now, the pool looks and operates like a brand-new installation. It basically is, as the only component remaining from the original pool is the concrete shell—which was still in great shape considering its age. The residents and guests of Olympia Village are now able to enjoy this pool attraction and make many great memories for years to come.

Greg Keller is a service and sales representative at Acapulco Pools Ltd., a commercial pool builder and service provider based in Kitchener, Ont. He graduated from Conestoga College’s architecture-project and facility management program in 2011 and was hired by Acapulco upon graduation. He can be reached via email at greg@acapulcopools.com.

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/renovating-a-half-century-old-rv-park-and-campground-pool/

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