The PVC membrane installation took approximately 10 to 14 days to complete for each pool. Once the liners were in place, the pools were near completion—just two weeks prior to the first day of school. In late August, with each pool renovation on schedule, the entire city was evacuated to designated shelters as a result of high winds and torrential rains from Hurricane Gustav.
Due to the space limitations at these indoor pools, a lot of the equipment and supplies were stored outside of each school when the hurricane hit the area. After the winds subsided, some of the equipment and supplies were found 0.4 km (.25 miles) away from the high schools, and some of the materials were actually lost. Luckily, no other delays were encountered during the renovations, and despite the hurricane, all three pools were completed on schedule.
The results
In addition to the night-and-day change of each pool’s visual esthetics, the aquatic facility managers also reported they were easier to clean and maintaining and controlling the water balance became less complicated.
Steve Comstock is the executive vice-president at RenoSys Corporation, a company specializing in commercial pool renovations based in Indianapolis, Ind. He has worked in the commercial aquatics industry for more than 36 years and has helped renovate thousands of commercial pools across Canada and the U.S. Comstock can be reached via e-mail at stevec@renosys.com.
