March 21, 2025: Aquatech in Amsterdam
Good Afternoon,
Greetings from beautiful Banff! I'm back from Aquatech Amsterdam and wanted to take a few minutes to talk about products I saw at the show. (I will be talking about the tradeshow itself in a video, so please make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube Channel)
Note: I'm not endorsing these products - I have not personally used them - but I found them interesting and think they can fill operational pain points some of us face. Photos available on Instagram.
CoverUp Key (sold under the name ManUp Key Ltd. in Canada/US)
A lot of spray parks & splash pads here in Alberta, built before there were specific regulations, were constructed by water treatment companies. At one facility I managed, we were routinely dealing with trying to open sewer/manhole covers that I and the rest of the team simply had no experience (and, in hindsight, no business) trying to open with our bare hands. A tool like this would have been so helpful as an administrative safety control.
Labaronne Citaf flexible storage tanks. There are lots of applications where rigid chemical storage tanks make sense, but I love the idea that there are "soft cisterns" (their wording) available for up to 2,500 m3.
HoseSaver® by Rain for Rent®
I couldn't hazard a guess how many hoses I've destroyed throughout my aquatic career, especially from hosing (cleaning change rooms & decks) around corners. Although this is meant to physically support for very large diameter hoses, I love the idea of a little ramp to reduce damage, especially over pipes and stairs. I think this would still be worth purchasing for small diameter hoses and when sumping water out of the basin during an annual shutdown.
iPOQLOR® by Pool Technologie (equipment, not chemicals)
If you speak French, hypochlor would be the way of saying "sodium hypo," so it's a very cute play on words that this French technology produces liquid chlorine on site (not to be confused with chemicals being sold under a similar trade name).
This would be comparable to Hyprolyser® Electrochlorination Systems by Gaffey, also on site at Aquatech. The latter systems I do have experience with: Okotoks, where I live, installed one during the Pandemic and there have been many other applications with positive reviews located around Alberta.
I want to take a moment and recognize that yesterday (March 20) would have been Abigail Taylor's birthday. If you're not familiar with Abbey, she was eviscerated by a wading pool drain in Minnesota and died months later from terrible medical complications. This is a timely reminder to think about anti-entrapment procedures at your facility. A deposition of the pool operators who substituted shorter screws in the drain cover can be seen on YouTube shows that bad decisions can be made in a split second.
Abbey's parents took a large chunk of their legal settlement to found Abbey's Hope, a charity that continues to do a lot of advocacy about entrapment. I've spoken with staff member Dr. Allison Petri twice for YouTube: once about the 2023 Houston entrapment fatality of Aliyah Lynette Jaico and once about illegal drain covers available for sale on Amazon.
Other swimming pool industry news this week -
Bradley seeks water park name
This seems a bit late in the design process, no?! "At Monday’s Bradley Village Board meeting, finance director Rob Romo said the village is looking for a theme and logo for the $75 million to $80 million project."
2024 boating accident report shows continued issue of low life-jacket use among victims
"Only 20 percent of the 207 individuals involved in boating accidents last year were wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident, and only one of the nine victims involved in boating fatalities recorded last year were wearing a life jacket."
An ‘act relating to swimming pools’ morphs into bill blocking KY cities’ Airbnb regulations
What started as an attempt to regular Swimply rentals has turned in a local vs state fight about homeowners' rights to generate short-term rental income via sites like Airbnb & VRBO. Unfortunately, I think this means regulators will back down, and potentially-dangerous, unregulated residential pools clearly being deployed for commercial purposes will get ignored.
ACE GONE: Tragedy as female triathlon champion dies aged 39 after drowning as tributes pour in
As we enter outdoor race season, unfortunately these incidents become more and more common. Being a strong athlete doesn't make you any less likely to drown! A few relevant YouTube videos: a panel discussion about the drowning fatality of CrossFit athlete Lazar Dukic and a discussion with Dr. Katie Cleasby on her PhD research on triathlon drowning fatalities.
Shocking GoPro footage shows moment woman spots man drowning in waterfall before saving his life
The title is total clickbait, but the embedded video is actually an excellent example of what drowning can look like where there is no vertical movement and the casualty is nowhere near the water surface. Consider using this for your next lifeguard class or inservice.
How They Film Underwater Drowning Scenes
I don't know what I thought happens on movie sets, but this was definitely not it.
Woman accused in child’s drowning at Wabamun Lake opts to be tried by judge
This is a terrible story, but I'm committed to providing updates as they occur.
Decline in Swimming Skills Puts Lives at Risk
Our friends at Royal Life Saving Australia continues to put out clear & direct calls to action. "Parents play a crucial role in children’s swimming education, yet one in ten children aged 5-14 have never attended lessons... While 59% of children start swimming lessons before age three, most stop between ages 7-9, often before learning critical lifesaving skills."
12-Year-Old San Antonio Boy in Critical Condition After Near Drowning in New Braunfels River
If you've been here for a while, you know one of my pet peeves is the fact the usage of 'drowning' in journalism is very inconsistent. This child is in critical condition - suffered morbidity from his submersion (drowning) in fluid - but we're going to call it a near drowning?!
Australian beach culture used to feel off limits to me. This summer I claimed the beach as my own
An ode to swimming.
Cal Poly Sets Goal Of $200K On GoFundMe To Save The Program After Being Cut Last Week
This is a rapidly evolving story. The original article I read said the undefeated team had been summarily cut at the end of this season, but now SwimSwam is reporting efforts to
Bavarian Inn's $90 million waterpark is ready for guests. Here's what it offers
The theming looks very cute & unique.
Inverell pool accused of 'discrimination' after calling police to remove Aboriginal children
There is major disagreement about what actually happened, but suffice it to say that this is a good reminder to review any standard operating procedures (SOPs) or policies at your facility regarding bather behavior and revisit staff training in light of make sure these policies are consistently and equitably applied or enforced.
Thanks so much for reading. Does this newsletter meet your needs or are other topics or features you'd like me to cover? If possible, please take two minutes to hit reply and let me know how we can serve you better.
Katie Crysdale
Lakeview Aquatic Consultants Ltd.