I've visited six flags a few times in my area. I've been to the water park. It has quite a huge pool. I imagine millions of gallons of water. One thing I notice is the water seems pretty highly chlorinated. You can stand next to the edge of the pool and small chlorine? The only time that ever happens with my personal pool is when I'm shocking it.... They don't indicate their FC levels anywhere, do they keep their water at shock levels? Also what type of pool equipment do they use. Do they use sand filters etc..... Do they use pure chlorine gas v.s. powdered/liquid forms?
How do commercial entities manage their pools (i.e. water parks)
- Thread starter steppinthrax
- Start date
I wandered the same thing when I was looking at the fake river for the River Rampage at Dollywood. The chlorine smell was strong and the water wasnt clear so you know there wasnt enough in it. Also I wandered how much they would have to use to keep FC in it. 
The water at Canada's Wonderland is crystal clear and has no smell. How do they do it?
I tried a little googling and didn't come up with much.
AOL did an "undercover" investigation on it in 2010 that was interesting to read:
http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/08/09/whats-living-in-your-water-park/
AOL did an "undercover" investigation on it in 2010 that was interesting to read:
http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/08/09/whats-living-in-your-water-park/
I've always wondered the same thing. I bet a lot of work gets done at night after the parks close. Would love to hear about their equipment/methods though.
I would venture to guess that the smell is not so much attributed to the amount of FC, but more because of the CC. Open a bottle of bleach and it will not have any chlorine smell, but dip your hand in the pool and it will have more of a chlorine smell than the bottle of bleach.
I would also add that much of the work is most likely done at night.
I would also add that much of the work is most likely done at night.
I did find this.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/water-slide4.htm
and this
http://goulds.com/centrifugal-pumps-boosters/commercial-pool-water-park-pumps/
It appears they use pretty much everything we use. With the exception that everything is on a massive scale. So their pump motor is more like 10 to 30 HP. The sand filter is almost the size of my swimming pool. They use more like 10 to 18" diameter pipe etc... I'm curious how they administer chemicals. My understanding is they use pure chlorine gas.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/water-slide4.htm
and this
http://goulds.com/centrifugal-pumps-boosters/commercial-pool-water-park-pumps/
It appears they use pretty much everything we use. With the exception that everything is on a massive scale. So their pump motor is more like 10 to 30 HP. The sand filter is almost the size of my swimming pool. They use more like 10 to 18" diameter pipe etc... I'm curious how they administer chemicals. My understanding is they use pure chlorine gas.
I would guess that a majority do in fact use chlorine gas. And some use SWGs as well. They also have supplemental oxidation like UV or ozone due to the higher bather loads.
I used to work for a potable water supply/sewage treatment corporation and different locations would use either chlorine gas OR sodium hypochlorite (delivered in an iso tank/tank container) for primary sanitation.
This was supplemented by ozone (produced by corona discharge), UV, and/or ferric chloride.
I would guess that water parks have similar systems.
This was supplemented by ozone (produced by corona discharge), UV, and/or ferric chloride.
I would guess that water parks have similar systems.
I pondered the same thing this weekend at Kalahari water park. The kids asked me why the water tasted salty, and I had an answer! They weren't putting it in their mouth on purpose, the wave pool would get you, lol.
Could one of you take your test kit to the water park and post results?
I was thinking the exact same thing. It would be interesting if the chlorine level was around 20 or so. I would also be curious if they add borates and CYA?
