Fast Assembly, Low Maintenance
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THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS |
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PUBLIC SWIMMING POOLS in North America are increasingly being constructed of stainless steel. |
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S30400 stainless steel plates, typically 90 centimetres wide and 2 millimetres thick, form the sides
of the pool. |
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PANELS ARE BOLTED together and held in place with horizontal and vertical braces, also made of
S30400. |
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IF A POOL IS EXPOSED to a marine environment or acidic soil, S31600 stainless steel is used. |
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THE INNER SURFACE of each panel is coated with a layer of polyvinyl chloride. Once the panels are
connected, this coating is solvent-welded to produce a smooth surface that can be easily painted. |
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POOL MARKINGS ARE easily painted on the polyvinyl chloride surface. |
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DURABLE STAINLESS steel pools withstand constant exposure to high humidity, moisure and vapour
from chlorinated water for long periods of time. |
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中文 |
Stainless steel swimming pools are making a big splash in North America By Dean Jobb
Nickel Magazine, July 2005 -- When the world’s top swimmers reach the finish line, more and more of them are touching a surface of coated stainless steel.
Pools made of modular stainless panels, have featured in a string of major international competitions. In July 2005, seven Olympic-sized stainless steel pools were erected in Montreal for the Federation Internationale de Natation championships, the world’s premiere amateur swimming competition. The Canadian distributor for Italy’s Myrtha Pools, Keith Richardson, calls the event "a major challenge for the swimming pool business."
His company, Nationwide Commercial Aquatics, has erected 45 stainless steel pools across Canada since 1998. Metal-sided pools have long been used in Europe. There are 10,000 commercial-sized Myrtha Pools worldwide, and ten times that number of private ones. Increasingly, customers are choosing them over traditional concrete-and-ceramic-tile pools, thanks to competitive pricing and significantly lower maintenance costs.
Building a stainless steel pool is no less expensive than using other materials, says Richardson, however the buyer of a municipal-sized version will save about $15,000 a year in operating and maintenance costs. "That’s what sells these pools."
The pools are built on concrete slabs with the vertical walls fashioned from 90-centimetre-wide panels of S30400 stainless, each one typically two millimetres thick. The panels are bolted together and held in place with horizontal and vertical braces, also made of S30400, though S31600 stainless steel is used if the pool is likely to be exposed to a marine environment or acidic soil.
S30400 is commonly used for pool fittings and "has a proven track record," Richardson says. Customers tend to be wary of departing from concrete construction, but "by using a grade proven in this environment, we can allay this concern."
Municipal pools are usually about 25 by 15 metres and require roughly 200 square metres of stainless and another 200 kilograms of bolts and other hardware. Olympic-size pools are double that size and so require twice as much metal to construct.
The inner surface of each panel is coated with a layer of polyvinyl chloride, which is solvent-welded once the panels are connected to produce a smooth, impermeable finish that is easily painted with pool markings. The coating allows the panels to be assembled without welding, ensuring quality and reducing installation costs.
The pools offer two other advantages:
An Olympic-size version can be built in weeks instead of months – "the panels bolt together like a big Meccano metal construction model," Richardson says – and then disassembled after a major event, sparing the host city the cost of operating unneeded pools. Of the seven outdoor pools built for the Montreal event, four were temporary.
Despite constant exposure to humidity, moisture, and vapour from chlorinated water, stainless steel pools are durable: the oldest, installed in Europe, is more than forty years old. While Myrtha has used carbon steel to build some pools, Richardson says the metal cannot match stainless steel’s ability to resist corrosion in a hostile environment.
Dean Job is a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based freelance writer.
PHOTOS: Nationwide Commercial Aquatics Inc. / Myrtha Pools
 An article on this topic first appeared in Nickel Magazine in June 2000: Swimming in Stainless Canadian Distributor: Nationwide Commercial Aquatics Inc. 38 Highcroft Rd. Toronto Ontario Canada M4L 3G2 Phone: 1-416-465-6550 Fax: 1-416-465-4405 E-mail: keith.richardson@rogers.com Manufacturer: |
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STAINLESS STEEL POOLS can be constructed in a matter of weeks. |
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MUNICIPAL POOLS ARE typically 25 by 15 metres and require about 200 square metres of stainless steel
plate. |
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A TYPICAL MUNICIPAL stainless steel pool significantly reduces annual operating and maintenance
costs compared with concrete and ceramic tile pools. |
