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World's Largest Swimming Pool: How would you like to be the lifeguard for this swimming pool? According to Guinness World Records, the swimming pool at the San Alfonso del Mar resort is the largest in the world. It is 3,324 feet long, has an area of 19.77 acres, and holds 66 million gallons of water. Its deepest depth is 115 feet, and it is equivalent in size to 6,000 standard-size pools. Just to graphically emphasize what is being stated here, we asked an industry insider to offer some thoughts on the enormity of this pool.
"This is absolutely amazing," said Delonce Jones, manager of Pinch-A-Penny, a pool-service retailer in Orange Park, Florida. He further added, "An Olympic-size pool holds around a million gallons of water. I would own my own store if I could get the service contract for that one!"
The friendly and upbeat Mr. Jones was most impressed by the designer's patented pulse-based disinfection system. "That new filtration system significantly lowers or reduces the chemicals needed to maintain the water. If a "normal" system were running a pool that size, it would take more than 7,000 gallons of chlorine a week to keep the water right. And more than just chlorine would need to be added, too," Jones offered to quantify his amazement.
The skinny...
Albeit a swimming pool by definition, it actually is a manmade saltwater lagoon that is part of a mixed-use complex on the southern coast of Chile in the city of Algarrobo. This swimming pool is a virtual waterfront community with beaches, docks, and spots for various water sports. Additionally, there is an indoor beach with temperature control. The turquoise water is so clear that the bottom of the pool is visible from all angles, including overhead. Swimmers and loungers get all the benefits and pleasures of the ocean with none of the accompanying inconveniences or potential peril.
How it hatched...
While the southern coastline of Chile is wonderful, the waters of the Pacific Ocean are generally uninviting for recreational use. The developer of San Alfonso del Mar felt that adding a "private ocean" would increase the value of the development.
Crystal Lagoons is the company that built this huge manmade crystalline lagoon. Developing the technology to bring such a project to fruition took 10 years, as it required extensive research and development to create a viable filtration system for so much water. Current methods used in pool maintenance for water filtration work fine for standard and commercial size pools. However, it is outrageously cost-prohibitive for a 24 million liter body of water. So, the innovative organization created a new filtration system that educes chemicals required for maintenance up to 100 times. The firm claims that it can build an artificial lagoon-like setting in almost anywhere.
In the works...
There currently are several similar projects being developed in Chile, Argentina, and Panama. Furthermore, Crystal Lagoons has projects at various stages of development to create artificial lagoons in Egypt, Dubai, Greece, Australia, Brazil, the Bahamas, and others.
Mr. Fernado Fischmann is both the founder of Crystal Lagoons and the developer of San Alfonso del Mar Resort. He was named 2007 Innovator of the Year by the government of Chile. It was the first issuance of this honorable award.
BTW...
Although it is somewhat like comparing a lake to the ocean, the world's second largest pool is located in Casablanca, Morocco. The Orthileb, or the "Big Splash," is 450 feet long and 300 feet wide.
For LxM James Rothaar
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