www.poolpak.com | 800-959-77258 | MPK Series - Installation, Operation and Maintenance
SECTION I: INDOOR POOL APPLICATION
Introduction
Creating an Ideal Environment for Indoor Pool Facilities
Indoor pool facilities are unlike any other structure in design, construction and maintenance requirements. Humidity,
air and water temperatures are especially difficult to control, and improper management usually results in an
uncomfortable environment, excessive operating costs and possibly serious structural damage. Effectively controlling
these special conditions requires control hardware and control sequences specially engineered for large commercial
indoor pool applications. The PoolPak
®
System utilizes an environmental control package designed to meet all
special needs of the indoor pool environment, while reducing energy usage and building maintenance costs.
Operating Cost
Energy consumption is a direct function of the variables necessary to satisfy the occupant and protect the facility.
These variables include space heating and cooling, water heating, humidity removal and ventilation. Maintaining
ideal and precise environmental conditions has a fairly high cost of operation. A majority of the indoor pools,
regardless of geographic location, require water and space heating 70% to 90% of the year.
Application
Moisture Loads
An indoor swimming pool produces large quantities of water vapor through evaporation, which accounts for
roughly 95% of the pool water heat loss, making the water colder. This excessive humidity will form damaging
condensation unless removed from the building. In the past, the method of removing this water vapor was by
ventilating an otherwise energy efficient building, exhausting the humid air and the energy it contained. Additional
energy was used to bring in and heat the make-up air and to heat the pool water.
More cost effective technologies offer an alternative method adding heat exchangers and mechanical heat recovery
systems with many useful options. The ideal solution to removing the water vapor from the pool area is to convert
the latent (wet) heat contained in the moist air back into sensible (dry) heat, placing it back into the pool water
and air.
Effects of Moisture
Excess humidity in natatorium structures may be readily apparent as condensation on cool surfaces such as
windows and outside doors, the growth of mildew or mold, and, when coupled with poor pool chemistry, the
accelerated corrosion of metals. In its less obvious forms, moisture may penetrate walls and ceilings and cause rot
that becomes noticeable only when large scale structural failure occurs. Humidity levels are also a major factor in
the comfort of pool users.
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