Tarragona, Spain
Tarragona 2018 Mediterranean Games – The first swimming pool with a split moveable bulkhead
The city of Tarragona hosted the 18th Mediterranean Games from June 22 to July 1, 2018. More than 4,500 athletes from 26 different countries participated, accompanied by 1,000 sports technicians and more than 150,000 spectators. In September of that same year, the Spanish Group of the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS) organized a study trip to the Mediterranean Ring to visit its three main facilities: the sports palace, the athletics stadium and the 50-meter pool, the latter made by Fluidra. The three infrastructures are already part of Tarragona’s great legacy from 2018 and feature some of the most advanced aquatic solutions for competition pools.
Description of Fluidra's scope
Regarding the Olympic swimming pool, Fluidra Engineering was responsible for the design, construction and hydraulic components. The pool, whose exact measurements are 51.20 x 25 m and 2 m deep, is made with the AstralPool Skypool system. It is a prefabricated pool of hot-dip galvanized steel panels, which complies with all requirements and regulations of the Catalan Swimming Federation (FCN), the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation (RFEN) and the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The Skypool system makes it possible to build above-ground or in-ground pools in record time. It is lightweight and versatile, as it has no limitations on shape. The materials that the Skypool system is made of are fully recyclable, non-polluting and manufactured using processes with a low environmental impact. The pool shell is lined with a reinforced PVC-P sheet and ceramic coping stones to form the overflow channel, which has a premium non-slip finish. This 50-meter Olympic pool is equipped with a Dual Fix Movable Bulkhead, the most versatile mobile platform for competition pools and sports clubs. This state-of-the-art pool accessory makes it possible to split the main pool into several different spaces and stage events at the same time. It can divide the Olympic pool into two semi-Olympic pools of 25 m. Another possibility is to divide the pool into four semi-Olympic pools in the corners and an Olympic pool in the center for training lanes. Therefore, this variety of combinations makes it possible to create up to five different pools in a single Olympic pool. It is an ideal solution for sports clubs and competition events to achieve a more efficient use of swimming pools! In addition, this is the first in Spain has had Occupancy Smoothing, a control system that adapts to occupancy. It was developed by Ctrl4 Enviro for calculating the number of bathers in real time so that disinfection and filtration systems run at the lowest possible rate, all of which results in cost savings for a sports facility. From the point of view of water treatment, this Olympic pool also stands out for incorporating the Freepool2 system, a revolutionary solution for the treatment and disinfection of water in public swimming pools, since it disinfects the water using Neolysis and corrects the pH levels by injecting CO2 through the system’s reactor. By using CO2 to treat water as a substitute for acid, harmful compounds resulting from its mixture with organic substances are reduced, thus achieving healthier water. Other hydraulic components include the use of a conventional, but efficient filtration system, with double-layer silica bobbin-wound sand filters and 1,500 rpm pump assemblies low in energy consumption, all of which is controlled automatically and, therefore, makes it possible that whole water system to be recirculated in less than 4 hours.