It’s been generally accepted that having a suction inlet at the lowest point of a swimming pool improves circulation. Whether or not this is actually true is being debated but assuming it is, then it would make sense to have one. But my question is what sense does it make to have a suction outlet at the midpoint of the pool depth? Case in point:
Jackson Park Pool (Main Drains circled in yellow)
Aside from looking bad (seriously, they look like sewer grates:)
What Jackson Park Pool’s drains look like
It seems utterly pointless to have a suction outlet halfway between the shallow and deep ends. The only explanation I can offer is that the intake toward the deep end was used to supply the waterslide that used to be there (it was here, where the lifeguard tower is now:)
Former location of waterslide
I wish I knew someone who worked for Milwaukee County and could tell me.
Also, I would ask them WTF is the grate/hatch in the deep end of McCarty Park’s pool, since the main drain is actually the large L-shaped channel running the length of the pool:
McCarty Park Pool (WTF grate circled in yellow)
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Andrew D.
#1 by Joshua on June 13, 2012 - 11:39 AM
Sheridan Park pool has the same construction as Jackson: one drain midway between the shallow and deep ends and one at the deepest point in the pool. Washington Park pool has the same construction as McCarty.
#2 by Joshua on June 13, 2012 - 2:40 PM
I got an answer. The bottom drains in Jackson and Sheridan Park pools aren’t suction outlets – they’re just for draining the pools after the season ends. Recirculation in those pools comes from a gravity feed sidewall gutter system. Also, the deep end grates in Mc Carty and Wilson Park pools serve the same purpose – to empty the pools.