Traditionally, Delhi has been a city of pools with Hauz Rani and Huaz Khas being the two most prominent ones. Once again modern lifestyle and growing disposable incomes in the metros are drawing people to them.These days when a person is house-hunting, he or she wants to know if the building complex houses a swimming pool. Pools are being demanded not only for their aesthetics or as status symbols, but as spaces for physical exercising and socializing. Hence, housing complexes and stand alone bungalows are factoring them in for their residents.
Pools are being used for other things as well one such in Wadala, Mumbai makes a statement on environmental degradation. It was designed by attaching a giant aerial photograph of the New York skyline to the floor of the pool. When filled with water, it gave an eerie effect akin to a city submerged in water. The idea is to showcase the adverse impact of global warming.
Pools are no longer only rectangular or circular in shape. They are custom-designed, boasting of unconventional contours that seamlessly blend in to the existing architecture and aesthetics. The art of designing pools has also evolved into a specialized profession. In the virtual absence of professional pool makers (there is no authorized pool licensing authority in India) interior designers, regular architects, landscapers, builders and even plumbers are employed to construct and design pools. Since the phenomenon is comparatively new in India, a large number of myths are attached to it. The ignorance results in wastage of water, electricity, energy, time and the money of pool owner. In contrast, specialized new-age pool designers begin with two basic parameters for their blueprint -- socio-geographical climate of the location and the presence of any contaminating element like sewage, sewage pipes, etc. Rest is the reflection of the owner's needs.
Demystifying myths
Vivek Mishra of Premium Pools and Spas, one of few professional poolmakers in India, says, “We do not require huge areas to construct a pool. Even a 30 ft X 20 ft space is good enough for an indoor or outdoor private pool which can be built in 45 days. It is not very expensive either and costs less than a mid segment car. A pool of this size with attached spa would cost anywhere between Rs.8 to 10 lakh. To top it with water, a pool runs at a cost less than a 1.5 tonne AC.” Structurally, pools can be divided into three types - Overflow Channel pools, Skimmer pools and Infinity pools. While most traditional pools employ the overflow channel technique in which water enters from one point, then overflows and gets filtered which is again pumped back to the pool, it is the Skimmer and Infinity which are modern choices. Skimmer, the favourites of penthouses and backyards of big houses, use a device that sucks water and throws it back after filtration. Infinity pools are mostly found in hills and beaches like the ones in Kovalam in Kerala, and Marina Beach in Singapore. The Infinity pool, which is the rage these days, is built close to natural water bodies so that the vision of the pool merges into the water body, hence the name.
According to pool designers, it is a myth that a swimming pool means wastage of water. It actually conserves water. “The total amount of water consumed because of a pool is less than one per cent of total water we consume at home. Wastage of water in a pool is less because the water is filtered and reused constantly. Also, if a pool is designed after proper planning of filtration and sanitization, water can be used for two years without even changing it. However, in contrast, a wrongly designed pool requires cleaning everyday which takes two to three hours while pool cleaning/filtration actually requires just 15 minutes,” explains Mishra. Pools are a phenomenon which town developers now swear by. They predict that with customers getting more specific on their housing needs, swimming pools will soon become an essential feature in posh housing.
