News & Events

Health conscious trend changes pool market.

The Riverflow® system by Current Systems Inc of Camarillo, CA. has developed a high volume pumping system which delivers a swimable current into a swimming pool. This smooth, powerful, silent current is fully adjustable by remote control and capable of holding even world-class swimmers at bay.

The average pool, 25 to 40 feet long is just too short to support effective lap swimming, says designer Peter Davidson, President of Current Systems. Installation of the Riverflow® System converts the pool to a virtual river, allowing for a myriad of aquatic workouts including endless swimming.

New pool construction too is trending away from the basic still water pool and incorporating the Riverflow® System into the design. Many higher end residential landscapes are now including a Lazy River feature which is a swimable canal surrounding a footbridge accessible island at the center. Whether kayaking, swimming or just floating down stream in an inner tube, this feature adds an extraordinary dynamic to backyard living. We are beyond thrilled with our Riverflow, says a smiling William Cumming of Van Nuys, CA., and we’re sharing it much of the time with enthusiastic friends, neighbors and neighbors kids.

The History of Swim Jets

Sometime in the early 1980’s recognizing an emerging market for aquatic exercise; an enterprising spa manufacturer introduced the SWIM SPA. A hybrid of the fiberglass spa and the Jacuzzi jet, the swim spa was typically 12 to 16 feet in length, 4 feet deep and less than 8 feet wide. Multiple jets were added to one end, centered just below the waterline and a new genre of the hot tub was born.

Unfortunately, little is said about the SWIMABILITY of swim spas, until the disappointed buyer complains to the salesman. “We could up-size your pumps”, says the seller. But, up sizing in this situation would merely compound an already fatal design flaw – the JET.

Counter-current swimming, in fact, requires the dynamic opposite of what jetted systems deliver, i.e. a broad, non-turbulent flow of water, similar in velocity to a swimmers progress in still water. Aeration, essential in swim jets, causes turbulence and reduces the swimmers buoyancy. Although Jets are stimulating, delightful and a viable hydro-therapy tool, the notion that they have swim ability is a myth.