Indoor Pool Air Quality Issues


By John Borden
Owning  a building  with an indoor swimming pool can be  a great luxury or a nightmare depending  on what sort of  HVAC system it has.  Humidity  vapors coming off  a  pool  condense into water  when  they hit  cold surfaces such as outside glass windows and doors.   The colder the outside temperatures and the  warmer the pool  water  the more severe this problem becomes.   Pool room conditions can get so bad that they become health hazards , subject to rust, wet rot, and even  structural collapse.   There are  two ways to deal with  indoor pool air quality.   A heat exchanger  that exhausts  water saturated  pool room air and replaces  it with  dry outside  air  that has been reheated is one way.  The other way is to  mechanically  dehumidify the  pool room air.   Air conditioning, if wanted , can be included into either system.   Radiant floor warming is  an excellent way to  keep  bare  feet  warm and to evaporate wet  tracking from those feet.    We have designed any number of successful indoor pool  HVAC systems for our customers  over the years.   They are expensive and require  a lot of attention to details, but they get the job done.   The earlier in the  job  the HVAC contractor can get us involved  the  easier it will be to design and install a good  system.  Building owners need to be advised early of  what   has to be done to give them  a good system.   Skylights should not be  placed in  pool rooms  in the  northeast.   We will be glad to meet  with the contractor  and his client  to resolve issues and  explain  the process.    If  you have  a chance to do  an indoor pool  HVAC system  don’t walk away. Give us a call. We can help you.