SA Parks question? (Bowie, Mart: safe, pools, yard)
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Apparently not as expensive as pools. That's why the city's planning those for Voelcker Park instead of another city pool.
Makes sense to me... plus it seems that more can access it. No big deal to just wear some shorts and get wet, vs. swimming, having to have approved 'swimwear', the obnoxious kids who splash other kids in the face, the crowding.. ugh. I hate swimming in public pools here in SA. Last time my son wouldn't go because they told him he couldn't wear a t-shirt in the water, and he was still carrying pre-teen "baby fat" at the time and was mortified at the idea of having to be shirtless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaka
Well, I wouldn't expect a lot of kids during the week, but when we've been there on weekends there are tons of kids.
For awhile they were doing a puppet show at 10AM on Saturday mornings as well, but that may be over.
San Antonio has a city ordinance(22-88) that prohibits any water contact whether it be a fountain, the SA River etc... You can go to municode.com and read it if you like.
In addition to it being a code violation (whether enforced or not), I have to agree with the comment made about it being a health concern.
It's too bad they made your son remove his shirt. My kids wore them to protect them from sunburn in addition to extra sun screen. But that was years ago.....and I'm sure some "new" ordinance has been created for some random issue.
I remember some years back when we were in drought conditions, that water rationing cut back even allowing fountains to be turned on. It was so dismal to see empty abandoned fountains and man made ponds all dried up. But it did make sense as far as water conservation I suppose.
In addition to it being a code violation (whether enforced or not), I have to agree with the comment made about it being a health concern.
It's too bad they made your son remove his shirt. My kids wore them to protect them from sunburn in addition to extra sun screen. But that was years ago.....and I'm sure some "new" ordinance has been created for some random issue.
I remember some years back when we were in drought conditions, that water rationing cut back even allowing fountains to be turned on. It was so dismal to see empty abandoned fountains and man made ponds all dried up. But it did make sense as far as water conservation I suppose.
I'm not trying to be obviously ignorant, nor am I trying to "argue", but I am not understanding how A) other cities seem to manage this fountain thing just fine, so the health concerns (??? what are they??) are apparently manageable and the fountains don't APPEAR to be any different from what we have here (the zero depth type) , B) why would drought conditions affect fountains if the water is recycled? That probably sounds really dumb but I don't get it, and I've just come inside from re-potting things and the heat is taking a toll on my brain, apparently.
I'm not understanding the health concerns, obviously. As for code violations... I guess they aren't enforcing any of that and I think SA has way more to worry about, like the abandoned sofas and overgrown lots and stray dogs and so forth.
Can I get diarrhea from playing and wading in ornamental water fountains? Yes, if you swallow the water. Several diarrheal disease outbreaks have been associated with playing in ornamental water fountains. Not all ornamental water fountains are chlorinated and filtered. When people, especially diaper-aged children, play in or soak themselves with the water jets, they can contaminate the water.
I'm not trying to be obviously ignorant, nor am I trying to "argue", but I am not understanding how A) other cities seem to manage this fountain thing just fine, so the health concerns (??? what are they??) are apparently manageable and the fountains don't APPEAR to be any different from what we have here (the zero depth type) , B) why would drought conditions affect fountains if the water is recycled? That probably sounds really dumb but I don't get it, and I've just come inside from re-potting things and the heat is taking a toll on my brain, apparently.
I'm not understanding the health concerns, obviously. As for code violations... I guess they aren't enforcing any of that and I think SA has way more to worry about, like the abandoned sofas and overgrown lots and stray dogs and so forth.
b
It's ok...I'm not taking your questions as an argument. I personally cannot answer your question to the "zero depth" issue since San Antonio doesn't have them yet. (at least I'm not aware of any ground surface fountain jets for play purposes.)
Other municipal or park fountains are not maintained with the regulation levels of chlorine and chemicals to make swimming or playing in the water safely because they are not designed for that. Obviously that would take more expense to provide those chemical and city employees to manage and maintain them, not to mention the liablitiy issues of a structure that is not meant for public swimming use.
As far as wasting water.....just the shear volume of water needed to fill fountains is astronomical. Sure, they may "recycle" the water, but that's not really a fountain that would be safe to swim or play in, is it? I suppose if the corporation, city, or owner of such a fountain designed it with a chlorination filter system that meets public swimming regulations, then that would be different. However, these type of fountains are designed for more aesthetic purposes, and that kind of filtration system would most likely not be in the construction budget.
On top of that....especially fountains that create more water spray exposed to more air will evaporate more quickly in the summer heat. Recycling water doesn't mean more water never has to be added. It's sort of hard for the city to enforce water restrictions on homeowners watering their lawns and landscaping, while allowing water to be used excessively in fountains just to "be pretty". That being said....I only remember one time (in the Dallas area) where that restriction was enforced regarding fountains across the area. I can't speak specifically for city enforcement in the past concerning San Antonio. Many corporations and businesses took the initiative and cut off fountains voluntarily for both cost and conservation reasons.
More recent fountains have been designed so they have a better water conservation process....but are still not designed for swimming for the above mentioned reasons.
Hope that helps a bit. Not sure it's what you want to hear, however.
b
It's ok...I'm not taking your questions as an argument. I personally cannot answer your question to the "zero depth" issue since San Antonio doesn't have them yet. (at least I'm not aware of any ground surface fountain jets for play purposes.)
Other municipal or park fountains are not maintained with the regulation levels of chlorine and chemicals to make swimming or playing in the water safely because they are not designed for that. Obviously that would take more expense to provide those chemical and city employees to manage and maintain them, not to mention the liablitiy issues of a structure that is not meant for public swimming use.
As far as wasting water.....just the shear volume of water needed to fill fountains is astronomical. Sure, they may "recycle" the water, but that's not really a fountain that would be safe to swim or play in, is it? I suppose if the corporation, city, or owner of such a fountain designed it with a chlorination filter system that meets public swimming regulations, then that would be different. However, these type of fountains are designed for more aesthetic purposes, and that kind of filtration system would most likely not be in the construction budget.
On top of that....especially fountains that create more water spray exposed to more air will evaporate more quickly in the summer heat. Recycling water doesn't mean more water never has to be added. It's sort of hard for the city to enforce water restrictions on homeowners watering their lawns and landscaping, while allowing water to be used excessively in fountains just to "be pretty". That being said....I only remember one time (in the Dallas area) where that restriction was enforced regarding fountains across the area. I can't speak specifically for city enforcement in the past concerning San Antonio. Many corporations and businesses took the initiative and cut off fountains voluntarily for both cost and conservation reasons.
More recent fountains have been designed so they have a better water conservation process....but are still not designed for swimming for the above mentioned reasons.
Hope that helps a bit. Not sure it's what you want to hear, however.
Thanks for responding.
I'm not sure we're talking about the exact same thing... I'm not thinking of any situation where people would enter or play in a fountain that could be "filled", a fountain with sides and a concrete basin and all that. I'm thinking of the ones in the links I posted earlier in this thread for other cities, and similar to what is pictured in the link on ChrisPark, and what you see at the newly re-vamped main plaza. Water comes out of the ground, the ground is the same level as the surrounding ground (all concrete or stone or whatever), then it drains back under. Flat surface with water spraying, no one is swimming or wading. Basically the same as setting out a sprinkler on your concrete drive, if your drive had a drain.
Does that make sense? If you look at the examples I linked to on the first page of this thread it should be clearer what I'm talking about. Maybe it wouldn't be feasible with the fountains we already have, but I still think it is obvious to have some features like this in an area with such sweltering summers, and I can think of a few neighborhood parks off the top of my head that have the available space AND the need for something like this... like the high number of neighborhood play area parks with zero shade near the play areas, for starters.
My basic question is why do we not have any of these in such a hot climate when other cities do... in Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia, etc. Wichita has SIX, all free! The one in Chatanooga has a small admission fee which I'd gladly pay if we had something here. I think they'd make the public pools a bit less crowded also... imagine if some of these were build adjacent to the pools. I bet parents of smaller kids would love it. My sons said they saw something similar in Dallas. Now, maybe it wasn't MEANT for splashing in, but there were always kids splashing.. a flat surface with water spraying up.
So, I understand what you're saying about chlorination and diapers and so forth but the issue must be manageable or other cities wouldn't have these sorts of facilities, I wouldn't think.
Anyway, I doubt it will ever be something that is implemented... or if it is, I'm sure I'll have moved far away by then (off to a cooler climate one of these days)... but I still think they'd be an awesome family friendly option to our parks since it is warm here for several months a year.
I'm not sure we're talking about the exact same thing... I'm not thinking of any situation where people would enter or play in a fountain that could be "filled", a fountain with sides and a concrete basin and all that. I'm thinking of the ones in the links I posted earlier in this thread for other cities, and similar to what is pictured in the link on ChrisPark, and what you see at the newly re-vamped main plaza. Water comes out of the ground, the ground is the same level as the surrounding ground (all concrete or stone or whatever), then it drains back under. Flat surface with water spraying, no one is swimming or wading. Basically the same as setting out a sprinkler on your concrete drive, if your drive had a drain.
Does that make sense? If you look at the examples I linked to on the first page of this thread it should be clearer what I'm talking about. Maybe it wouldn't be feasible with the fountains we already have, but I still think it is obvious to have some features like this in an area with such sweltering summers, and I can think of a few neighborhood parks off the top of my head that have the available space AND the need for something like this... like the high number of neighborhood play area parks with zero shade near the play areas, for starters.
My basic question is why do we not have any of these in such a hot climate when other cities do... in Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia, etc. Wichita has SIX, all free! The one in Chatanooga has a small admission fee which I'd gladly pay if we had something here. I think they'd make the public pools a bit less crowded also... imagine if some of these were build adjacent to the pools. I bet parents of smaller kids would love it. My sons said they saw something similar in Dallas. Now, maybe it wasn't MEANT for splashing in, but there were always kids splashing.. a flat surface with water spraying up.
So, I understand what you're saying about chlorination and diapers and so forth but the issue must be manageable or other cities wouldn't have these sorts of facilities, I wouldn't think.
Anyway, I doubt it will ever be something that is implemented... or if it is, I'm sure I'll have moved far away by then (off to a cooler climate one of these days)... but I still think they'd be an awesome family friendly option to our parks since it is warm here for several months a year.
I don't believe cat was talking about the fountains which are meant to be used for recreation. She was talking about the fountains at main plaza, I wouldn't imagine those are safe to play in (I wouldn't let my kids do it anyway).
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