Swimming Pool - Fabric duct

Design Review
Design Review
High Care Air
0800 999 6677
Swimming Pool Fabric Ducting

Design Review
Swimming Pool Fabric Ducting
HCA Design Review
Swimming Pool Fabric Ducting
High Hi h Care C Air Ai
0800 999 6677
Introduction.
Swimming Pool ventilation designs benefi t from being within roughly the same temperature
zone each time*. Generally the Swimming Pool room temperature is around 30oc. Supply air is
usually +10okΔt or +12okΔt at most – So normally supply air is delivered at around 40oc.
Therefore the air volume is pretty straight forward to work out once you have the heating load
and the Δt. The most important considerations in Swimming Pool design (assuming your heat
load calculations and air volumes are correct) is the duct positioning (and what they achieve)
and the velocity & direction of the supply air, we discuss these further below.
*This is not the case for Hydrotherapy pools where people often spend a long time immersed in
the water – room temperatures in these areas can often be quite a lot lower.
Location / Routing
Each pool is diff erent, it is normal to position the ducts adjacent to the pool around the edge.
We would not normally design systems that place the ducts directly OVER the pool as these are
diffi cult to maintain from a CDM point of view (designers risk assessments) and – should it prove
necessary – scaff olding and planking a pool to provide access could prove to be expensive.
It is quite normal for Fabric Ducts to follow the shape of the pool, generally around the
periphery. This is achieved using bends or tees made in the same fabric material (bends are
made in a faceted design) which will normally zip into place as required.
Most systems will be made in zipped sections of around 5000mm. This makes installation easier
as sections slide on to the support rails in system order prior to be zipped together.
The sections are lighter as a result which is important when working at height.
The sections are also sized so that they can be washed at a later date (if needed) in a standard
washing machine. An additional benefi t is that individual sections can be unzipped and replaced
if damaged for any reason; in a quick and low cost changeover.

Design Reviews
Swimming Pool Fabric Ducting
High Hi h Care C Air Ai
0800 999 6677
Direction of Supply Air.
If possible we would encourage routing the duct in the proximity of any windows, glass doors,
skylights etc. This will allow a percentage of the air to be diverted towards ‘washing’ the glazing
with supply air to help remove condensation. As all Fabric Ducting systems are made to order it’s
just a matter of identifying the angle at which the air leaves the diff user during design stage prior
to manufacture.
In general it’s fair to say that majority of the supply air is delivered towards the corners (or edges)
of the Swimming Pool space. The idea is to get the warm air down, but also to mix and entrain
existing ambient air within this pattern to refresh and circulate air within the Swimming Pool area.
It’s important to note though that even though the supply air is warm, if there’s a stream of air
coming into contact with people who have been in the water, they will possibly feel a draught
and/or cold as the air passes over the body. In this case, if possible, majority of the supply air
would wash down a wall (which may incorporate windows) directly behind and below a duct
located around the pool periphery.
Having said all of this, it’s also important to note that Volatile Disinfection By Products (DBP’s) can
also occur in Swimming Pools as the chlorine in the water reacts with sweat and urine.
The volatile by products can cause respiratory & eye irritation. These can evaporate out of the
water and sit just above the pool surface. If there is no air movement generally within the
Swimming Pool the DBP’s can form a layer above the pool or (if the pool is generally very active)
they can migrate to the edges and walls where less air movement and activity occur. We would
always recommend if possible to take a small percentage of supply air and allow it to wash over
the pool surface or in that general direction. In doing this one needs to consider draughts again &
of course evaporation of the pool water – therefore only a small percentage of the overall volume
should be used for this purpose. If majority of your supply air is aimed at walls which are only a
metre or so away from the edge of the pool, then this air should fl ow out and across the pool and
there will be no need to add an air pattern across the pool separately.

Design Reviews
Swimming Pool Fabric Ducting
Materials Choice (corrosion).
Now that we’ve discussed the design specifi cs it’s important to
understand the drivers behind the choice of Fabric Duct as
opposed to more traditional material types.
The traditional material used for Swimming Pool air delivery is
Galvanised Rigid Duct; which needs to be painted and is quite
often insulated or covered with a protective material.
The pool environment is quite corrosive to metals other than
stainless steel, which makes Fabric Duct; created from 100%
woven polyester, such a good choice for these applications.
Fabric Duct doesn’t corrode (or dent) and is available in a
variety of colours from stock, it’s also an aesthetic and eye
catching way of supplying and delivering air in the Swimming
Pool environment.
Because Fabric Ducting is light weight it requires less
secondary steel support and takes a lot less time to install than
a rigid duct – probably in most cases around 1/10th the time.
One can imagine the savings on installation alone let alone the
savings on material costs without having to paint/coat or
insulate the rigid duct inside the pool area.
Because the system is always providing warm air to the
Swimming Pool environment it is normal to use a
NON PERMEABLE type of Fabric Duct, this looks the same as a
traditional permeable Fabric Duct (with a matt fi nish) but has
a weave so tight it doesn’t allow air to permeate through the
material.
The advantage in using NON Permeable material is that none
of the air is lost through the weave – the duct delivers 100% of
the air through the laser cut diff users selected specifi cally for
that project, and down into the occupied zone.
High Hi h Care C Air Ai
0800 999 6677

Design Reviews
Swimming Pool Fabric Ducting
High Hi h Care C Air Ai
0800 999 6677
Benefi ts with using High Care Air.
Apart from understanding your application and the solutions needed we also supply a product with
fantastic features which have been developed specifi cally for Fabric Ducting applications (rather than
adapted to fabric ducting applications). These include 9 colours from stock at no additional cost

Design Reviews
Swimming Pool Fabric Ducting
Summary – Bullet Points.
High Hi h Care C Air Ai
0800 999 6677
• Generally 30oc room temperature
• Generally 40oc supply air temperature
• Therefore 10okΔt (or less) temperature diff erence is preferable
• Think about the aesthetics of your material choice & the 9 stock colours that are available (free)
• Locate ducts adjacent to (but not over) the pool if possible
• Locate ducts in the vicinity of any glazing/glass if possible to allow air washing for condensation
• Entrain and mix the air with majority aimed at walls
• Keep velocity low around people
• Try to wash air over the pool gently to disturb DBP’s
Thank you for taking the time to read our recommendations. We are aiming to give a general
guidance for the design considerations when using Fabric Ducts in Swimming pools.
If you spot any mistakes or omissions please do not hesitate to get in touch and let us know.
- Design
- Supply
- Installation
- Maintenance
- Permeable
- Non permeable
- Flame Retardant
- Anti Microbial
- Cleanroom Quality
- 9 Colours
- 10 years warranty
High Care Air Ltd
Bretby Business Park
Ashby Road
Bretby
Burton on Trent
Derbyshire
DE15 0YZ
Tel - 0800 999 6677
info@highcareair.com
www.highcareair.com