At the same time as a visitor at the Tampere Outdoor Swimming Pool or indoor pool is swimming in the water, the modern control system delivered by Insta records a vast amount of data for analysis. With the help of this data, swimming conditions can be adjusted to be as ideal as possible. Outdoor pools bring their own weather related challenges, but these have also been anticipated.
The first season of the Tampere outdoor swimming pool is coming to an end, and a large amount of big data has been collected about its operation. From the data stored by the water‑treatment automation, it is possible to examine, for example, how consistent the water quality has been.
The outdoor pool’s water‑treatment automation was delivered by Insta Automation. The company carried out the project from design and automation panel manufacturing all the way to installation, programming and commissioning.
“In the outdoor pool, many things are measured: chemical concentrations, temperatures, flow rates and pressures. A continuous stream of information is generated from the numerous controlled devices, motors and valves. For example, hourly or daily data can be presented graphically and analyzed easily,” describes Tapio Lähteinen, Team Manager at Insta Automation.
“Control systems have evolved into database‑type systems: they record more and more data, and it is easier to analyze. Previously, we did not have this much storage capacity or processors this fast.”
Separate settings for rainy weather
Before the outdoor pool, Insta had delivered water‑treatment systems for indoor swimming pools in Kaleva, Hervanta, Pyynikki and Tesoma in Tampere, as well as in swimming halls in Turku. The big data and analytics collected from indoor pools provided a good basis for the programming work of the outdoor pool, notes Lasse Hietala, Commissioning Specialist and Customer Manager at Insta Automation.
The outdoor pool’s water is purified in sand‑carbon filters and circulated with pumps. At the same time, the correct amount of chlorine and other necessary chemicals is added to the water. The water’s pH value and chlorine concentration are measured and analyzed in real time, and adjustments are sometimes made very quickly.
“Outdoors, the special challenges brought by weather must be taken into account, which makes an outdoor pool a technically more demanding project than an indoor swimming hall. Adjustments are challenging because the evaporation of chemicals is influenced by factors such as humidity, temperature and sunshine or cloudiness. For example, there are separate, automatically activated programs for rainy weather, because when rainwater enters the pool, both the amount and the quality of the water change,” Hietala explains.
In addition to improving water quality, automation enhances safety. It controls, for example, the bubble systems and jets in the diving pool that break the water surface to make jumping safer.
Possibility for remote monitoring in swimming halls
The Tampere Swimming Centre has a central control room that connects the outdoor pool and the rest of the swimming complex. At the same time as the outdoor pool was built, the control room’s system was modernized.
Everyone benefits from the updates: visitors to the swimming halls enjoy more consistent, safer and more pleasant conditions, and the maintenance staff have better tools to do their work. The City of Tampere also benefits from cost savings when everything functions as it should.
“Maintenance needs are known before equipment breaks down, so maintenance days can be scheduled in a controlled manner and there are no unexpected service interruptions for the pools,” says Tapio Lähteinen.
In the future, all swimming halls in Tampere may have remote monitoring. This would allow the Kaleva central control room to monitor and manage all the swimming halls’ operations.
“When the control system is unified, its use is clear and the equipment can be controlled efficiently. The work of operating and maintenance personnel becomes easier.”
