Challenge
Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas is the second school in NCAA history to host the NCAA Division I Men and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in successive weeks during March 2009.

"We are excited to bring both swimming national championships to College Station," Texas A&M director of athletics Bill Byrne said. "Our swimming program is on the rise and we have one of the finest facilities in the country with which to host this event. We are serious about ‘Building Champions’ at Texas A&M and we believe that hosting this event is one of the steps we can take to get that job done."

The Student Recreation Center has four pools and three spas onsite. The center was built in 1996 and is heavily used throughout the day. Currently there are 19,000 swimmers who monthly utilize the three pools and two spas housed within the Student Recreation Center Natatorium and the Center’s outdoor instructional pool and cool spa. In addition to the Men and Women Dive teams’ daily practices and competition diving events, the pools and spas are also used for other swimming programs such as water aerobics and scuba diving.

The indoor instructional pool which is 204(k)l (54,000 gal) is used for aerobics and general use while the outdoor leisure pool for recreation use is 767(k)l (202,700 gal). There is also a 9(k)l (2,400 gal) cool spa outdoors. Inside the facility is a 50-meter 311(k)l (822,000 gal) competitive pool, a general use 7(k)l (1,750 gal) co-ed spa and 215(k)l (568,000 gal) diving well pool. During events divers keep warm between dives in the 5(k)l (1,446 gal) diving spa.

After 15 years, the university decided it wanted to improve the air quality in the natatorium and upgrade its facility with leading-edge technology.

Solution
Texas A&M already had a working relationship with Siemens and knew the quality of its products and performance which helped to influence its decision when the time came to look at upgrading its facility. The university worked with Siemens Building Technologies to install air conditioning and heating to make its facility more energy efficient. In 2001, Siemens Water Technologies installed seven Strantrol® System5 controllers on the university’s pools and spas.

The university needed dual controllers that would simultaneously monitor and control PPM, ORP, pH, temperature, water level, and chemical injection lines in all pools. The dual controllers also needed to have offsite communication and data collection capabilities. Jimmy Davis, maintenance foreman for Texas A&M contacted the university’s local Strantrol distributor, David Smith at Texas Aquatic Supply, Inc.

David recommended Siemens’ Barrier® M Series UV disinfection system that would improve the air quality and also work well with the Strantrol® Impact Aquatic Management System.

Results
In August 2008, the Strantrol® System5 controllers were upgraded with Siemens’ newest controllers in remote technology for the aquatic market. Three Strantrol Impact Aquatic Management System controllers were installed on the three indoor pools and two spas and one Strantrol Impact Aquatic Management System controller was installed to control the outdoor pool and spa. Each system consists of a dual controller that simultaneously controls PPM and ORP, therefore allowing operators to stay within health code limits of PPM and ensure the health and safety of water by ORP control. Texas A&M’s Davis states, "The Impact Aquatic Management systems now provide us with more information about the pools’ water quality and ability to remotely monitor the pools with only two controllers versus the four controllers it previously took."

Barrier® M UV disinfection systems were also installed to provide a cost-effective, reliable, operator-friendly chloramines reduction solution for pool water treatment installations and improve the air quality. A typical problem for indoor pools is the so-called "pool smell" which is a synonym for a poorly performing water treatment system. Chloramines (or combined chlorine) result from the reaction between free chlorine and ammonia. Ammonium is introduced to the water predominantly by swimmers.

Barrier® M systems are equipped with medium pressure UV lamps as standard which have a wide energy spectrum range - providing the perfect solution to break down combined chlorine effectively and economically. In addition to being used for chloramine reduction, Barrier M systems will also improve the microbiological water quality because UV is also a very effective technology for the inactivation of bacteria, viruses and protozoa such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.

Today, the Strantrol® Impact Aquatic Management systems are performing exceptionally well and works in tandem with an UV disinfection system. The proper pool chemistry provides users with a healthy swimming environment as well as better air quality in the natatorium center.

"With the number of people that use the swimming facilities on a daily basis, we are very happy with the results we’re getting from the controllers and UV systems," says Davis.