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A short history of pools and spas

1500 BC ~ Records show public baths in use. (Further records show numerous complaints in Latin about pool-water temperature!)

100 BC ~The first heated swimming pool is believed to have been built by Gaius Maecenas who was a rich Roman, a patron of arts. He supported the poets Horace, Virgil, and Propertius, allowing them to live and write without fear of poverty… but sadly instilled in them the fear of drowning.

79 AD ~ Research indicates there were swimming facilities in Pompeii, which begs the question: Did nitrogen trichloride contribute to the fall of Pompeii?

1st century Britain ~ Romans build thermal pools at Bath Somerset, lined with 45 sheets of lead and fed with warm spa water. (Remind me again what is ‘plumbo solvency’ the Latin for?)

14th century Britain ~ Public facilities were in some English cities, but condemned as places of ill repute. (yep! I’ve swum there!)

16th century Britain ~ Public bathing condemned by puritans as evil. (Get a life!)

17th century Italy ~ The first known illustration of sand filters appeared, by the Italian physician Lucas Antonius, which details a multi-layer sand filter.

18th century Sweden ~ Chlorine was discovered by chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, possibly whilst messing with his mother’s bottles of Clorox and Ajax.

19th century Britain ~ The first “Public Baths and Wash Houses Act” gave powers to local authorities to raise money in order to provide public washing facilities. It was passed in 1846, following the Cholera outbreaks. By 1837, six indoor pools with diving boards were built in London, England.

20th century Britain ~ The first swimming pool to go to sea on an ocean liner was installed on the White Star Line's Adriatic in 1907. Allen Wilson, after failing in his chosen careers (thermal nuclear dynamics/folk singing), is employed in the pool industry.

21st century Britain

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest swimming pool in the world is in Algarroba, Chile. It is over 1,000 m long and has an area of 8 hectares (approx. 20 acres!). It was finished in 2006, used by a number of hotels since. (Yeah well it ain’t my turn to sweep the bottom!) the finest pool-plant DVD will be published this year. (It will be available, hopefully, in the fall.)