Challenge

In 2013 the Federation Internationale de Natationo or FINA, as it is known, held the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Neptune-Benson was selected to provide the award-winning Defender® regenerative media filters for the prestigious event. FINA World Championships, hosted every two years in between the Summer Olympics, is the World Championships of Aquatic Sports: Swimming, Diving, Open Water Swimming, Synchronized Swimming and Water Polo. It is estimated that the event will draw approximately 2,500 athletes from 180 countries over the two week period.

Barcelona’s 16,000 seat Palau Sant Jordi indoor sporting arena was home to the gymnastics, handball and volleyball competitions of the 1992 Summer Olympics, and is now host to the FINA World Aquatic Championships.

Solution

At Palau Sant Jordi, the Defender Filters were paired with two Myrtha pools; a 50x25x3 meter competition pool and a 50x20x2 meter training pool. Combined flow rate for these pools is 1,408 m³/hr or 6,199 GPM. Myrtha’s stainless steel, panel-constructed pools are not only an ideal solution for this type of temporary installation; but they have also set the standard as the world’s fastest.

Results

This installation was a retrofit of conventional sand filters. Requiring as little as 1/4 of the mechanical space normally required for a traditional sand filter installation, the 2 Defender® filters take the place of 18 sand filters. This space efficient design allows Myrtha’s engineers to take advantage of room below deck to house the filters instead of adding the expense to create a separate mechanical room. This is important as these two pools are a permanent installation.