waveywonder Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 ok im new here, i want to ask these 1, what's the actual biggest wave pool in the whole world? i know the 3rd largest is in aqualand-corfu and how high are the waves!?! 2, how do they work? I can't find any info on the web, is it air/gas powered? or huge pushing metal padals going back and forth? 3, why is there a rope to stop you going too near the wall? or lifeguards whistling at you, the wavepools ive visited, i saw about 6 holes in the wall with metal bars, what would happen if you got too close? would you get sucked in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingScooter Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_pool Without proper safeguards, you can get sucked or in some cases, pinned to the grating by the inlet suction. A kid at Geauga Lake was killed in their wave pool a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cprocks22 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 3, why is there a rope to stop you going too near the wall? or lifeguards whistling at you, the wavepools ive visited, i saw about 6 holes in the wall with metal bars, what would happen if you got too close? would you get sucked in? Ok i know the answer to this one. Yes it is because you would get sucked in. The rip-tide (just like in the ocean) from the waves going out would eventually suck you into the grates and possibly under water. Just look at Newtons 3rd law (yeah I'm a nerd): for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, so for the force of the waves pushing out, theres that much force pulling back, therefore they put a rope there so people don't get "sucked in". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliath513 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Every time I visit Waterworld here in California, the rope is closer the the shore each time. Last summer at Sacramento Waterworld (now Raging Waters) the rope prevented everyone from going beyond the first half of the wave pool. I think that's way overprotective considering it was at the mark where non swimmers are not allowed to go beyond and at my first ever trip to a water park with a wave pool, the rope was just a few feet from the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceDragon Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I've got stuck to the grille... It's probably the scariest thing in the world. The wave pools I've been to all use metal pads to push the water to and fro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chmilo24 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 This may seem off topic but how do they make lazy rivers to move so fast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darksin Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Here a few pictures of one not in operation if you wanted a closer look. All of these where taken at the old Carolina Splash park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disney Dood Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 How do they make the wave at Typhoon Lagoon so incredibly massively enormous? And is it the world's largest wave pool wave? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 ok im new here, i want to ask these Hello, welcome to TPR. I'm guessing you might not be from the US so perhaps English isn't your primary language. Which is fine because your English is VERY good...BUT, we do ask that people use the [CAPS] key when writing sentances. Please capitalize the appropriate letters and use proper grammar when possible. Other than that, I hope you get the answers you are looking for! --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj snow Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 2, how do they work? I can't find any info on the web, is it air/gas powered? or huge pushing metal padals going back and forth? There are three main types of wave pools: Hydraulic, Mechanical, and Pneumatic. A hydraulic wave pool accumulates a large volume of water in storage tanks and then releases it all into the pool, creating one large wave at a time. It usually takes a minute or two for a hydraulic wave pool to "reload." Typhoon Lagoon's wave pool has a hydraulic system for its really big waves. A mechanical wave pool indeed uses large paddles to push the water back and forth. Dorney Park's original wave pool used a mechanical system until a few years ago, when they switched to pneumatic. I'm not aware of anyone still building new mechanical wave pool systems today. A pneumatic wave pool channels high volumes of forced air into closed chambers (one for each grate you see along the back wall). Valves open to allow the forced air into the top of each chamber, blowing the water out through the grates and into the pool. When the airflow valve closes, the water flows back into the chamber. Most modern wave pools are pneumatic. 3, why is there a rope to stop you going too near the wall? or lifeguards whistling at you, the wavepools ive visited, i saw about 6 holes in the wall with metal bars, what would happen if you got too close? would you get sucked in? I don't think you'd actually get sucked in, but the back-and-forth nature of the waterflow back there would repeatedly slam you into the wall. Being slammed into the wall over and over is not the ideal way to enjoy your time in the wave pool. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormrider Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 At Sunsplash in Roseville I remember people going into the "alcove" that is in the back. I also went in and nothing happened, so maybe they used one of the non mechanical systems. I know that the ones in RCT3 use fans so I was scared that I might get chopped up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliath513 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Hyland Hills Waterworld's larger wave pool generates a tidal wave sized wave every 15 minutes or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darksin Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Typhoon Lagoon isn't the biggest, it mainly appears so since Disney put the Island break in the middle of it. Although the waves it can generate can reach 20 foot tall, this feature is mainly used for a "speical program" that teaches surfing to guests who pay a large amount of money for it. However they do have one of the largest machines to generate their waves, I can't remember which style of system it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waveywonder Posted June 20, 2007 Author Share Posted June 20, 2007 A pneumatic wave pool channels high volumes of forced air into closed chambers (one for each grate you see along the back wall). Valves open to allow the forced air into the top of each chamber, blowing the water out through the grates and into the pool. When the airflow valve closes, the water flows back into the chamber. Most modern wave pools are pneumatic. Thanks for this info, I think i can imagin now how it works so i've drawn this (bad) ms paint diagram? Is this right? So when the chamber is low, you probably will get a bit of suction it the water rushes back in again. I still remember as a kid getting sucked in a bit, i've feared going near it ever since and I'm 21 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj snow Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 You've pretty much got the concept down with that drawing. Of course there's a lot of other pieces to the puzzle, but your drawing depicts the basics quite well. Other things to know: Generally, one or more fans feed what's called a plenum, and each caisson (or chamber as I called them earlier) is attached to the plenum. The plenum is basically a big, strong air duct (usually made of concrete). With this arrangement, all the caissons share the same air supply. In between each caisson and the plenum is a valve that opens and closes to control the airflow and thus whether water is being blown out of the caisson or is allowed to flow back into it. A computer is in control of all the valves and can create differently shaped waves depending on the sequence in which the valves are opened and closed. For instance, opening and closing all the valves in sync would produce a straight line wave. Opening and closing them from one side of the wall to the other would produce a diagonal wave. There are plenty of other variations possible. Hope this helps, let me know if I can clarify further! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Here's a good/animated explanation of how the wave pool works. Obviously, the more powerful the pump is, the larger the waves go. Basically, the pumps behind the wall store water and when it's built up enough, it flushes the water out into the deep end of the pool, generating the waves. Off to the side of the pool, towards the shallow end, there's a flush out channel, where the water flows back to the pumps to be flushed out once again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahecht Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Typhoon Lagoon isn't the biggest, it mainly appears so since Disney put the Island break in the middle of it. Although the waves it can generate can reach 20 foot tall, this feature is mainly used for a "speical program" that teaches surfing to guests who pay a large amount of money for it. However they do have one of the largest machines to generate their waves, I can't remember which style of system it is now. No, actually Typhoon Lagoon's wave machine tops out at 6 feet (with 3 feet being the limit during park operating hours). As DJ Snow said above, it is a hydraulic system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chmilo24 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I like the whole surfing part of the park, it is so much fun, but I would rather stick to doing it for free in the ocean. YEA!!! 300th POST!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Hey all I Came across this. I have an interest with the wave machines myself. I saw this question from Waveywonder 3, why is there a rope to stop you going too near the wall? or lifeguards whistling at you, the wavepools ive visited, i saw about 6 holes in the wall with metal bars, what would happen if you got too close? would you get sucked in? The Pool I have dealt with the wave machine in has to put a rope across the pool too in fact I have filmed this wave machine in action from the Poolside and the Plant room. The rope is there to stop people getting pulled towards the bars of the plenum chambers especially when the water returns as the suction is very powerful. There was another swimming pool I was able to get close to it and I have felt it's suction but did not harm me but it has been known to suck your legs in when it starts to push out water you can free yourself. Swindon Oasis is like that too where a Lifeguard will tell you keep away from the Wave Machine wall while it is running. I have seen both wave machine in action in the plant room. 2, how do they work? I can't find any info on the web, is it air/gas powered? or huge pushing metal padals going back and forth? This one there is 3 types I know of, Air Power or Pneumatic can be found on my videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUGm3xZRyP8 You may have to view this on youtube itself and copy and paste the link I am still learning more about the wave machine at Letchworth because things I have noticed with it when carrying out tasks relating to this one. The fact it is very old. This may be a pneumatic paddle system at the moment putting cameras in there to find out while it is off because inside the chamber there is a pipe and when the machine runs it sounds like tardis which is not heard in non paddle pneumatic wave machine that uses a butterfly valve system. The other 2 Hydraulic or water based as you probley saw with the Typhoon Lagoon Video and the Paddles. The Paddle system with hydraulic system can be seen at Blue Thunder West Edmonton Park apparantly according to the user who put his camera underwater it is like a large door hinged to the floor moving back and forward. Workings of a Pneuamtic Wave Machine uses Butterfly Valve works by filling up the chamber through the entry pipe with compressed air which then push out the water then the valve close for the entry pipe and opens for the exhaust and allows air to leave and then water returns and valves change place and repeats. This is a Butterfly Valve from the Swindon Swimming Pool when I was show around it. This is the Blowers from the Letchworth Pool This is the Wave Machine Pipe which moves left and right and should blow in to the pipes which is seen behind the bars at Letchworth pool As for that Pipe this is the pipe you can see when you look through the bars of the wave machine when it is off These are pipes that the previous picture of the Moving Pipe serves. Wave machine at Letchworth is apparantly very powerful I am still doing tests on it by attaching a visual aid to the bars and allowing them to run it and watch the visual aid move about. This is the Wave machine at Letchworth only the right chamber works, this was done before I was filming the machine in action when being shown it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinning man Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Here is an interesting video I saw some time back, explaining howthe wave machine of typhoon lagoon came to be, and how it works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txVTKxYT1d0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I found out that the Wave Machine at Letchworth is a Pneumatic Paddle System from putting cameras in there to see up the wave machine's chamber. The machine was not working anyway. I saw something that appeared to look like a paddle which moves up and down on the pipe inside the chamber. In the Plant room at Letchworth Wave Machine often gets pressure change which helps the paddle to work properly so it doesnt get damaged by force of water or air. Air is blown on to the paddle which then pushes down at the water and returning water pushes it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Wavywonder if you are wondering where I gone from youtube I am now uploading to dailymotion instead. I had enough of youtube. Still have the same name as on youtube. Letchworth Wave pool now closes the deep end off all times when 2 lifeguards are on duty due to Health and Safety so I can't get near it to anymore filming unless I hang my camera infront of it next time from pool side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 If anyone's still interested, the worlds biggest wave pool is in Malaysia's Sunway Lagoon. It's built inside a lake, and it is so damn huge I didn't realized it was a wave pool at first. It measures 139,800 square feet (13,000 square meters). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukaTronic Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Howdy guys I am new here. I just like to ask you guys if someone has a picture of a !mechanical! wave machine. The ones with the paddles instead of being pneumatical? Since I was a little kid I have been scared of those but I'd like to face my fear and try to look at pictures at them - only problem - I can't find any of them in the internet... It would be so cool of you if some people could send me pictures. Many kind greetings from Germany, Luke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Edinburgh Designs makes 'Flap' wave machines. Paradise Pier @ DCA which has been disabled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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