Gizmodo: swimming pool

Swiss Swimming Pool Warmed by Surplus Server Heat and Alliteration

Kit Eaton — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:57:22 EDT

There's clearly something going on with the Swiss and hot water: first "extreme jacuzzi-ing" on top of Mont Blanc, and now they're going to use waste energy kicked out by servers to warm a swimming pool. It's a simple concept: take the heat from the server room air-conditioners at a new data center, and direct it through heat exchangers to the water in the town pool. The town, Uitikon, will get a hot pool and all they had to pay for was some of the connecting gear since the heat would otherwise have been vented. Cool! ... or rather, hot! Darn eco-friendly too. [Sydney Morning Herald]

Solar-Powered Floatron Cleans Your Pool and Cuts Down on Chemicals

AddyDugdale — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:30:29 EDT

The Floatron is a pool-cleaning device that claims to be greener than the rest, according to its manufacturers. Not only does the $270 gadget radically reduce your chlorine use, but its manufacturers also claim that it purifies your pool water to EPA drinking water standards. Here's how...

When the 12-inch gizmo is floating in the pool, its photovoltaic panel converts the sunlight into a harmless, low-power electricity current. The current then energizes a specially alloyed mineral electrode, causing the release of mineral ions into the water. This ionized water controls the growth of micro-organisms naturally and efficiently, it says.

One Floatron is powerful enough to clean a 40,000-gallon pool. And on top of that, your kids can use it as the most expensive Frisbee ever made—although I am waiting for one of you to send me a link to a bling-studded disc commissioned long ago by P. Diddy to play Fetch with La Lopez.

Solar Pool Cleaner [Go Sun Solutions]

Ocean Scooter is Shiny! Is Aerodynamic! Is Inflatable?

Addy Dugdale — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:15:39 EDT

The Ocean Scooter. Designed to annoy everyone in the swimming pool and get you lost at sea with no possibility of getting back to land, this 12v/7Ah "battery powered inflatable watercraft" can travel at a swooshtastic 2.5 miles per hour and carry up to 165 pounds. It features an "aerodynamic design," dual air chambers made of PVC and, lo and behold, an on/off switch. The demonstration video after the jump can only be watched at 3 a.m. after a bottle of tequila and five bags of Flamin' Hot Crunchy Cheetos.

At $395, I will stick to paddling on my inflatable rubber chicken. – Jesus Diaz

Ocean Scooter [Astone Innovation]