July 19, 2007: Floating swimming pool

[Undertoad]

Spluch offers this item, of a floating swimming pool in Berlin, Germany. As temperatures went to the unusually high 32 degrees (89 F) there, people flocked to ways to keep cool.



It does look odd, but one thing that strikes me immediately is that the people aren't swimming in the river itself. Despite a beach-looking area, the actual water is fenced and off-limits. Shouldn't the goal be to be able to swim in the actual river water?

[Happy Monkey]

Swimming in a river in a city the size of Berlin would not be one of my goals.

[jester]

that's way to crowded for me

[xoxoxoBruce]

Dangerous, if the pool sinks they might... drown.

[ferkelparade]

Despite a beach-looking area, the actual water is fenced and off-limits. Shouldn't the goal be to be able to swim in the actual river water?

The thing is that it's a beach-looking area, not an actual beach. The river Spree is completely walled in all through Berlin, so a couple of years ago some guys had the clever idea to dump a few truckloads of sand on some empty space along the riverfront and sell tickets for the city beach. What's ridiculous about that is that these city beaches have become immensely popular all through Germany during the last years, even my home city of Munich now has a city beach like that even though Munich is generally much greener than Berlin and our local river has lots of usable natural beaches all through the city where you can actually enter the water

[Undertoad]

The pool must be the same depth everywhere, otherwise it would be tough to float.

There's no place for a lifeguard to sit above pool area, but that's OK, the whole thing is probably about 4' deep.

Do people get a certain time limit? Because there are people waiting to get in, so somebody has decided this is maximum capacity.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

The pool must be the same depth everywhere, otherwise it would be tough to float.

Why? I don't see that... The water will be pretty close to the same density inside and outside. You just need the rim to be able to float and hold up the sides and bottom which, as far as I can see, can be any shape.

[Undertoad]

Is it only the rim that floats? It looks like the pool water is right up to the top of the rim, and the top is 3 feet above the river water. That's a lot of water to float!

[BigV]

UT, the water's not floating. Only the rim of the pool needs to float.

Think of the little kiddie pools for the back yard that have the inflatable rim. Much much less mass to hold out of the water.

[BigV]

does look high out of the water though....

on second look.... :sheepish:

[Uisge Beatha]

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you've just seen a toad face down a sheep!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled, ridiculously overcrowded, floating swimming pool.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not only Germany.

Check out this floating swimming pool that was spotted on the Spree river in Berlin, Germany, where temperatures have been unseasonably warm. It's called Badeschiff ("bathing ship"), and it's an old barge that's been converted into a public swimming hole. Unfortunately the Spree is much too polluted to swim in, hence the need for a floating pool.

Also in Brooklyn, NY.

The "Floating Pool Lady" is located at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy on an old barge -- very similar to the one in Berlin. However, Germany's pool is stationary, while Brooklyn's is free-roaming, with plans to swim to "pool-deprived Williamsburg or South Bronx, so residents there can take a dip," according to the Brooklyn Paper.

The German one is covered in cold weather.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Uisge Beatha

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you've just seen a toad face down a sheep!

And a monkey. Good point.

[Piccolo Padawan]

I saw that pool while I was in Germany earlier this summer.

We almost go to go give it a try, but alas, we never did.

[xoxoxoBruce]

How crowded was it?