Henry Moses Aquatic Center, beaches open Saturday for summer

Published 12:58 pm Thursday, June 14, 2012

The pools have been vacuumed, shade umbrellas replaced, the deck has been pressure washed and the chlorine is functioning at optimal levels.

Yes, the Henry Moses Aquatic Center will be open for the season starting Saturday and with a chance of showers in the weekend forecast, it could be a slow start to an expected busy season.

In the previous weeks, Dave Perkins and his small crew have been preparing the center for the hordes of people who will visit it this summer.

He is the recreation coordinator who manages the center for the City of Renton.

Perkins, Stephanie Dyane, the lifeguard manager, and a facilities crew are in charge of keeping the aquatics center in tip-top shape.

Here are some things you may not realize about the Henry Moses Aquatic Center.

The activity pool holds 183,947 gallons of water and the lap pool 138,886 gallons.

It takes at least 10 hours to vacuum each pool.

The pools go through about 100 pounds of chlorine a day to maintain proper sanitation levels when activity is at its busiest.

By contrast, when no one is using the pools and the water is colder, they use three to four pounds of chlorine a day.

Both pools are kept at about 84 degrees during the swim season.

The most popular attraction at the center is the wave pool; it’s system was made in Scotland.

Although Perkins is a former Marine who also worked in aquatics for the U.S. Army and Navy, he doesn’t run his crew like the military.

“No, I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t have any employees,” he said with a chuckle.

But, the lifeguards at the water park have a very strict routine that keeps them fresh and alert for any signs of trouble.

There are 16 guard stations which require around 21 lifeguards.

Lifeguards go to two stations, spending 15 minutes up in the chair at each station for a total of 30 minutes at a time.

Then they are down, out of the sun for 15 minutes before going back to their watch.

“A lot of places, they keep their guards up for two hours at a time,” said Perkins. “The most we let our guards stay up is 45 minutes because they get fatigued. Especially on a really busy day, it’s very mentally challenging for them, I think, to stay focused.”

The staff has never had to perform CPR on anyone at the water park and there have been no drownings or near drownings, Perkins said.

They do have a lot of assists or rescues of small children in the wave pool.

Lifeguards try and keep children in the wave pool at the child’s shoulder-level.

“Sometimes kids get out a little farther and a wave will go over their head and they’ll start struggling,” Perkins said. “And we’ll have to jump in and get them.”

Like any other facility, the staff’s biggest safety concern is people running.

In their offices at the water park staff has a map that documents where all of their incidents or “saves” took place in the pools.

“That kind of identifies our problem areas and it helps keep track of basically where the saves are,” said Perkins.

A city council member suggested the idea.

The Henry Moses Aquatic Center has a visitor capacity of about 950 people, but they cap it at 700 to 750 people.

Perkins has worked at the water park since it opened in 2004.

“It’s a fun job; I enjoy it,” he said.

Henry Moses Aquatic Center opens June 16.

1719 S.E. Maple Valley Highway

Call 425-430-6780 for more information or visit rentonwa.gov. Center closes on Labor Day.

Swimming beaches are also open June 16, noon-8p.m.

Lifeguards on duty at Gene Coulon and Kennydale beach parks on Lake Washington Boulevard North.