Swimming pool steps and water circulating arrangement for swimming pools

A set of swimming pool steps of which the handrails are pipe members, one being part of the suction line of the water circulating and purifying systems and the other being the return line for the purified water. The handrail comprising the return line has its lower end blocked and is formed with one and preferably a plurality of lateral ports for injecting the purified water into the swimming pool in a direction substantially parallel to the wall of the pool where the steps are mounted. This arrangement not only makes perforation of the impermeable walls of the pool unnecessary but also provides a series of vertical streams of purified water in the pool to provoke circulation of the complete contents of the pool so as to permit improved mixture between the re-circirculated water and the water already in the pool.

The present invention refers to swimming pool steps and arrangement for 
effecting efficient chlorination of swimming pools using a minimum of 
chlorine. 
The circulation of water in swimming pools is usually effected by 
connecting the pump, filtration and purification units to a drain at the 
bottom of the pool and a plurality of purified water injection points 
formed in the walls of the pool slightly above the waterline. In order to 
avoid intensive localized chlorination, it is generally required that a 
plurality of said injection points be distributed at specific spacing 
around the pool. In addition to the above it is usually necessary to have 
a closable coupling connected to the suction side of the filter and 
purification system, for connection thereto of a suction line for cleaning 
specific areas within the pool. 
Conventional pools of the type mentioned above require therefore that the 
bottom and the side walls be perforated for the withdrawal and injection 
of the water. Since this means perforation of the impermeable parts of the 
structure forming the pool, this means that one of the aspects which 
weighs heavily in the cost thereof is the actual installation of the 
hydraulic circuits. 
An object of the present invention is to provide new swimming pool steps, 
the lateral handrails of which serve as the suction and pumping lines of 
the circulation system. 
Apart from the above it has been found that if the water injection points 
are distributed along one of the handrails and directed generally parallel 
to the corresponding side wall of the pool, the water injected creates a 
mass displacement of the water within the pool, which ensures a constant 
and effective mixture of the injected water with all the water contained 
within the pool. This is so effective that with a set of single steps 
relatively large private pools can effectively be chlorinated without any 
undue concentration of chlorine in the area of the steps. When the water 
circulation system is functioning, the entire upper surface of the pool, 
when seen from above, is covered by a large number of small and 
ever-moving eddies. This prevents the procreation of micro-organisms and 
there is an almost complete avoidance of slime even over extended periods 
without draining the pool. 
The suction line, that is to say the other handrail of the steps, extends 
to the bottom of the pool where it is provided with a telescopic end for 
accommodating itself to pools of different depths. This telescopic end is 
provided with lateral openings for the water entering the suction line for 
conduction to the pump, filter and purification system. Slightly above the 
water level of the suction handrail, there are means for connection of a 
manually operated suction line, said connection preferably being a T 
having a closure cover for normal operation which is replaceable by the 
connection end of the suction line. This end is cut at 45.degree. so that 
on introducing it into the T, it closes off the lower end of said handrail 
with respect to the suction flow from the bottom of the pool, replacing it 
with flow along the said line. 
Although it is preferred to obtain the mass displacement of the water 
within the pool by means of a plurality of water injection points along 
one of the handrails of the steps, thus making perforation of the pool 
structure unnecessary, it will be appreciated that the new concept of mass 
displacement can be applied for a pool having conventional type injection 
points, but all formed substantially one above the other in one or two 
side wall(s) of the pool adjacent the corner(s) thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, one of the impermeable side walls 1 of a 
swimming pool is provided with a pair of steps 2 according to the present 
invention. The steps 2 which are installed at the end of the long side 1 
of the pool adjacent to a corner 3, are provided with side handrail frame 
members 4 and 5 between which are fixed a number of steps 6. The said 
handrails are hollow pipe elements, the lower end 7 of rail 4 being closed 
off whereas the lower end of rail 5 is provided with a telescopic sleeve 8 
press fitted thereover so as to allow its length to adjust automatically 
to the depths of any given pool. The bottom of sleeve member 8 has partial 
cuts 9 therein to allow water to be sent into the interior of sleeve 8 and 
rail 5. 
Slightly above the water level (see FIG. 1) handrail 5 is formed with a 
T-connection 10 normally closed by a screw cap 11. As can be seen from 
FIG. 3, T-connection 10 has an externally threaded end 12 of which screw 
cap 11 is normally applied so that suction is effected only through the 
cuts 9 at the bottom of sleeve 8. T-connection 10 is for the attachment of 
a manual suction line 13 partially indicated in FIG. 3. The end of suction 
line 13 is provided with a joint comprising a short length of plastic pipe 
14 having an external diameter substantially identical to the internal 
diameter of the T-connection 10. One end of pipe 14 is inserted into line 
13 and the other end is cut along a plane inclined at 45.degree. with 
respect to its axis. 
The joint is also provided with a conventional nut connection 15 which is 
rotatable with respect to pipe element 14 which permits the latter to be 
inserted into T 12 in the relevant position as shown in FIG. 3, after 
which it is tightened thereover onto external thread 12. It will be 
observed that the 45.degree. chamfer on the end of pipe 14 will make a 
substantial surface-to-surface contact with the interior of the main 
internal passage of handrail 5 so that the connection of wall 13 will 
automatically close off suction from the lower end of the handrail, 
applying it instead to the interior of line 13 which can then be used for 
local cleaning of the pool. 
The other handrail 4 which is the pressure or injection side of the 
circulation system is provided with four principal horizontal injection 
ports 16 directed parallel to wall 1 of the pool away from corner 3, for 
injecting freshly filtered and purified water into the pool. Between main 
injection ports 16 it is preferred to place secondary injection ports 17 
of smaller diameter which are angled at approximately 45.degree. with 
respect to side wall 1 of the pool. 
Referring once more to FIGS. 1 and 2, the top end of handrails 4 and 5 are, 
as is known, curved in approximately the same circle for fixture at their 
free ends 18 to the edge of the pool. The fixture point on the edge of the 
pool is built therein on concrete block or the like 19 constructed with 
two L-section pipes 2, the upper ends of which are, on installation of the 
steps, connected by pipe joints 19 to ends 18 of the handrails. The other 
ends of pipes 20 are connected to circulation lines such as 21 (FIG. 1) 
which eventually lead to the pump-filter-purifier unit 22 installed in any 
suitable location, preferably near the surface of the ground and having a 
simple removable closure cover 23. Preferably this unit 22 is provided 
with bypass means for bypassing the chlorination or purification part of 
the unit during periods when this is considered to be unnecessary. 
Referring specifically to FIG. 4 of the drawings, the operation of the 
system provides a mass displacement of the water within the pool in a 
manner totally different from that found in conventional pools in which 
there is a number of water injection points at right angles to the walls 
distributed therearound so as to produce substantially zero overall 
displacement of the water. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the arrangement of 
the present invention the lines of flow produced by the main water 
injection ports 16 are illustrated in an exemplary manner by reference 
number 16' whereas the flow lines resulting from the angled secondary 
ports 17 are illustrated by dotted lines 17'. These two flows produce a 
general circulating movement of the mass of water within the pool and due 
to the sheer forces and in a manner not totally understood at present, the 
surface of the pool can be observed from above to have a large number of 
small non-stationary eddies 28 which give the appearance of "wandering 
around". This multi-agitation of the mass of water within the pool 
effectively prevents the procreation of micro-organisms, and even over 
extended periods of time no slime is produced. Apart from this it has been 
found that much lower capacity pumps circulating correspondingly smaller 
quantities of water can be used in accordance with the present invention 
to obtain similar if not improved purification characteristics when 
compared with conventional systems. 
For example, 12-meter private pools can very satisfactorily be purified 
using a single set of steps as shown in FIG. 4. When desired, it is 
obviously possible to use a similar set of steps on the opposite side of 
the pool adjacent to the opposite corner 24 (FIG. 4). 
Although the present invention has been specifically described with respect 
to the preferred embodiment thereof, many alterations, adaptations and 
modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art and it should be 
understood that the invention should be limited only by the scope of the 
following claims.