By Greg Keller
Located in the quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., sits a five-star boutique hotel that was outgrowing its existing building and amenities. When the owners of 124 on Queen Hotel and Spa decided to build an addition to their existing hotel, they knew they wanted the addition to include a hot and cold circuit for guests to enjoy.
The wellness market is rapidly expanding around the world and the owners knew they wanted to incorporate a wellness spa into the addition. What they designed and built is a 1,115 m2 (12,000 sf) destination wellness spa and hydrotherapy circuit that offers guests many options to explore.
Although this article focuses on the hot spa and warm spa, the multi-million expansion also includes sensory showers, a cedar sauna, a Himalayan salt room, a eucalyptus steam room, and a snow room—the first and only of its kind in Canada as of this writing.
Hot spa
The hot spa’s temperature is typically kept between 37 C to 39 C (98 F to 102 F) heated by a heat exchanger connected to the facilities boiler. This spa has a surface area of 17 m2 (183 sf) and a water capacity of 11,720 L (3,096 gal), with a five-horsepower pump providing a filtration circulation rate of approximately 416 lpm (110 gpm), turning over the water every 30 minutes. This is within the guidelines of the Ontario Health Code and ensures the water is thoroughly filtered for the patrons.
The water is pulled from two skimmers and three 254-mm (10-in.) round main drains. Each skimmer is fitted with a skimmer grille to prevent patrons from reaching into the skimmer mouth as required by the Ontario Building Code (OBC). Each main drain is equipped with Virginia Graeme Baker Act (VGBA) compliant covers to help minimize the risk of a bather becoming entrapped on the drain.
Filtering the hot spa water is two sand filters with a total of 0.91 m2 (9.82 sf) of filtration area. This provides a filtration rate of 42 lpm per m2 (11.20 gpm per sf) of filtration area, ensuring clean filtered water for the spa bathers.
Powering the 10 hydrotherapy jets is a five-horsepower pump, providing a total of 568 lpm (150 gpm) of water through the jets. This means each jet gets about 57 lpm (15 gpm) through it, providing a comfortable yet invigorating hydrotherapy experience for the bathers.
Warm spa
The warm spa’s temperature is typically kept between 27 C to 29 C (80 F to 84 F), also heated by a heat exchanger connected to the facilities boiler. This spa has a has a surface area of 28 m2 (306 sf) and a water capacity of 24,416 L
(6,450 gal), with two three-horsepower pumps providing a filtration circulation rate of approximately 833 lpm (220 gpm), turning over the water every 30 minutes. This is again within the guidelines of the Ontario Health Code and ensures the water is thoroughly filtered for the patrons. The water is pulled from four skimmers and four 254-mm (10-in.) round main drains. Again, each skimmer is fitted with a skimmer grille and each main drain is equipped with VGBA compliant covers.
Filtering the warm spa water is three sand filters with a total of 2 m2 (21.18 sf) of filtration area. This provides a filtration rate of 39 lpm per m2 (10.39 gpm per sf) of filtration area, again ensuring clean filtered water for the spa bathers.
There is also maintenance with this system as well, with the operators required to backwash the filters. In this case, since each filter only has one pressure gauge, when the pressure difference is 0.0008 to 0.01 kPa (8 to 10 psi) higher than when the filter is clean, they need to be backwashed. For example, if the filters are running at a 0.02 kPa (20 psi) when the filters are clean, the operator will need to backwash when they reach 0.028 to 0.03 kPa (28 to 30 psi) to avoid stressing the system and poor water quality. Further, the #20 silica sand filtration media will need to be replaced every five to seven years, as over time, the silica grains become rounded and do not filter as well. Under a microscope, the silica sand is rough and rigid and that is what allows it to trap particles and clean the water. When they become too rounded and lose their edges, they become less effective.
Powering the eight hydrotherapy jets is a five-horsepower pump, providing a total of 454 lpm (120 gpm) of water through the jets. Same as the hot spa, each jet gets about 57 lpm (15 gpm) through it.
All about the materials
The owners of 124 on Queen Hotel and Spa wanted these spas to be built to last, so they opted for cast-in-place concrete construction. Each spa has a steel reinforced 203-mm (8-in.) thick concrete floor with 304-mm (12-in.) thick walls, meaning they are here for the long haul. When concrete insulated panels (CIP) construction is used, all embedded items need to be installed prior to pouring the concrete. Things such as the main drains, skimmers, light niches, return fittings, spa jets, and automatic levelling devices need to be set and secured to ensure they do not move at all during the concrete pouring process.
Both spas are finished with a full tile finish using tile that comes in all the required trim pieces (proper coves, round edge, etc.). Tiling is the most expensive option for finishing a concrete pool or spa upfront, but for long-term use, it is actually the least expensive. With proper care and water chemistry, the tile finish should last at least 25 years, all while providing the best experience for bathers. A spa with a marbelite or plaster finish will be rougher on the bathers’ skin, potentially scratching them or getting snagged on bathing suits. Tile is a much smoother finish and will not get rougher over time like plaster. For these reasons, it is always recommended to tile a spa or pool bench where people will be sitting on the finished surfaces.
The hot and warm spas both make use of two LED underwater spa lights per body of water for illumination, which helps makes the spa safer and more esthetically pleasing to look at.
Further, both spas make use of a chemical control system that is constantly testing the water (every second) to ensure the pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and free chlorine levels are within the set parameters.
Each body of water requires its own chemical controller. If the controller determines the pH is low, for example, it will automatically feed muriatic acid (or CO2, depending on the source water) into the water until it reaches the desired level. It does this by activating the muriatic acid pump, which is a small peristaltic pump, to feed the liquid muriatic acid into the return line of the spa via its muriatic acid injector. Once the desired level is reached, the controller signals to turn the pump off and no more muriatic acid is released at that time. It works very similarly for the sanitizer control function of the chemical controller system.
Depending which parameter is set to feed the chlorine, if either the ORP or free chlorine probes detect lower levels than what it is set at, it will signal the liquid chlorine pump to turn on. The liquid chlorine pump is also a peristaltic pump that feeds the liquid chlorine from the bulk containment bin into the return line of the spa via the liquid chlorine injector. This system is very technologically advanced and ensures the spa water is always within the prescribed ranges. The only thing the pool operator needs to do is ensure there is muriatic acid and liquid chlorine in the containment bins, and the lines are not clogged. The probes do need to be changed every other year, and maintenance does need to be performed of course.
For example, the poly tubes carrying the chemicals need to be flushed regularly to avoid them clogging up. If they do clog, the chemicals will look for the path of least resistance and start to leak at that point, which can damage anything underneath that leak point. If the lines are clogged, another obvious problem is the chemicals are not making it to the spa water as intended, meaning water will not be perfectly balanced to the parameters set. This could result in bathers getting rashes or infections, the spa being temporarily closed, which nobody wants.
The safety aspect
Both spas are equipped with vacuum safety release systems (SVRS) as required by code in Ontario, as well as emergency stop buttons mounted on the wall near each spa. The emergency stops are equipped with audible and visual alarms. This is also a code requirement, allowing a way to quickly stop the circulation pump from running should there be someone entrapped or in distress in the spa. In addition to the pump being turned off, the audible and visual alarms are also there to help draw attention and bring help to the spa as quickly as possible.
It is evident these spas were designed to the highest standards and offer the safest possible spa experience. The facility also has a Certified Pool Operator (CPO) on their team to ensure everything is operated and maintained properly. If one is ever in the Niagara-on-the-lake region in Ontario and is looking for a spa day, 124 on Queen Hotel and Spa should be the first destination for a state-of-the-art spa experience.
Author
Greg Keller is a service and sales representative at Acapulco Pools Ltd., a commercial pool builder and service provider based in Kitchener, Ont. He graduated from Conestoga College’s architecture-project and facility management program in 2011 and was hired by Acapulco upon graduation. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
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