Filtration at Popular Destination Resorts

Having a clear, clean pond or water feature is vital, no matter the size.

By Kyra Kirkwood

Having a clear, clean pond or water feature is vital, no matter the size. When you are talking about large-scale ponds, fountains and waterfalls found at many popular destination resorts across the country, however, filtration becomes an even more important, if not crucial, aspect of maintaining water clarity and cleanliness.

Las Vegas, Nev.
Lake Como, at the Bellagio luxury hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, uses a sand filtration system as well as a pulsar chemical chlorine distribution system to keep the 8-acre, Italian-inspired replica sparkling clean. The water is treated with calcium hypochlorite and muriatic acid. An enzyme clarifier is added in the winter to prevent the water, which is fed from an underground well and not municipal water, from getting cloudy.

“This system took time to perfect,” said Yvette Monet, spokesperson for the MGM Mirage, parent company of the Bellagio, “It has been through a period of trial and error. There are more treatments proposed all the time. We feel the system we have now is the best ever.”

Pacific Palisades, Calif.
At California’s Getty Villa, an educational center and museum focusing on arts and cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, sand filters and UV lights keep the fish-filled ponds — ranging from 7,000 gallons to about 15,000 gallons — fresh and clean. According to Rigo Maravilla, plumber for the Getty Villa, the UV lights keep the water crystal clear without the use of chemicals.

Orlando, Fla.
Walt Disney World is layered with wonder and fantasy, but nothing magical keeps the water inside the atrium at the Polynesian Resort clean — it is good, old-fashioned filtration.

They employ an open-loop system where water flows from the interior atrium, said Walt Disney World representatives. Gravity directs water to the outside pond, then it flows to a below-ground pump room. There, a large centrifugal pump circulates about 3,300 gallons of water per minute back to the inside atrium. A portion of this water circulates through a sand filter, with other water routed through a charcoal filter.

This system has been in place for several years, resort officials said. It meets the hotel's needs.

In adapting their filtration systems for their needs, each resort destination discovered the effectiveness of using sand filters within their larger systems. The results are clean ponds for visitors to enjoy.

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Filtration at Popular Destination Resorts

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