Harmful Environmental Effects of Excavating a Swimming Pool

Discuss about the Process of Excavation for an Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes in Oran Park.

The process of excavating a swimming pool has a measurable impact on an environment. There are certain gases which are harmful to the environment and they are released during construction of a swimming pool for example carbon dioxide and methane though they depend on the machine used excavation. The gas released into the air gets trapped in the atmosphere thus causing greenhouse effect which warms the earth over a long period of time. Even minor chemical spills leach into the ground may enter waterways thus the toxify water affecting the life of aquatic animals living in the water

There are certain issues that need to be addressed in swimming pools for example;

• The pH of water in the swimming pool need to be adjusted in order to have a pH of 7 that is neutral(Anderson, 2013, p. 123).
• Water needs to be drained slowly into the sanitary sewer system whenever possible
• The debris should be removed including algae, leaves, dirt, and sticks before draining the water from the pool(Danny, 2016, p. 24).
• The water should be cooled for a period of ten days after heating it before discharging.
• The untreated water should be allowed to settle for at least ten days or use removal agents to allow bromine or chlorine to dissipate. In order to detect the presence of bromine or chlorine in the pool, pool test kit can be used since these chemicals are harmful to swimming pool users(Walker, 2013, p. 567).
• The water from the pool should be drained slowly over vegetated are in order to avoid erosion caused by water.

The building of Olympic swimming pool in Oran Park is bound to have a detrimental impact on the environment. A lot of extracted raw materials are released during the construction of a swimming pool and more so when diesel or any other chemicals are used by the diggers which causes difficulty in breathing (Sale, 2015, p. 478).

Environmental issues related to the excavation of Olympic swimming pool in Oran Park include;                              

The generation of dust is the key potential impact from the excavation phase. In case equipment powered by diesel is used then nitrogen dioxide and Sulphur dioxide is released into the air together with smoke in case the normal operation is used.  Proper maintenance is unlikely to cause significant smoke or gaseous emissions and the quality of air would not be anticipated to be exceeded (Martinez, 2009, p. 138).

The dust mostly comes from excavation and any wind erosion on the site. The working area is comparatively large and adjacent to the harbor, therefore, there is possibility for dust irritant to the contiguous prevailing high rise residential developments. Schools, Public roads, and residential blocks will be at risk from potential dust impacts (Martel, 2014, p. 43).

The noise impact during the excavation of Olympic swimming pool may affect the schools around and also the residential developments (Lewis, 2008, p. 76). Due to schools around, the excavation should not allow to take on during examination periods since the students will not concentrate. The noise pollution from the swimming site also causes hearing damage which may not be realized instantly but occurs slowly thus resulting in a permanent damage. There are some mitigating measures that can be put in place to address this issue of noise pollution, for example, portable noise barriers, quiet equipment, proper maintenance and regular servicing (Danny, 2016, p. 129).

Impact of Excavation on the Air and Water Quality

Silt-laden runoff from the swimming pool site where excavation is taking place may contain increased loads of earth and sediment materials, contaminants and other suspended solids (Karanfil, 2008, p. 384). Potential sources of pollution from site drainage include;

• The discharge of filling cement materials with rain wash.
• Wash water from dust suppression sprays.
• Erosion and runoff from the exposed soil surface, earth working areas, and stockpiles.
• Fuel and lubricants from excavation equipment(Anderson, 2013, p. 123).

Silt runoff when building Olympic swimming pool if not controlled may carry pollutants leading to increased suspended solids concentration (Juniper, 2013, p. 163). There is need of controlling the runoff and drainage from the working area in order to prevent drainage and runoff water with high levels of suspended materials. There is need of implementing adequate construction site drainage and provision of silt removal amenities. The following measures need to be executed in order to circumvent the issue of water contamination for example; there is need of providing temporary sanitary facilities, for example, moveable chemical toilets so that all waste materials can be diverted into the sewage (Eaton, 2008, p. 438).

Most of the construction involving Olympic swimming pool would be anticipated to generate wastes. Activities involved during construction of a swimming pool will result in the generation of numerous waste which can broadly be classified into different categories depending on their nature and the option for their disposal (Dwera, 2009, p. 89). During the phase of excavating the swimming pool, a list of waste materials expected is given below;

• Excavated materials, land-based fill materials
• C & D waste some of which may be appropriate for reclamation and fill. Here, all vegetation that was cleared from the working site before the commencement of the work is included(Karanfil, 2008, p. 123).
• Chemical waste
• General refuse and municipal solid waste.
• Sewage from the construction workforce.

When digging the area to put a swimming pool, the excavated materials are encountered and in this case, they include soil and rock materials. There will also be materials from paving and surfacing materials, utility diversion, demolition, upgrading and resurfacing though, in certain areas, these type of materials may be reusable in other projects (Debord, 2016, p. 239).

In the case of C & D waste, in order to minimize them, then they need proper planning and consideration at an early stage, the design stage in order to reduce the amount of earthwork needed. During construction of swimming pool, any C&D that can be reused should be transported and temporarily stockpiled at the designated areas (Chocckar, 2010, p. 567).

There is certain chemical waste which is harmful to the environment but they are encountered during the construction phase. Improper disposal of chemical waste can pose environmental and health and safety hazards. The significant impact of the chemical waste issues is not expected in case of proper storage and disposal of chemical waste (John, 2013, p. 218).

General refuse comes across when excavating a swimming pool which is harmful to the environment, they may include waste from the office, food waste, newspaper, and newspaper which are generally disposed of at the landfill. Sometimes this waste is leached in water thus harmful to the aquatic environment. Waste materials need to be collected effectively to avoid them being blown away by wind thus causing harm to the environment and improper disposal of waste may attract vermin and paste thus cleaning of the site should be done regularly (Collins, 2011, p. 346).

Land contamination simply involves the destruction of the earth surface and soil as a result of human activities. The excavation of swimming pool may cause land contamination which is harmful to the living organisms living in the land. During the construction of swimming pool, most vegetation such as trees growing the land is cleared in order to create a space for the construction since land contamination of land simply entails lessening the productivity or quality as an ideal space for construction (Anderson, 2013, p. 217).

Conclusion

Reducing these effects caused by excavation of land in order to erect a swimming pool which in turn causes the effect to the environment can be controlled by the using equipment which are not harmful to the environment and also laying down a strict legislation to eradicate the effects caused by various people to the environment.

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