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Non-drowning Swimming Pool

 A new type of swimming pool that prevents any drowning-related accidents
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Each year, there are countless tragic accidents caused by children and adults drowning in public (or private) swimming pools. One method for reducing the number of incidents would be to create a "Non-drowning Swimming Pool".

Such pools would be filled not with water, but with an "oxgenated fluorocarbon emulsion". This liquid - as seen in the underwater film "The Abyss" - does actually exist, and is used both in military diving applications, as well as various medical applications (such as LiquiVent). If a pool were to be filled with this water-like liquid, it would be literally impossible to drown, as oxygenation would continue to occur normally even if the subject was totally immersed and the lungs completely filled.

If a family using such a pool were to notice their child missing, there would be no need for immediate panic, as their loved one would simply be sitting at the bottom of the pool, breathing normally and wondering where his or her parents had got to. The use of 'Non-drowning Pools' would also severely reduce the number of pool-based suicides, as potential victims would simply remain under the water for several hours and eventually get bored and go home.

—paintingbynumbers, Jul 22 2003

The Abyss. not personally seen the film. http://www.sciencew...g/movies/abyss.html
[po, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

More dense swimming http://www.halfbake...reestyle_20swimming
[FarmerJohn, Oct 04 2004]

Shameless promotion http://www.halfbake...idea/Rescue-o-matic
A different approach [RayfordSteele, Oct 04 2004]

Lung Washing http://www.halfbake...idea/Lung_20Washing
[Shz, Oct 04 2004]

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       LiquiVent is nearly twice as dense as water. This would make for some interesting swimming techniques...and prevent anyone sinking to the bottom in the first place.
—suctionpad, Jul 22 2003
   

       "Each year, there are countless tragic accidents caused by children and adults drowning in public (or private) swimming pools"   

       so .. you're saying that if we stop people drowning, that will somehow reduce the number of tragic accidents ? Are people tripping over the bodies or something ?
—pjd, Jul 22 2003
   

       But what happens when you pee in it? Asking for a friend, not me of course.
—lintkeeper2, Jul 22 2003
   

       Regarding [suctionpad's] comment that "LiquiVent is nearly twice as dense as water" - well, you could always take an oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion and dilute it, I suppose...   

       and, yes, [pjd] there ARE quite a few accidents caused each year by people attempting to RESCUE other people that are drowning - haven't you ever seen "Baywatch"?
—paintingbynumbers, Jul 22 2003
   

       You are not supposed to drink it!
—silverstormer, Jul 22 2003
   

       I've got to give this one a bun, simply because I'd love to try 'breathing' that stuff.   

       [lint] tell your friend that they could put a special dye in the liquid that turns purple in the presence of urine. Then, at least, people will be able to swim away from the affected area... whilst holding their breath... which may cause drowning!   

       And [destructo] I have it on good authority that pee does indeed taste 'really gross'!
—nick3, Jul 22 2003
   

       We've done this one sometime in the past, I thought. Weren't there serious health issues caused by breathing that Liquivent too long?
—RayfordSteele, Jul 22 2003
   

       Not as serious as those caused by breathing water for even a minute.
—DrCurry, Jul 22 2003
   

       I once held my breath under water for nine months.
—k_sra, Jul 22 2003
   

       You can drink it just fine. It is opaque on xray and makes good contrast material - like barium.   

       The decrease in drowning deaths would be partially offset by an increase in bellyflop deaths, because of the greater density of the perflubron.
—bungston, Jul 22 2003
   

       What I said. <link>
—Shz, Jul 22 2003
   

       [Shz] - the movie WTCTTISITMWIBNIIWR thing - are you suggesting that perflubron is a fiction invented for a movie, or suggesting that this and the Lung Washing ideas are about communicating with underwater aliens?
—bungston, Jul 22 2003
   

       When we did first aid at scouts the bloke doing CPR said that people who drown actually get very little water inside them because the water starts to enter the lungs and the valve that stops food getting in when you eat closes. It's not that you can't get oxygen out of water, it's just the way that your body reacts to anything other than gas trying to enter your lungs. =fishy
—chud, Jul 22 2003
   

       [bungs], the Lung Washing idea is similar enough to the movie (including the liquid and the mouse) that I brought it up. On this idea I bring it up again because the author says the liquid is baked. So the idea here is...use lots of it...in open air...
—Shz, Jul 22 2003
   

       Since you need about 2 inches of water to drown in (according to experts), I thought this idea was going to be swimming pools that are only 1.5 inches deep.
—Cedar Park, Jul 22 2003
   

       I wonder how expensive these swimming pools would be.
—Pericles, Jul 22 2003
   

       Wouldn't this encourage poor water safety habits in children? You know, so that when they fall off a boat they immediately drown because they don't know they can't breathe water?
—snarfyguy, Jul 22 2003
   

       Do you have any idea how much the stuff costs? Nobody could afford the admission fee!
—ocredbrd, Jul 23 2003
   

       Cost? Take a small aboveground pool, say 20 feet in diameter, 4 feet deep. That’s about 150 thousand pounds of PFC. The stuff costs say $20/pound, so that’s 3 million dollars.

Plus, it’s got pee floating on top of it.
—pluterday, Jul 23 2003
   

       You can't put a price on safety...
—silverstormer, Jul 23 2003
   

       Or on pee-skimming devices...
—k_sra, Jul 23 2003
   

       You can swim in packing peanuts too...and not drown. Why I bet if the pool was deep enough with them...you could even dive. tres fun.
—human-female, Jul 23 2003
   

       We typically don't worry about cost around here.
—RayfordSteele, Jul 23 2003
   

       Try inhaling packing peanuts. Not fun.
—k_sra, Jul 23 2003
   

       I don't want to be sharing my swimming pool with monkeys and elephants, thank you very much!
—silverstormer, Jul 23 2003
   

       Speaking of which, why not use real peanuts? Then you can stop while swimming and have a snack. Or perhaps an "oxygenated peanutbutter emulsion".
—Worldgineer, Jul 23 2003
   

       //packing peanuts// Should I not be feeding those to my elephant?
—silverstormer, Jul 23 2003
   

       Oh yes, [Worldly], I, too, love a good oPBe&J sandwich.
—k_sra, Jul 23 2003
   

       Besides the extreme cost of the stuff, no one has factored that this stuff evaporates. Read in an article about how it is used to treat certain lung disorders, after the procedure it gradually evaporates away. So you would need a continuous supply of the stuff. And I don't think you could find a supplier that could supply that much. It would cost millions a month to maintain a pool like that but for the same price you could hire a small army of playboy bunnies and your own medical staff on standby. Hmmm playboy bunnies and medical staff or high priced gel?
—thelambs, Oct 18 2003
   

       I think its a well cool idea, but about the evaporating thing, now im no scientist or general smart person (as you will probably be able 2 tell from my spelling n the lark) but if you couldnt drown in the shit then you could have it in a tank rather than a pool, it would stop the stuff evaporating and you wouldnt be able 2 jump in n bellyflop 2 your death either. The only other thing is getting in and out, i guess to solve this you'd need to have a kind of 'air lock' that would operate sort of like a lift.   

       It'd be like an aquaraium but with people insted of fish   

       Just thought of another thing though, what if some tramp came inside that had been smoking 40 sigs a day for 20 years, when he got in he would breath in all the gel/whatever and when breathed out it would be mixed with tar from his lungs and the gel would get polluted and would probly toxify other people's lungs. Gayness, insurance would be hell...
—bunghole, Oct 19 2003
   

       Well, I suppose you could devise some sort of an air lock. That is until the air is saturated with lethal doses of it and you die... I'd take the bunnies and the medical staff any day. But I would, at least once in my lifetime, want to breath some of that stuff. Would be a blast.
—thelambs, Oct 19 2003
   

       + Just for the use of PFCs/Liquivent. That stuff is way too cool.
—notme, Oct 19 2003
   

       Ok.. now that we know that this stuff is more dense than water.. lets point out a few things...   

       People = 70% water..we wouldn't be very bouyant at all... therefore it would just be another expensive place to walk on.   

       Sorry to burst your bubble...
—PYRO, Oct 24 2003
   

       As chud said, in most drowning cases the body simply refuses to let liquid into the lungs. Suffocating itself. If you remember the movie, he had quite a time trying to breath the "oxgenated fluorocarbon emulsion". I think people would soon give up swiming and just breath under "water". Dive, sink, walk out, repeat.
—Mossback74, Oct 26 2003
   

       You know, a slightly less expensive and more affective way to keep people from really drowning in swimming pools is by filling them with liquid nitrogen instead. They'll freeze to death, yes...   

       ...but they won't drown!
—verTigo, Oct 26 2003
   

       hey wait, what if someone pees in the coconuts? you would like have to buy all of them over again...
—oh one with flaming ass, Oct 26 2003
   

       If you go under it will still be uncomfortable and possibly agonizing to transition from air-filled lungs to fluorocarbon filled lungs. They may live, but they'll be scarred for life.
—whatastrangeperson, Apr 07 2004
   

       Simpler and less expensive way to stop drownings. Add LOTS of salt.
—DesertFox, May 27 2004
   

       I think some simple training in first aid and basic water safety skills are more important. This would cross over to places where normal water exists. Ie. ocean, sea, lake, bathtub, river etc. Prevention is always the best cure. If you can't swim, then stay the hell away from the pool. so I'm sorry, fish.
—swimr, May 27 2004
   

       Unfortunately there are a number of problems with this proposed idea   

       1) The Mafia would have troubled 'persuading' slim jimmy not name his mob contacts.   

       2) 'Hold your breath' competitions, loved by millions of kids throughout the world, would be prone to cheating   

       3) The liquid is a browny colour .. which is minging   

       4) The practise of 'dunking' - when kids grab the top of other kids heads and force them underwater .. would cease to be nearly as amusing for the bullies. Hmm maybe this is a good thing.
—britboy, May 28 2004
   

       There are 3 things you guys forgot 1) The surface tension of flurocarbon is much less than water so it will really be safer to bellyflop in that than water. 2) Pyro u got it completelly wrong you wont walk because its denser it will be much much easier to float on than water. 3) To begin with this pool would cost a fortune, yea it does evaporate rather quuickly AND you guys forgot that CO2 will build up and u will eventually need to re- oxidize the pool in order for you to be able to breath, so thats lots of more money.
—Pandeli, Feb 23 2007
   

       //surface tension of flurocarbon is much less than water so it will really be safer to bellyflop in that than water//

Surface tension never hurt anybody. If it did, bubbles would be deadly.
—ldischler, Feb 23 2007
   

       It's all about compressibility with belly flops. There's no surface tension at all in sand, but I dare you to do a bellyflop from 25 feet into a pool filled with it.
—shapu, Feb 23 2007
   

       But one thing that nobody mentioned was that those chemicals will burn your eyes, nose, and throat. Any form of oxygen in a solid or semi-solid substance is corrosive.
—Jscotty, Feb 23 2007
   


 

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