Giant Water slides or Flumes
Created | Updated Aug 30, 2003
People have always had a facination with doing apparently dangorus things rideing on roller costers, jumping of things or throwing them selves down 500 foot of twisting pipe-work with only water stoping them getting friction burns.
What is a Giant waterslide?
A Giant water slide is defined as a slide ending in water that has a hight from the suface of the water to the top floor of the slide of 2 meaters or more. They are not to be confused with Log flumes as in these rides you and the 'boat' are cranked up together. a Giant water slide is where you go up (usualy under your own effot) seperat to any boat. Usualy theses slides will be found in leaisure pools or water parks. Giant water slides have some very strict regulations around them as they are potentialy leathal espectialy if they are not designed, built and supervised appropreatly. There are several major different types of giant water slide or flumes as they are more commenly known
More on the types of flumes in a bit
Terminology
Aquacatch a long length of level shaped track at the bottom of some rides used to safely stop fast riders it will have about a foot of water in it and the angle the rider is introduced to the aquacatch is very shallow. The rider will change there momentum into a wave of water which will build up in front of them therefore the faster you go the bigger the wave and the grater the decelerating force in the final moments will be.
Emergency Stop buttons stops the pumps supplying water to the slide most flumes are a real pain to reset once turned off and the effects on riders in the slide are minimal as they are already sliding at nearly the same speed as the water. used when a spinal injery, fire or when riders are attempting somthing stupidly dangerous that stoping the water will help (ie walking up the flume)
flow rate the amount of water per second being moved by the pumps
GPM Gallens per minuet
Lights - Themed gives effects to the water. Are you slideing on a river of laver or a cool ice glacier? these are very rare but can add emensly to the re-riderbility of a ride
Lights Traffic/Control These lights are ether timed, beamed or manual and tell the user when it is safe to go. Manual systems are usualy safer as users some times try and stop in a flume meaning the timed lights will show clear when it isn't or may go down in groups some of which will stop and others will go on to brake the beam. manual systems are prone to human error but it is more likely that users will brake the rules then it is of an error cusing an accident. and with (as recomended by ILAM) good comunication between top and bottom controlers the error is reduced to almost nill.
Lights - Emergancy oddly only one is required in an external enclosed flume no mater it's length. comes on when the power goes out placed near the top often confused with a sensor to flip the lights red.
None return valve in a flume context it stops water from draining from the pipes when the pumps are cut this advoides long restart times and a lot of funny sounds.
Over ride / Over lap Uh oh some one's made a mastake ether some one ran a red light and it wasent picked up or the lights were mistakenly over riden by the operaters ether way there is to many people in the slide. This error may not be picked up for over five minuets especialy where ther riders are moving at an even pace and distance apart. This is probably the most serious problem that the operraters can contribute to with posibly serious consequences for the pool owner and staff in question. this is thankfully also one of the less likly senarios for accident as the more dangerous the situation gets the easyer it is to pick up (the time between riders becomes closer and less even).
Body Slides
Body slides are by far the most common flume there is the tube with water sliding down it and the customer who hurls them self down it lubricated by a layer of water and helped by gravity the customer can achieve some high speeds. Twisting sections open sections and blacked out sections of tube add excitement to the thrill of travailing at speed whilst touching the still surface of the slide. Naturally as a common slide there are several slide styles.
Family
Desigined specificly for an adult to acompany a yong child on or for a young child to ride alone on. these slides are usually quite slow and end in a splash pool.Adventure style
These slides are faster and may incorporate tight twisting turns open sections and darkened sections or may solely be made up of open, enclosed or blacked out. These sides will usually end up in a splash pool but can end up in an aquacatch. Due to there nature and forces involved if you need armbands you may be told not to ride them and it is usualy one at a time.High Speed Cutes
These are smaller in diameter but very steep accelerating the rider to a high speed. The apparent speed can be enhanced by the addition of a carefully planed spiral down adding G-force to the rider and increasing the rides intensity.
Bowls
This is one of the rarer body flumes. You are accelerated down a steep tube and are shot out in to a bowel where centripetal force keeps you out against the edge of the bowel, as you slow down you get closer and closer to the hole in the bottom until finally you fall a few feet into a deep plunge pool. These rides are very fun as there is a greater flexibility on the way you can ride once in the bowel allowing you to extend the number of rotations you make in the bowl.
Some Notes on safety
First of all READ THE SIGHNES! Its all there if you are at all unshore ask the supervising lifeguard or attendant they would rather you ask then you doing something dangerous. The following is a general guideline as to how most of these flumes (in the UK) are ridden. How ever you should always look at the signs and follow thoes as apposed to what is here.
Don't Ride head first
This is the most common rule broken and its one that’s there for the most obvious reasons. Your head and neck are of the most vital importance to you if you hit something with it at speed you will be in big trouble. Whilst the splash pool should be clear there is always one idiot who will decide to ignore persistent requests and stand exactly where they shouldn’t. Similarly this doesn't mean feet first for the first 10/last 10 feet of the flume. Amongst other things there is always the chance of an "override" where more then the correct number of people are in the flume feet first you will minimise the risk of hurting you’re self. There is at least one exception to the rule and that is on mat flumes (see Below)
Wait for the signal to go.
If traffic lights are in operation wait for the green light or wait for the attendent to signal it's safe to proceed. What ever you do dont asume no lights is a go light. and if it is green when you get to the top think "is that because some one just whent and the light hasent fliped back to red yet?" as with diving look before you leap theres no real opertunity to change your mind after!
Don't stop in the flumes.
Most flumes will require specific breaking action for you to stop in, don't, the one in fount will nearly always come worst off in an accident and in this case that means YOU.
Exit the aquacatch or splash pool as soon as possible
These are working pools. If you are in a danger zone you may get hurt if there are steps at one end it will be safe to sit on them but don't obstruct them so the lifeguard can't get in to help someone!
Following the rules will result in a very safe ride there is still the possibility of an accident but it will be less serious and less likely to occur then otherwise. If you brake the rules and you are cached doing so there really is little point in denying it or arguing with the lifeguard as they don’t always have to see it to know what’s going on (try out running a radio signal). And you will be distracting them from a high concentration job. In recent times mini (the size of a suger lump!) CCTV cameras have been looked at as possibly being installed in some flumes this would be expensive and there are some issues that need to be addressed before these can be installed but look out for them in a pool near you soon
Mat Slides
Mat slides are similar to body slides but the rider is now on a mat and are travelling head first. These slides are often set up to be competitive (2 or more identical tracks for competition). The way riders position themselves and shift their weight on the mat will determine how fast they will travel down the slide. There are two main slides
Track
In this style there are a number of strait slides next to each other (8 tracks are common) that run parallel to each other with a series of ridges on the way down
Tube
This is just a twisty flume with a few modifications to make it safe for matting. For competitive purposes there may be several symmetrical/identical slides. These are more exiting and require a grater deal of skill to cut the best path down the slide.
Boat Slides
This type of flume is more of a watercoster indeed many places advertise them as such. Riders are now in a rubber inflatable dingy these boats depending on design can hold up to 4 people allowing for a team competitive sport or a family ride. These slides are about going fast and not getting (very) wet. Because of this many have been adapted for amusement parks so riders don't have to be in a swimsuit to enjoy them. The two main ride types are the same as for matting. The only difference here is that the end of the ride can simply be a damp section of non slip mat which will slow the boat down.
RaftThese are a relatively expensive slide and therefore only a few place have them. As with the other slides these are also held above ground on supports but the track and water requirements are much larger with 7000 to 10000 (US)GPM required and nearly 14 foot wide sections in places these are colossal slides. Riders sit in a circular 6 capacity boat, which spins as it rushes through high bank curves waterfalls and dark tunnels before coming to a stop in a large splash pool. These are relatively new slides but alredy there are three distinct types
Class I – III
this is a family ride with little white water and gentiler curves
Class IV-V
Much more intense with twisty sections a larger drops may have large sections of blacked out track.
Featured
Some of the above may have the addition of surprise features a-waterfalls that the boat goes through hosepipes that squirt water unexpectedly and other themed features will no doubt become available in time
As a lifeguard my self I am fairly well informed on many aspects of these slides please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments
