DEPTH PROFILES

The depth of the pool is applied to any shape and size and is determined by activity. Diving is and activity for example and that determines the depth of that particular pool.
Volleyball is another activity but you cant play volleyball in a diving pool.
Determining the greatest activity and best use of the pool will determine the depth profile.
Keep this in mind when settling on a depth profile. Also keep in mind that the deeper the pool, the more restricted the activities will be and the pool will cost more to maintain.
Depth and size determine the gallons of water in the pool. The more water you have the more money it will cost to maintain.
Every chemical you purchase has a dosage based on gallons of water. The higher the gallons, the higher the dosage.

DEPTH PROFILES

HOPPER

A hopper can be a diving pool or not.
In the diagram above, the 16x32 pool is an 8' deep hopper designed for diving.
Because 75% of the pool is the diving envelope and only 25% is the play area, it's clearly designed for just about nothing but diving.
To put it in a different perspective, if this is a $30,000 pool, you just invested $22,500 in a diving board (hopefully you're getting a diving board) and $7,500 for every other activity.

LONGER HOPPER

Extending the length of the pool, in this case to 36' gets you more play area, from 8' to 12' in fact.
Now your investment is 66% in a diving board and 33% in the play area.
That's a bit more equitable.

SPORT BOTTOM

If you don't want a diving board, why build a diving pool? Makes no sense right?
Why spend 75% of your investment on a deep end you cant do anything but float in?
A great alternative is a deep middle, not a deep end. We call it a sport bottom.
So this is a 32' pool like the top one but here you can see there are TWO play areas, one for kids and one for adults. Together they add up to 12' not 8'.

EXTENDED SPORT BOTTOM

Here is an example of a 40' sport pool.

With 18' of play area nearly half the pool is kid friendly.

Parents can be totally isolated from all the projectiles flying about at the other end.

CONSTANT SLOPE

A constant slope bottom is designed for anyone wanting the ability to walk the entire length of the pool. The dashed line shows a typical hopper bottom. The "pitch" of the slope in a hopper pool does not allow for walking. It is simply too steep and you will slip down.
The constant slope (solid line) smooths out the pitch so the entire bottom is walk-able.

DEPTH & SHAPE

Any depth profile may be applied to any pool shape.
In the example above, a hopper bottom is applied to a kidney shape.
You can see how the bending shape curves the slopes and hopper to accommodate the various depths.