"As landscape architects, our bias is to stewardship of the land and its resources, including clean water," says Bob Somers, an associate landscape architect at Scatliff, Miller, and Murray, an award-winning landscape architecture and urban design-consulting firm based in Winnipeg, Canada.

Scatliff, Miller, and Murray projects show how its water conservation, health, and visual design goals can easily work together. Its Central Park project will create a 5-acre destination playground for an urban Winnipeg community with a 6,500 sq. ft. spray park, soccer field, sledding hill, and other amenities.

To conserve water in the spray park, a combination of high and low-flow spray nozzles will be used, along with a state-of-the-art water treatment, recirculation system provided by Waterplay Solutions Corp., a spray park and water treatment system provider based in Kelowna, Canada.

Sand filtration, chlorine use, and ultra-violet treatment to kill bacteria enhance the safety and cleanliness of the recirculated water. While filtration and chlorine are commonly used to sanitize swimming pools, high-intensity, ultra-violet treatment is an even more effective level of protection from potential pathogens in recirculated water.

To integrate the architecture with the landscape, the water treatment system, including a recirculated water cistern, is located in a building basement with no obstructive structures aboveground.

"As we put together ideas of what the spray park will look like, of what the water will do, of how we will incorporate water conservation, Waterplay is helping us realize our vision while staying on budget," says Somers.

For more info, visit www.waterplay.com; email info@waterplay.com; call 250-712-3393; fax 250-861-4814; or write to Waterplay Solutions Corp. at 1451b Ellis Street, Kelowna, BC, Canada V1Y 2A3.