Rahway, N.J. — One of the most common complaints of swimmers entering a pool is cold water, but summertime swimmers at the Rahway Branch YMCA in Rahway, N.J., regularly voiced criticism that the 200,000-gallon indoor pool was too hot. The 42-foot-by-75-foot pool's water would start a hot summer day at the desired set point of 84°F, but water temperatures regularly surpassed 90° because the building had no air conditioning or modern mechanical dehumidification, the latter of which had yet to be invented when the addition housing the pool was constructed 28 years ago. "It wasn't a real comfortable swimming experience on hot days," said Clark Lagemann, direc- tor of property and technology management, YMCA of Eastern Union County in Elizabeth, N.J. Armed with a $500,000 budget earmarked for a variety of improvements — including new lighting, electrical upgrades, recoated pool surface, epoxy-painted walls and ceiling, plus the replacement of the chemical feeder, filter pump, motor, and strainer systems — the YMCA set out to make the indoor air quality (IAQ) as superior as the pool functions.
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