Community Swimming Pool in South Dakota Depends on the Penetron System for Long-Lasting Concrete

Completed in June 2024, in time for the summer 2024 season, the renovation of the Canton Community Swimming Pool brings back a cherished town attraction to Canton, South Dakota (USA). The Penetron System of crystalline concrete waterproofing ensures the impermeability of the pool and surge tank.

Located in the southeast corner of South Dakota, about 24 miles (39 km) south of Sioux Falls, Canton is a city of just over 3,000 inhabitants. Founded by Norwegian settlers in the rolling hills of the Sioux Valley, with the Big Sioux River to the east, and Lake Alvin to the north, the town was named “South Dakota Community of the Year” in both 2004 and 2011.

“The original community pool was built over 60 years ago. However, a fire had damaged the water filter system and the pool basin had deteriorated, leaking up to 8,000 gallons of water a day in recent years,” explains Christopher Chen, Director of The Penetron Group. “Because town government saw the community pool as a draw for new families and the town’s youth, a replacement for the old pool became urgent.”

Burbach Aquatics designed a renovated pool layout with six 25-yard (23-m) swimming lanes, and added bubble geysers, spray fountains, three-meter and one-meter-high diving towers, and concrete pool decks and sidewalks.

The US$ 7 million project was carried out by Northland Concrete & Masonry as the general contractor. During the planning phase of the project, Penetron provided impermeability test data to Burbach Aquatics to support the recommended 1% dosage rate for PENETRON ADMIX SB, a crystalline waterproofing admixture delivered in soluble bags, for the concrete mix.

“The mix design with PENETRON ADMIX SB met all of the specified requirements for durable and waterproof concrete used for the pool basin and surge tank,” adds Christopher Chen.

PENETRON ADMIX SB was added to the concrete mix by TriState Ready Mix, the ready-mix concrete supplier, to construct the new pool and surge tank. Finally, a combination of PENETRON, a topical crystalline waterproofing material, and PENECRETE MORTAR, a crystalline waterproofing repair grout, was used to repair the cracks and pool wall-to-floor construction joints, ensuring a permanently waterproof solution.

Once exposed to moisture, the active ingredients in the crystalline products in the Penetron System generate a non-soluble crystalline formation throughout the pores and capillary tracts of the concrete to permanently seal microcracks, pores and capillaries against the penetration of water or liquids from any direction. This formation provides long-term protection for concrete from deterioration, even under the constant exposure to water under high hydrostatic pressure found in the Canton Community Pool.

“The Penetron System will perform consistently during the service life of the new and repaired concrete, thanks to its ability to self-heal any future hairline cracks that may form in the concrete,” says Christopher Chen. “This will virtually eliminate any future maintenance or treatment of the pool structure.”