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Local plastics manufacturer, Quadrant, creates pool grating for 2012 Olympic summer games

Reading, PA, August 15- In the same facility that swimmer Michael Phelps won his record-breaking number of metals lies a product developed by Swiss company Quadrant Engineering Plastics Products.

The global plastics manufacturer created a plastic grating used in the facility that housed the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Grating serves as a cover for the gutters of a pool's filtration system, which circulates water that spills over the edge of the competition pools.

These grates are usually used made of tile and rods, said Kress Schwartz, product manager of engineering and advanced systems at Quadrant's Reading plant, its American headquarters.

The Aquatics Centre contractor, Balfour Beatty, London, was looking for ways to improve efficiency, Schwartz said of how the project came about. The center includes three major pools and one circular plunge pool and was built specifically for use during the summer games.

Improved maintenance is one of the advantages to the grating created by Quadrant, he said. Separated into panels, the grating, which surrounds the perimeter of a pool, can be removed either to be cleaned or fixed when damaged.

The material the grating is made of, polyethylene, absorbs almost no moisture, Schwartz said. This cuts back on bacteria that can grow in it or on it.

The polyethylene was developed and manufactured at Quadrant's Vreden, Germany, location. The panels were fabricated in Todmorden, England, Schwartz said.

This is exactly what Quadrant does, he said, describing a process of taking low-tech materials and creating a more efficient product.

Initially, Schwartz said Quadrant's grating costs more than the traditional grating, but it lasts longer and requires less maintenance.

This pool grating also will be used in the Commonwealth Games, which will take place in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2014. Unlike the Olympics, the pool facility for the Commonwealth Games exists and has been renovated.

Schwartz said the company also will look to have the grating used in the next Summer Olympics in 2016. 

Written by Shannon Simcox, Reading Eagle

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