It's no simple task, keeping an aquatic facility up and running, whether you've got a single pool for lap swimmers or a complex arrangement of pools, slides, splash play and more, making up an aquatic park on a much grander scale. From the design of your facility to the programming that attracts swimmers and aquatic adventurers, from your staff to your systems that keep swimmers safe and water clean, there are a lot of balls to keep in the air.

In recreation facilities nationwide, swimming pools can eat away a big bite of the budget. Finding ways to operate aquatic facilities more efficiently and effectively is critical.

Successful aquatic facilities require smart approaches to programming. While almost every pool should begin with the basics, there are plenty of ways to make the best use of pool time to grow attendance and revenues.

Swimming pools have come a long way from the expected rectangles of the past. Nowadays, aquatic designers take flexibility into account and design aquatic facilities that offer myriad options for programming, competition and recreation.

This past Saturday, after I finished up some housework, I spent some time sitting on the front porch with the dog. In a flannel shirt and jeans. Barefoot. In January. In Northern Illinois. And I'm not gonna lie—I kind of liked it. But only for the novelty. I'm probably one of the few people in a 100-mile radius who really wants it to snow and get properly cold.

Fitness trends come and go, and come and go, but there are ways to adapt so that you're always offering something that your members and visitors are looking for.

Is synthetic turf or natural turf best for your sports and recreation programming? The answer is, both. There are reasons to use one or the other, but for many facilities, a combination of the two will maximize programming possibilities.

When your indoor pool begins to show signs of its age, it's time to consider your renovation options. The good news is that there are cost-effective approaches to making your pool like-new again without starting over from scratch.

Brian Zimmerman's entry into the field of recreation began with an undergraduate education, having studied agricultural science-soils at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A new solution is enabling this recreation center to streamline its use of resources and save energy, and money.