Spray it again: spray pools are increasingly popular for a simple reason--they're fun.

Thirty or 40 years ago, Chicago kids played on a concrete disk or circle, with water spraying from the disk's four corners. It's not much of a stretch to call that long-ago fun an early version of today's spray pool, now boasting brightly colored interactive water toys that spray, tumble, shoot and cascade--and providing today's kids a new, fun and extremely popular way to beat the heat.

Spray pools, known by a variety of other names--water playground, spray ground, splash pool or splash pad--are sprouting in public spaces throughout the country, including Pyrce Park in Berwyn, Ill., Steele Street Park in Rock Hill, N.C., Pier Park in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., and another in Marysville, Mich. Spray pools were recently added to Eldorado Pool in Scottsdale, Ariz., Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Fort Smith, Ark., Seneca Lake State Park in New York and Ticfaw State Park in Louisiana. The Denver area recently saw one of the first water playgrounds, and the city of Albuquerque's year-old spray ground has proved a big hit. Dozens more spray grounds are in the planning stages.

These are just a fraction of the new facilities opening throughout the country. They range from modest with perhaps a handful of interactive water toys on a single surface, to huge, with a plethora of stations, some of them on platforms 20 feet in the air. Many have elaborate themes, such as pirate, mining or oceanic.

Why the surge? Spray grounds typically cost less, use less water, usually recirculate the water they use, require fewer staff, attract all ages and can be open for more of the year.

"Wetting" the Appetite for Fun

A spray ground is basically a playground with water added. Typically, spray grounds hold no standing water. Instead, water shoots from fountains, jets, falls, hoses, arches, water guns or through water curtains, then drains away, generally to be recirculated and reused. Children interact with the water features and with each other.

Play value is a major attraction, says Rich Klarck, aquatics engineer for PHN Architects, which has designed a number of spray grounds, both stand-alone and part of larger aquatic centers, for park districts. "Kids want something to do," he says. "They don't swim laps. And after a while, they get tired of jumping from the side of the pool into the water. Young kids might be afraid to try a drop slide or diving board, and don't want to be in water that's over their heads. With spray grounds, they have something to do while they're playing at the pool. They're entertained for hours."

Many water playgrounds are part of aquatic centers. When the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Park District renovated three outdoor pools in 2002, it added spray pools to all three. The Vernon Hills (Ill.) Park District also added a spray ground when its facility was expanded in 2001. Similarly, the Glendale Heights Aquatic Center in Glendale Heights, Ill., has two spray ground attractions. One is in a separate area and is for children 7 and under, and the second is in the main pool for patrons of all ages. Both are big hits.

In many cases, park officials are installing water playgrounds on the sites of crumbling, aging wading pools. That's what happened in Berwyn, Ill., in suburban Chicago, where the North Berwyn Park District opened a new interactive spray pool in August. "It was an existing neighborhood wading pool," says Executive Director Joe Vallez. "It was an older pool that had experienced a lot of mechanical problems." The new spray pool is in the same spot, with the same dimensions, 54 feet in diameter. "It requires less guarding than with a wading pool and it didn't require modifications to any other facilities, such as adding sinks or showers," says Klarck, who helped design the new facility.

"I came from the Chicago Park District," explains Vallez. "They'd been putting in spray grounds at various parks, and this seemed to me to be a good fit for this area." Besides mechanical problems, the existing wading pool had an 8-foot-diameter center island with a slide. The island's central location created some blind spots which, coupled with the pool's 18-inch depth at the deepest point, "made us a little nervous," Vallez says.

Of course, guards were necessary. With the safety concerns, mechanical problems and staffing requirements, operating the pool "didn't seem cost-effective," says Vallez. "The whole equation wasn't working out." Now kids cavort in the spray ground, delighting in a wide variety of brightly colored interactive toys. There's a geyser, a lemon drop umbrella that lets children hide inside a circular wall of water cascading around them. They cover an opening on an arched jet and control the volume of water. They pull a lever and water tumbles down.

Many residents were skeptical of the play value of a water playground, admits Vallez. "They wondered, 'Would they enjoy this more than a pool that constantly held water?'" he says. But former skeptics have been converted by the pool's incredible popularity. "It's crowded from the moment it opens until the moment it closes," says Vallez, who adds that the new facility cost approximately $250,000.

Starting With a Splash

In the far-western Chicago suburb of St. Charles, Ill., park district officials are planning a splash playground in the opposite corner of the district from its existing Pottawatomie Park Pool. With a large geographic area, the district needs to offer facilities on both the east and west sides, says Denny Ryan, superintendent of parks for the St. Charles Park District. The district's overall master plan calls for not only the splash playground but also, eventually, a pool and community center at the new site.

Funding isn't ironed out yet for the pool and center, "so we wanted to start out with the splash playground," Ryan says. "We've talked with people who've put splash playgrounds in. They're extremely popular and get a lot of use." The cost is a fraction of that for a new pool. Plus, with no standing water, lifeguards won't he required, though the facility will be staffed. The new spray ground will be an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. "At this point, it's going to be a stand-alone facility, so it probably will be bigger than if it were just one component of an entire pool complex," Ryan says. The splash playground will cost an estimated $250,000. Other components, such as the parking lots, restrooms, fencing and walkways, will bring the total to approximately $600,000.

Staff members have researched water playgrounds extensively, visiting many facilities to see playgrounds and various components in use. St. Charles park officials have applied for a grant to fired the water playground. They anticipate opening the playground in 2005.

While many districts are adding water playgrounds now, a spray ground has always been part of the Bolingbrook Park District's Pelican Harbor center, which opened in Bolingbrook, Ill., in 1996. "In a pool environment, it's all essential element," says district director Ray Ochromowicz. "We wanted something to attract that particular age group." Sprayville, as the area is called, allows Bolingbrook to offer amenities and fun to its youngest customers, who must be 42 inches tall or shorter.

Sprayville has a separate entrance and its own guard. Within Sprayville is a structure that looks like it could be part of a typical playground, with steps, platforms and a bridge. This playground, though, features walls of water, sprays, pipes, wheels and a plethora of other kid-controlled, kid-friendly components.

"The really, really young kids are not necessarily comfortable in water, or their parents are afraid to let their kids in the big pool, for fear of being knocked over," says Ochromowicz. "With Sprayville, kids still get the water experience, but in an environment that's much safer than the regular pool." Bolingbrook even opens Sprayville during swim lessons. "Often there are siblings involved," Ochromowicz says. "Instead of them just sitting there waiting for a brother or sister, the other child can be running around, frolicking in the water." Patrons really appreciate the extra time in the pool, he adds.

Besides offering play to the youngest swimmers, there's another, practical reason for including a spray playground. "Someone's got to bring these kids," Ochromowicz says. "That's another paying admission coming through the door."

Water, Water Everywhere

Chicago, which long ago saw the value of combining playgrounds with water, boasts 113 water spray pools with some kind of interactive spray feature, according to Lisa Arizzi of the Chicago Park District. It also offers 25 "water playgrounds" with more extensive features. In recent years, the district has been adding or renovating the playgrounds, which generally are near an outdoor pool, contain standing water and are guarded. "They're very popular," Arizzi simply states.

So is the water playground in Tickfaw State Park in Louisiana. Clerk Jennifer King says she likes it better for her 5-year-old than a traditional pool. "You don't have to put floaties on or anything like that," she notes. "Here there are buckets of water dumping on them, there are sprinklers. They run through and there's water shooting out of the ground. Kids like that. At a pool, all you can do is swim."

Park manager Cody Westmoreland says that visits to the park for May through July increased nearly 40 percent in 2003. "This is due to the water playground," he says. So popular is Tickfaw's spray ground that officials from other venues, including Arkansas' state park system, have visited. As at many other spray grounds, the attractions are sensor-activated, which minimizes staffing. Rangers turn the system on in the morning and off in the evening, and can be available if mechanical problems develop.

Spray playgrounds offer recreation providers another big advantage: long after pools have closed because teen-age lifeguards have returned to the classroom, non-guarded spray grounds can remain open. Ticfaw, in temperate Louisiana, can have its spray ground open much more of the year than the park's pool. "We had to close it down for the last tropical storm, but it's been open most of the rest of the time since we opened it last year," says King.

Similarly, North Berwyn Park District residents were busy enjoying their new playground on a day in mid-September, when the mercury soared to 80-degrees plus. The community's pools had been closed for weeks. In fact, the district has opted to operate the spray ground from noon to 6 p.m. daily on days when the temperature was at least 75 degrees. "We've had tremendous feedback about having it open late and being able to use it," says director Vallez. "People think it's great that we didn't close the pool at a set time or date, but are instead being responsive to The community's desires."

Making a Splash

Before adding a spray pool, park districts should consider a number of factors, says Rich Klarck, an aquatics engineer for PHN Architects who has helped to design stand-alone spray pools that are part of a larger aquatic facility.

* What is the anticipated bather load? "In some states, a spray ground is not considered a pool," Klarck says. "It doesn't contribute to the bather load, so operators don't necessarily have to modify the bathhouse if a spray ground is added."

* Are other facilities nearby, such as a traditional playground on the same site, that would increase use? "High use will affect the design," explains Klarck. He recommends oversizing the storage reservoir and filtration system if large numbers of bathers are expected. "That will extend the amount of time that the filtration system will operate before the water needs to be drained and refilled with fresh water," he says.

* What type of play surface is required? A safety surface adds considerably to the overall cost, but may be necessary if climbing activities are planned, Klarck says.

* Which circulation system is best? Some facilities utilize a "closed water treatment system," with filtered and treated water that's recirculated. Others simply use a constant flow of fresh water instead of treating, filtering and recirculating the water. After the fresh water runs through the system, it's drained or collected, and then used for irrigation or other water-replenishing systems. "The fresh-water method works if the spray ground has low-flow activities, particularly if there's minimal staff to deal with the chemicals and cleaning the system," says Klarck. "It's an effective way to provide fun without worrying about chemicals and staffing." An alternative is an automatic water management system which monitors and controls the quality of water as it recirculates.

* Will water be heated? Using heated water will, obviously, increase costs.

* What will your staffing requirements be? Many operators--restricted generally to those with stand-alone spray grounds--find they don't need lifeguards.

* What are the desired play features?

* What is the anticipated age group? Should there be age restrictions? Many considerations are, of course, interrelated. For example, if the spray ground is in a neighborhood park and there are no lifeguards, perhaps district officials want to add features that are either sensor- or timer-activated. "A youngster presses a fire hydrant and that turns on the whole system for 10 minutes," Klarck offers as an example. "Perhaps a district wants to have a combination of features, with some that run constantly and others that are turned on by the children using the spray ground."

* Should you provide toilet facilities? In some states--Illinois, for example--toilet facilities aren't required if the spray ground is stand-alone. Klarck recommends them, however. A spray ground that's part of a larger aquatic center obviously already offers facilities.

* What ancillary features should be provided, such as shade and picnic tables, for parents to use while watching their children play? With a location adjacent to a playground, and with picnic tables and plenty of shade, the new spray ground at Pyrce Park in Berwyn, Ill., has proved to be a popular destination. "Kids can go through the entire park. They go to the playground for a while, then they come back to the spray ground," says Joe Vallez, executive director of the North Berwyn Park District. "Parents bring lunch and families stay for several hours."

Beth Bales is a writer living in Geneva, Ill.