Feature Project

The Bahraini climate begs opportunities for kids to play with water. Premier Q, long-time partner of PolySoft in developing splash pads in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has made water play available to all families living in or visiting the Amwaj Islands residential area with the opening this year of WahaSplashclub.

From 10am to 9pm daily at this ticketed playground on the edge of the Persian Gulf, some 800 square metres  of slip-resistant, fall-attenuating PolySoft Splash in turquoise, yellow, blue and salmon hues erupts with 30 water features that spout, squirt, whoosh, meander, mist or tumble in waves.

“In 2015, we were inspired to come up with a splash-pad experience that would be publicly accessible,” says Nabil Rashidi, managing director of Premier Q, designer and supplier of water park equipment. “We wanted to focus on the cognitive learning and family aspect of the experience,” the father of three told local newspaper Gulf Weekly at the opening of WahaSplashclub in January.

Premier Q partnered with Canadian company, Vortex Aquatic Structures International to develop the family-fun facility, which caters to people of all ages and abilities, including those who rely on wheelchairs for mobility. 

Features such as the Water Journey, with its paddles and water paths, teach children about the flow of water; pressure-sensitive water fountains offer hands-on demonstrations of Pascal’s Principle of pressure distribution in liquid; and the thunderous splash of the Super Wave gives a gentle introduction to the power of water in a zero-depth environment.

“Safety is at the core of our product development process,” says Stephen Hamelin, president and CEO of Vortex Aquatic Structures International. “We challenge ourselves to provide exciting play experiences while minimising the risk of injury.”

PolySoft Splash surface and all other installed elements of WahaSplashclub are designed and engineered to meet international safety guidelines for aquatic play, and water drains constantly from the surface, with no opportunity for pooling that might pose a drowning risk.

That water — 15,000 litres, or less than one-third of the 50,000 litres it takes to fill a small swimming pool — is constantly channeled into a reservoir, where it is sanitised before it again comes up to catch the sun, or the night-time light show.

Behind the scenes, a programmable, computerised control system allows Splashclub managers to adjust water flows, vary the colours of light beaming through the water features and change some activities to up the entertainment ante.

“We’re proud to be involved with such an innovative venture,” says Ophelia Zhu, managing director of PolySoft. “The values of safety and sustainability embodied in WahaSplashclub resonate with PolySoft’s own philosophies, and it’s delightful to see kids from throughout the kingdom have access to cooling play.”

The Gulf Weekly addressed the concerns of parents across the globe when it wrote that WahaSplashclub gives families “respite from their screens and a novel way to experience water while moving, laughing and socialising”.

For more information, please visit www.polysoftsurfaces.com or contact our friendly team on 02 9624 1388.