I am building an outdoor gunite diving pool and I want to have a swim current generator installed. The pool companies are all familiar with and install the Badu Swim Jet frequently. They have not heard of or installed a Fastlane wall mount or the Riverflow. I have a friend with an Endless Pool, and frankly, it is kind of loud. Also, I’m not crazy about the big metal Fastlane apparatus sticking out from the wall of my pool, though it is relatively economical at less than $7000, plus around $2500 installation, for the high performance model. The Swim Jet and Riverflow are both flush mounted, a much cleaner appearance. The knock I have read on the Swim Jet is that it is too narrow of a jet rather than a diffused current over the entire body, so that you are getting a jet blast to the middle of your head. Also, I’m concerned that it may not be fast enough to do real competitive swim training and may not have good enough variability in the speed adjustment. I can get it installed for $6000. The Riverflow, on the other hand, is advertised to be nearly quiet, and to have a large diffused current like a river, and comes in a competition model that apparently is strong enough to kayak against. I think that model will be around $9500 plus around $2500 installation. There is no mention whatsoever of the Riverflow on the net other than its two websites, so there is really no feedback there.
I am most concerned with getting the best system, even if it might cost a more, but don’t want to spend $12,000 if I can get something I would be just as happy with for 1/2 the price. I tend to think the Riverflow is the right choice because of its flush mount, quiet operation and diffused current, but I don’t find much objective information about it. My pool contractors would rather just do the Badu Swim Jet as they have done it before and it is a known entity.
I would appreciate any experiences or thoughts you may have on these systems. Thank you.
contact riverflow and see if they have any preferred installers.
as a landscape architect i’m dealing with pool and fountain people all the time and the people who really know are those that put them together - i’ve never spec’d any of these systems - but i’ve found, as you have, that individual contractors have their favorite products that they just want to use again, be it heaters, filters, covers, etc … but manufacturers tend to have contractors who can act as references, and they’re usually pretty good at giving you the pros and cons.
High speed jets do not work for serious swimming. They displace very little water and compensate with very high speed. You basically fight a high speed jet hitting your head. Not fun.
No experience with Riverflow. I do however have an endless pool and it is fantastic for swimming. Yes it can be noisy but the pump and motor can be installed as far as you want from the pool. So if you have a large backyard or a shed, run longer pipes and install the noisy stuff as far away from the pool as you can. An insulated enclosure will reduce the noise if it has to be close.
I would not invest money with the Riverflow system unless you can try it or talk with serious swimmers that have used it. At least with the fastlane, you know you will get good swim in.
Francois in Montreal
PS: I just looked at the Riverflow website and was not impressed. The very very average swimmer shown in the video does not give much on the power of the system and when they mention that it will give a 12 mph current, this would indicate that it would be closer to a jet than a fastlane system (going at world record speed for 100m requires only 5mph of current if it is deep and wide enough. Keep in mind that the endless pool/fastlane can discharge up to 5000 gallons a minute. I would email Riverflow and ask them what is the maximum discharge of their unit. If it’s anything less than that, I would not consider it.
Going out to Malibu in a week, so I will try to get a demo of the Riverflow. It seems perfect, but I am concerned about it having too narrow of a current. However, it uses a large volume pump instead of fan blades, so you would expect less turbulence, and the flow on their videos looks pretty smooth, though they could have chosen a better swimmer. It seems Riverflow isn’t really marketing right now to the competitive swimmer, because I don’t know what 12mph current means. They should do like Fastlane and tell you what 100m pace it generates. Anyway, I’ll report back if I get a chance to try it out. I don’t know if I’ll try the competition model or the one below though.
The only bad thing about Fastlane is the bulky appearance that will take up space in the pool and the noise. I can locate it away from my pool, but then it will be nearer my neighbors, who will probably like to sleep at 6:00 am when I plan to jump in for a swim.
Talked to the Riverflow rep in California and he says they have a larger presence in Europe with a very involved distributor there, but run mostly off the website in the states. He is trying to find me a demo system for next week while I am there, hopefully the competition model. We’ll see.
If you think the Fastlane is loud, stay clear of the Badu Jet! I have an Exerswim current generator installed in a Medallion Pool. I have had several electrical problems with it due to back wash soaking the electronics while swimming. I have since been told that it is designed for full size pools with little back wash. So, I, too, am looking for another propulsion system. The down side with the Exerswim and the Badu Jet (single jet) is the concentrated flow. It is difficult to swim against for long periods of time as a result. It is great for interval work, however, and the speed seems to be OK.
The Badu jet did not seem to be any quieter than my unit and the Fastlane they demo’d at Wildflower seemed to be much quieter than either one. The integrated, multiple jet system may make the Badu Jet less noisy/turbulent. I am leaning toward the fastlane due to the better managed flow for endurance swim workouts.
I cannot believe they would charge $2500 for the installation. The electrical should only be about $500 and the rest is just hooking it up (mounting it and routing the electric and hydraulic lines). Are they building you a pump house for that price? I built my own pump house for less than $100 in materials and it is completely weatherproof (fully insulated, cedar clad with metal roof) even in sub zero temp with 3’ of snow.
Not being familiar with the Riverflow system, I cannot comment. Good luck!
for those of you seriously looking at a propulsion system for an existing pool, and if the Fastlane is the one you think you want, and if you live in the L.A. area or thereabouts, give me a shout. it so happens i’m looking for a person who’ll install one, so that i can give it a product review. i think i can arrange a special deal for the person who’d let me invade his house and privacy for the purpose of a product review.
about the installation. i have an installer, but i don’t see the need. monty and i installed my own endless pool in a couple of days, and the trouble in the installation was with the pool itself, not the propulsion unit. it took monty and i 2 or 3 days to do the entire above ground pool installation, plus the plumbing of all the filtration system, the heater, the propulsion unit, the hydrolic unit. what took the REAL time was drawing in the electrical, preparing the space, laying the slab, building the deck around it, and you don’t do any of that with the Fastlane.
this assumes we’re talking about a deck mount. a wall mount would be trickier as you sort of build that into the pool you’re constructing, as i understand it. but i kind of like the idea of something that’s entirely portable.
all you need is a place to put the hydraulic unit, and you’ve got some hydraulic lines you’ll have to cover, i guess, sort of like the way the big electrical lines are covered by those pastic thingies you ride your bike over to get in and out of transition. but maybe i’m missing something, which is why i need to have somebody do the install so that i can write about the whole process (as i did with the endless pool i installed).
as for the other units mentioned, i can only vouch for the endless pool’s propulsion unit. but i don’t think it’s noisy, i actually think it’s kind of quiet relative to the amount of water it moves. plus, it’s only on when you’re swimming, so, what’s the big whoop?
I’m interested in the same information. I’m going to be building a pool shortly here, and instead of slapping on a fastlane afterwards, I’d like to just get the functionality in at the pool. I know most people don’t have that option, but since I do…
Okay, I demo’d the Riverflow. Here is what I told the rep afterwards:
*I did get a chance to demo. Thank you very much for helping to arrange that. * *Honestly, I don’t think the Riverflow is right for me. I demo’d the competition system at full power. While it is very attractive in being flush to the wall and the pump is relatively quiet, the swim channel is significantly more narrow near the outlet than the Endless Pool systems, which means it is difficult to stay in the middle of the current and you have to constantly adjust your stroke fast and slow to try to stay in the middle of the current. Also, I found that when swimming hard I would ride on top of the current because the current was too low in the water, which meant I had to slow down or hit the wall. Good swimmers balance very high in the water, so the current would need to span all the way to the surface so that you could not swim on top of it. Even near the outlet, the current is not as strong as the high performance Endless Pool or Fastlane, both of which I have used on several occasions and cannot outswim at the highest setting. I could fairly easily outswim the Riverflow. If I backed off the outlet, the swim current became wider and easier to navigate without having to constantly adjust my stroke, but of course the current was not as strong back there so there was an unacceptable trade off. * ** *Anyway, while I think the system is very nice and would be good for the great majority of recreational swimmers looking to get some exercise at home or for a nice lazy river application, it isn’t right for me. I’m really looking for something made specifically for competitive swim training. Plus, at nearly twice the cost, almost 1/4 of the total cost of my new pool and spa, I just couldn’t justify that expense. *
Thanks for the effort to separate out these different swim current generators. Very helpful discussion. I like the idea of the Riverflow because I don’t want something in the pool or that I can see like the Fastlane even though it sounds like the Fastlane works very well (other than noise). Do you think the placement of the flow generators for the Riverflow system could be adjusted to prevent you from riding over the top of the current? Also, could one install more of the their generators for a stronger current? and could you install a wider array to get a wider stream? I don’t know if you remember but can you describe the configuration of the ones you demo’ed? BTW - I am not a competitive swimmer like you but want to swim for physical fitness and I am pretty strong - so maybe, as you suggested, the Riverflow may be powerful enough for me and my needs?
