When talking to your pool builder, if you've ever said, "I want my water to be that really deep blue", or, "I want my pool water to look like the Pacific Ocean", then you would agree deep blue water has a lot of appeal.  It associates images of an island paradise or even the famous blue marble image of Earth taken by the Apollo astronauts.  Whatever the case may be, you want a backyard getaway with cool, beautiful water to remind you of an "exotic" vacation, or a peaceful day at the beach.  While blue might be your instinctive choice, it is not the only choice.  Before we go any further, lets first answer those age-old questions we often hear children ask: "Why is the sky blue?" and "Why is the Ocean blue?"

Blinding me with science...

The sky and the ocean are not always blue.  In their most basic form, water and the sky derive their color from a principle called Rayleigh scattering.  It's probably not necessary to go into oscillating dipoles or the fourth power dependence of power density with frequency, but if you are really into that stuff, please click here for an excellent explanation.

For the rest of us, think about light hitting a crystal of glass or a prism, and visualize seeing the rainbow of colors that splash on the wall.  The color of an object is determined by the degree in which it absorbs or scatters light.  When sunlight hits the sky or the ocean, the blue light is absorbed and the other colors of the rainbow scatter.  Because the rest of the colors have scattered all we see is blue.  Sometimes green, orange, purple, or red are seen instead.  In fact, a myriad of other colors can result from particles (or algae!) that interfere with this natural effect.

Stand in front of a window and look at it.  If you focus just right, you will see your reflection.  Now, try shifting a little and your perspective changes.  Instead of seeing your reflection, you actually see through the window to the outside.  Your swimming pool works in somewhat the same way.  Certain surface colors will draw your eyes to the bottom of the swimming pool and others will focus your eyes on the water surface.  

It's a matter of perspective

Your swimming pool will be viewed from two basic vantage points: at a distance (for example, looking out from the kitchen window), and sitting by the water's edge.  Nearly every photo shown during the sales presentation will be the latter - an overview beauty shot.  From this vantage point, you will see the big picture, the scattering of light from above and the additive color of the bottom.

This is the part where a non-Trilogy salesman might say, "the whiter the swimming pool the bluer the water."  This should not be your only consideration.  If you walk up to the edge of the pool, what color will you see? After all, if you were building something to simply look at from the patio, wouldn't a pond be a lot less expensive? Instead, we must take into consideration what the pool looks like on close inspection.  This is where visual texture comes into play.  In general, people are uncomfortable in spaces with just one color.  Think of living in a pure white room and images of an torture chamber or prison come to mind.  The same thing can be said about a swimming pool.  Do you really want it to be a simple solid color?

Pool customers across the country are saying no.  Today's swimming pools are flush with vivid patterns: on vinyl liners, pebble finishes on concrete, and Trilogy Pool owners have increasingly chosen our unique Solid Surface Pool® and Solid Surface Spa® finishes over traditional solid colors, particularly solid white.

The reason is simple.  First, visual texture creates an inviting and relaxing environment.  Just as important, a pattern tends to mask debris and other material.  Take carpet for example: Solid white carpet seems to be a dirt magnet, while a darker, patterned carpet stays clean.  Does white really attract more dirt? A swimming pool is no different.  It is this same visual texture that gives a gunite pool its distinctly different look from that of the traditional white fiberglass pool.  This is especially noticeable when the pool is finished with similar tile and brick pavers or a cantilevered deck.  Even white plaster has a mottled finish and it is this subtle difference that has a profound effect on our subconscious view of the surface.  As more and more traditional concrete builders have started installing Trilogy Pools they tend to gravitate to our solid surface finishes and we continue to reaffirm this observation.

Selecting a quality swimming pool finish

Now that you've made it this far, it's time to talk about color selection and see what effect the finishes will have on the swimming pool.  Trilogy believes extremely beautiful pools can be created with the colors we have thoroughly tested and selected.  Our researchers are constantly looking to find other colors, so be sure to check with your authorized Trilogy Builder for our latest product offerings.

White Gel Coat 

Gel coat is the same material used on boat hulls and bathtubs.  It is a durable surface that is both non-porous and easy to clean.  Gel coat is also quite easy to repair.  Obviously white cannot be bleached out (it's already white), but it can slightly yellow over time.  While this problem is mostly associated with early gel coat endeavors, there can still be a slight shift in color at the waterline.  Aesthetics aside, this is one good reason to install your pool with a brick paver, stone, or cantilever deck and tile.  In this way, all of the exposed gel coat will be below the waterline and therefore exposed to identical conditions.  Any slight color shift will typically be even and barely discernible.

Historically this is the "look" of the fiberglass pool.  White gel coat is quite easy to repair and pretty robust (it's the primary coating for boats and yachts).  White will reflect the most amount of light, which maximizes the scattering and results in the blue water.  How deep blue the color is depends on how deep the water is from your vantage point.  Deep Water = Deep Blue.  Shallow Water = Light Blue.  Glass of water = Transparent.  A white swimming pool will be blue, but not deep blue.  The solid white surface appears sterile to some observers.  Tile, brick pavers, and colored/natural stone decks can minimize the sterile look from a distance.  There will be no visual texture other than the very noticeable debris at the bottom.

It's revolutionizing fiberglass pools!

Solid Surface Pool® and Solid Surface Spa®

We are excited about our Solid Surface Pool finishes.  Our staff has been working with solid surface finishes for pools for over 12 years.  This is a true solid surface finish - exactly what is used on kitchen counter tops, sinks, and bathroom vanities.  While traditional gel coat finishes would never hold up to such harsh environments (have you ever seen a gel coat countertop?), a solid surface finish will not only out-perform, it will out-perform with style.  Our Solid Surface Pool finish provides outstanding visual texture in a smooth, non-porous, easy to clean surface.  Trilogy currently offers 12 Solid Surface Pool color choices.  To get a better idea of what your water color will look like, take a stroll through our Water Color Guide.

So there you have it, a detailed look at some of the elements that will ultimately aid in creating the final color of your swimming pool.  There are some excellent reference books available that can give you a much more in depth color analysis, but we hope this article gives you a quick overview for your selection.  We have chosen colors for Trilogy Pools that will be enduring, not trendy, so your swimming pool will look as just as good 20 years from now as it does today.  Regardless of what color you select for your new Trilogy Pool, you are going to have years of maintenance free enjoyment.  We assure you it will be less upkeep than the grass you'll replace.®