Penetron Permanently Waterproofs the Tauá Water Park in Brazil

The Tauá Aquapark in Atibaia, Brazil, welcomed its first adventure guests in December 2019. Penetron crystalline technology was used as the preferred waterproofing solution for all concrete pool structures.

"The municipality of Atibaia is renowned for its extensive farms that export strawberries around the world," says Cláudio Neves Ourives, Executive Director of Penetron Brazil. " The town's name also means "healthy water river" in Tupi, an indigenous language. That’s an auspicious place for the Tauá Aquapark.”

With over 140,000 inhabitants, Atibaia is a municipality of São Paulo State in southern Brazil. The Tauá Hotel Atibaia, part of the Brazilian chain of Tauá Hotels, originally installed a large, 80 m x 20 m (264 x 66 feet) swimming pool in 2018. Notably, the project was completed in just five days with PENETRON ADMIX-enhanced shotcrete (PAES) – and sealing the construction joints with PENEBAR SW swellable waterstop strips.
 

Using a Proven Solution

After the success of the swimming pool, the Tauá Hotel decided to build the Tauá Aquapark using PENETRON ADMIX-treated concrete for all the pools. The newly completed water park includes a lazy river, water slide pools, the volleyball and basketball pools.

“The amount of groundwater present at the site resulted in a challenging construction situation. However, the Penetron solution was unaffected by the groundwater and construction continued without delay,” explains Cláudio Neves Ourives. “There were many reasons for using Penetron’s crystalline technology. Firstly, they wanted to keep the water inside the lazy river and the pool structures, but also keep the groundwater from seeping into the concrete and contaminating the pool water. Penetron provided a solution that withstands water pressure from both positive and negative sides.”
 

Reducing Permeability and Deterioration

Adding PENETRON ADMIX to a concrete mix helps significantly reduce permeability of the matrix by growing insoluble crystals within the microcracks, pores and capillaries. This effectively protects concrete against corrosion and concrete deterioration caused by high chloride levels typically found in pools. In addition, PENETRON ADMIX-treated concrete provides self-healing capabilities for any future hairline cracks that might form.

“Even under the constant and high hydrostatic pressure encountered in the pools of the Tauá Aquapark, Penetron crystalline technology ensures permanent resistance to any possible water penetration,” concludes Claudio Neves Ourives. “That’s total concrete protection.”