[J1ceasar]

Ha ha . April fool's? Nothing guaranteed . Why would they invest here when the community has dozens of pools? More likely Clermont with young families .Or as some say a name dropper for investors . Lake/ Sumter has no tourism nexus

[bluecenturian]

If you look on their website they list Lake Panasoffkee as an in development site. They have already opened a beautiful facility in Wesley Chapel.

It looks like their high expense options are for heated waters and weather domes, 2 things not a big need for in Florida.

The Wesley Chapel location is $35pp general entry, hardly a budget breaker and they are sold out regularly.

[bluecenturian]

Crystal Lagoon lists Lake Panasoffkee as in development stage. This is less than 7 miles from the villages. The project is more than likely being advertised as “The Villages” because no one knows where Lake Panasoffkee is but everyone knows where TV is.

Like Tampa Bay baseball team that don’t play in the City of Tampa Bay.

It will be very close to TV but not on property. Easy exit fro I75 and Turnpike.

[bluecenturian]

Already done. 2 homes in Oxford Oakes going up with pre fab walls.

[DeirdreFoster]

Hope it's Lake Opkahumpka (spelling?) I've been wondering how we are going to enjoy paddle boarding and other water sports there.

[G.R.I.T.S.]

Originally Posted by tghoul

Lagoons coming to 5 Central Florida Counties

No thanks!

[Joe C.]

Right.....No Thanks!

Just what we need in TV. Another public place for noise, mayhem and chaos.
What we need is a nice place to eat, relax, and have some nice conversation without any intrusion.

[Lisanp@aol.com]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

I haven't heard of this company before, but I did do some research. They have a lot of "pie in the sky" targets listed on their webpages, TV isn't one of them. I'm uncertain also of a possible location in TV or Sumter County for this and it would be very uncharacteristic for the developer to outsource a major amenity item such as this.

Understanding what this facility really is is also important, it is a heat sink for rejected heat for an industrial process or major air conditioning facility (mall, data center, etc). It utilizes this waste heat to create a heated pool (you can do this with your own pool and heat pump with a product I found) for entertainment purposes. Currently there isn't a major heat source located or planned that I know of that would be suitable. But I could be wrong all together on this, we'll just have to keep watching.

This is a huge expense and would require a significant customer base to support, something I don't think they'll find in TV or Sumter County. Many villagers are cheap and won't want to spend a dime to go to a place like this, especially in the cooler months.

I'm definitely going to do some more digging on this one.

The large retention pond on the county line near the new power substation? Could the substation be cooled by water? No idea on technology in this area, but I do know that the blue lagoon in Iceland is waste water from a power plant...

[NatureBoy]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

As I said in the previous post, the pool is little more than a heat sink for a facility that produces a lot of heat.

I think you're being confused by their web page. The heatsink is an OPTIONAL use of a lagoon; it's not a requirement. It's one way to provide heating to a section of a larger lagoon.

The big technology break through they claim to have is mass desalination and purification of the water.

One has to look also at the marketability of a lagoon location in or around The Villages. This would be a tourist attraction, it would have to have its own local draw as it's too far from the Orlando attractions to attract customers and would have to compete with Wet-n-Wild, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizard Beach, and the other area water parks. Other "attractions" and businesses would need to exist to be successful. For the locals/resident the novelty will wear off quickly so you must continuously pull in new customers. Sure, it would be nice to take the grandkids to when down for a visit, but regular use by Villages residents, not very likely. It's been my experience over the last 7 years living here that most residents here are cheap and have forgotten how the real-world works (businesses have to make money), any cost increase and they cry poor with indignation and condemnation, blaming it all on the developer for being greedy.

If you do some digging on their web site and a bit of web searching, you'll see that several of these are installed in planned communities as part of the community amenities - and the public is allowed in for a fee.

So my speculation is:

• "Central Lake" shown in the recent Continuing the Dream booklet is one of these Lagoons.
• The new "Community Support District" gets one of these with residents getting access as part of their HOA/amenity fee, and the public being charged access.
• It's installed adjacent to the Wellness Village and used for cooling.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

After giving this some more though, I'm intrigued by the possibilities, the technical aspects of such a place is an easy fit for our area as it grows. Let me explain.

As I said in the previous post, the pool is little more than a heat sink for a facility that produces a lot of heat. Many large facilities and campuses use a Central Energy Plant (CEP) to produce chill water (for air conditioning and humidity control), hot water (domestic use and heating), and backup electrical power. Most CEPs use an array of cooling towers to reject the produced heat, these are commonly seen on large building rooftops and set aside locations around a group of buildings. Some uninformed see the steam plume coming from the towers and assume it to be air pollution, it's simply water vapor.

Currently in Sumter County there are few large heat loads that would require the sizable CEP that would be needed for one of these lagoons. As I said, currently. Look ahead just a few years and the picture is different. The proposed medical complex that is in the planning stages is a prime candidate for a CEP since it is all greenfield work and the distribution infrastructure can be economically laid in at the initial stages of the development. Hospitals are HUGE energy users, and many use the CEP concept to help control energy costs. All this being said, it seems technically feasible for our area to have such a lagoon location.

Looking at the other side of the coin, economics, is a necessary evil. The addition of such a heat sink would be additional cost, conventional cooling towers sufficient to handle the CEP full load would still need to be built on-site to handle the facilities needs in case something happened to the lagoon heat sink (a sink hole opens up and drains the lagoon, it is Florida after all).

One has to look also at the marketability of a lagoon location in or around The Villages. This would be a tourist attraction, it would have to have its own local draw as it's too far from the Orlando attractions to attract customers and would have to compete with Wet-n-Wild, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizard Beach, and the other area water parks. Other "attractions" and businesses would need to exist to be successful. For the locals/resident the novelty will wear off quickly so you must continuously pull in new customers. Sure, it would be nice to take the grandkids to when down for a visit, but regular use by Villages residents, not very likely. It's been my experience over the last 7 years living here that most residents here are cheap and have forgotten how the real-world works (businesses have to make money), any cost increase and they cry poor with indignation and condemnation, blaming it all on the developer for being greedy.

Who would operate such a location? The developer, maybe but doubtful, amusement parks (for lack of a better label) are not their specialty. The local government/CDD, not likely. A 3rd party, this is the most likely, but they would be focused on their own profitability and not necessarily the image and reputation of The Villages/developer putting them at odds with the developer. Only one person gets to drive the bus and I doubt the developer will give up control of the future and planning of The Villages.

This would also require a large swath of land within or adjacent to current development. This would take away from home/golf course/amenity development.

So, technically feasible, absolutely, but likely improbable for coming here. I know, the guy in the interview said The Villages as a location, but more likely it is in the early stages of consideration, and it will probably wither and die on the vine.

(Before retiring I worked for Johnson Controls and was involved with the CEPs at St. Jude, FedEx World Hqtrs, Shands hospital, and Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis, as well as several others.)

I'm going to continue to dig into this one, it's an interesting concept, but I think unlikely to come to fruition.

One type of facility with heavy AC needs is a Cloud Computing Facility. They may have thousands of computer servers running at once, and they have to be kept cool. These places cost millions to build—often over $20 million—and they are being built in a number of locations around the world. They look a lot like a shipping warehouse. I could see a large one including a Crystal Lagoon from the beginning. It might even become common. Maybe one will be built in Sumter County. Maybe down near the interstate.

The original article says it can use 100 times fewer chemicals. That always confuses me. 100 times should be MORE, not LESS. It should be “one hundredth as much.”

[SusanStCatherine]

I looked at the pictures on their website. Mostly an enormous pool. There are a few kayaks and a few inflatables. If they want my continued business they would have to have at least a large solid corkscrew slide or a lazy river.

[mulligan]

The heat sink idea makes sense. I heard seco is planning a new nuclear power generation station next to the prison at coleman.

[jimkerr]

This would be a great addition to the area and 35 bucks a person is a bargain compared to the price of a water park.

I’ve been to the one @ Epperson in Wesley Chapel and it’s amazing. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth the drive to check it out.

[Gator_Girl]

Jacksonville already has this concept:
The Exurbs Are Growing Faster Than Jacksonville Itself | WJCT NEWS

[Velvet]

I can’t think of a person I know who’d be interested in this monstrosity, maybe grand kids? Please don’t come anywhere near Lake Sumter with it!