Design & Construction
As Principal of Rowley International Inc, Dr. Rowley designed swimming pools and spas for universities, colleges, cities, counties, hospitals, hotels, the United States armed services, and other entities. Dr. Rowley designed swimming pools for competition, recreation, training, and therapy. Dr. Rowley also designed the refurbishment of public swimming pools and spas.
Dr. Rowley designed the circulation system on the White House swimming pool in the mid-1970s. In the early 1980s, he designed the swimming, diving, and synchronized swimming pools for the XXIII Olympiad (1984 Olympic Games) in Los Angeles.
He also designed and coordinated the construction of swimming pools/training tanks for NASA, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Marines. In 2005, he designed the refurbishment of the three Arvin Gymnasium swimming pools (the 50-meter Crandall Pool, the Intramural Pool, and the Training Pool) at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.
Dr. Rowley also designed the refurbishment of both the historic Hearst Castle Neptune Pool and the historic Marion Davies Beach House swimming pool in Santa Monica (both of which were designed by renowned California architect Julia Morgan). In June 2008, Dr. Rowley was awarded the Joseph McCloskey Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Art and Craft of Watershaping.
Dr. Rowley has taught Swimming Pool Programming, Design, Construction and Operation at various California State Schools and Universities and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in 1994 and 1996.
From 1970 to 1980, Dr. Rowley was in charge of all engineering activities for Fluid Filtration Systems (engaged in world-wide industrial and commercial fluid filtration) and for Swimquip, the largest manufacturer of residential and commercial swimming pool equipment worldwide ($40 million annually). In these positions, his responsibilities included all company products from development to manufacturing. He was the Director of Engineering of Swimquip, a major swimming pool equipment manufacturer in El Monte, California, for ten years. Swimquip designed, manufactured, tested, and sold approximately 50,000 swimming pool 110-volt and 220-volt single-phase pumps per year, ranging from 1/3hp to 3hp. These pumps were listed by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and the Underwriters Laboratory (UL). Swimquip also designed, manufactured, tested, and sold approximately 30,000 residential and commercial swimming pool filters per year which were listed by National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) under their Standard 50. Dr. Rowley was in charge of the corporate safety program which met monthly and investigated any safety and technical issues that were brought forth by salesmen, staff, and customers. Through rigorous pressure testing, Dr. Rowley destroyed over 150 filters in his efforts to improve their safety.
Dr. Rowley is the named inventor on thirteen (13) U.S. Patents, eight (8) Canadian Patents, and two (2) Spanish Patents for swimming pool equipment. All of these patents became products manufactured by Swimquip (which was bought by Sta-Rite Industries; Sta-Rite Industries was eventually bought by Pentair Pool Products) that are sold in the United States of America and internationally.
Dr. Rowley has been a licensed Contractor (#302451) in the State of California since February 3, 1975 and obtained the following California Contractor Licenses which are presently not current: General Engineering Contractor (A), Plumbing Contractor (C-36), Swimming Pool Contractor (C-53), and Solar Contractor (C-46).
Dr. Rowley has been a Certified Safety Professional (CSP #9731) and was certified by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) from 1990 through 2015. The CSP certification is a certification for safety professionals in the United States of America and requires education, professional safety experience, and demonstrated knowledge of professional safety practice. CSP applicants undergo an eight-hour safety exam and must be recertified every five years.
Industry Activity
From 1987 until 1997, Dr. Rowley was a member of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) and National Spa & Pool Institute’s (NSPI) National Swimming Pool Safety Committee (NSPSC). He also served on the NSPSC’s Steering Committee and Research Sub-Committee. As part of his duties, each year he personally reviewed approximately four hundred CPSC aquatic accident investigations. The NSPSC, based on the investigation and research, developed recommendations and programs for the CPSC. The NSPSC developed swimming pool safety tips and standards that were followed by most state and local environmental health departments.
Dr. Rowley served on the National Spa and Pool Institute’s (NSPI) Technical Council from 1974 to 1981. He also served on the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), Uniform Swimming Pool Code Committee from 1974 to 1981 and assisted in writing IAPMO’s first Uniform Swimming Pool Code and IAPMO’s first Uniform Solar Energy Code. In addition, he served on the National Sanitation Foundation’s (NSF) Standard 50 Joint Committee (Circulating System Components for Swimming Pools, Spas or Hot Tubs) from 1974 to 1992.
Dr Rowley served on the Board of Directors for the National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) continuously from 1983 to 2010 (27 years). The NSPF is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving public health worldwide by attracting more people to safer aquatic environments. The NSPF is the leading educator for pool and spa professionals who service and operate public and private pools and spas and for public health officials who are responsible for pool safety, and is committed to improving public health by encouraging healthier living through aquatic education and research. Dr. Rowley assisted the NSPF with updating the Certified Pool Operator Handbook for the NSPF’s Certified Pool/Spa Operator program. Dr. Rowley also served as Secretary of the NSPF. Among other duties, he served as Chairman of the Aquatic Safety Compendium Committee, which produced the Aquatic Safety Compendium in 2006. In this Compendium, he also authored Chapter 7: Suction Entrapment.
Dr. Rowley served on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for the California Pool & Spa Association (CPSA, formerly the California Spa and Pool Industry Education Council [SPEC]) for over 39 years. The CPSA is a Sacramento-based organization that influences legislation in the State of California for swimming pools and spas. The CPSA (as SPEC) was the sponsor of the California 1997 Senate Bill 873 and California 2002 Senate Bill 1726 which were passed into law. Both of these bills concerned suction entrapment prevention. Dr. Rowley drafted the technical side of both bills.
Dr. Rowley was one of the contributors to the 1982 and 2012 revisions of the California Swimming Pool Code (Title 22 & 24) of the California Health and Safety Code, California Administrative Code and Uniform Building Code. The full title of this code is “The Design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Public Swimming Pools”. This is basically the present California State Commercial Swimming Pool Code.
Research
For over 40 years, Dr. Rowley has been engaged in basic research on suction entrapment and has tested and written extensively on the subject since his first suction entrapment testing in June of 1974. He pioneered the development of suction entrapment testing methodology and personally trapped himself on underwater drains in over 300 field tests. He has authored or co-authored over 20 articles, papers, and research studies on suction entrapment. His most recent research on suction entrapment was peer-reviewed and published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education. He received the 1998 California Spa & Pool Industry Council Locksin Thompson Memorial Public Service Award for his work on suction entrapment.
Dr. Rowley has also authored peer-reviewed studies on diving (headfirst entry into water), alcohol and aquatics, and water filtration.