Swimming Pool Design and layout

That will depend upon where you are: different places have different codes-of-practise on this.

This is a nice link.

http://www.howibuiltmyownpool.com/index.php

As mentioned location is important. Also we need to know is this above ground or in-ground, commercial or residential? Are you wanting to design one for yourself or go into the business of manufacturing?

I put in an in-ground type in 2007. My wife, myself, and some very good friends did all of the work. We opted for plastic walls instead of steel. Our home owners insurance company required the hopper to be 9' instead of the standard 8' for a diving board as well as a 4' fence around the pool area. We were sent 2 main drains by the vendor. When I asked he told me the NPSA was going to be changing the regs and will be requiring two drains to prevent someone from getting stuck on the single drain and drowning. We also used vermiculite for the floor. It is less abrasive than sand floors thus extending the life of the liner. I installed aqua genie skimmers. These have built in chlorine dispensers and returns. They do not require any other returns and actually work best if none are used. I did install 2 returns on the opposing wall anyway. They were intended for sprinklers or spray nozzles for the kids to play in as well as a means to connect a solar heater on that side of the pool.

Things I would change if I were to do this again:

Hire out the backhoe work. I can run a backhoe and a transit but not at the same time. A good operator and someone on the transit will have the excavation done in 4 or 5 hours.

Install an automatic safety cover. I was shocked to see how much an ugly fence cost. With the price of a fence off setting the cover it would not have been much more.