ater-slide manufacturers make it clear that park operators should never try to speed up or slow down a water slide by adjusting the water flow or by applying anything to the slide’s surface.
Manufacturers design rides to accommodate a specific speed. They carefully calculate this speed through a complex formula that accounts for the ride’s design, a rider’s body weight and other factors. Any manipulations by park operators — for example, altering the water flow to speed up the ride — could prove hazardous to riders.
“Cleanliness, combined with the appropriate water flow, will keep the ride working like it was designed to work,” says Harvern Davis, general manager at Morning Star Manufacturing Inc., Crump, Tenn. “If a ride noticeably begins performing differently, and this is unrelated to cleaning or maintenance, then you have a problem that you need to have inspected.”
