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A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest and deepest is the Olympic-size swimming pool. A pool can be built either above or in the ground, and from materials such as concrete, metal, plasticor fiberglass. The innovation of a composite construction of fibreglass, with an epoxy coating and porcelain ceramic tiles has led to the Pre-form, Composite-type with significant advantages over older methods. Pools that may be used by many people or by the general public are called public, while pools used exclusively by a few people or in a home are called private. Many health clubs, fitness centers and private clubs have public pools used mostly for exercise. Many hotels and massage parlors have public pools for relaxation. Hot tubs and spas are pools with hot water, used for relaxation or therapy, and are common in homes, hotels, clubs and massage parlors. Swimming pools are also used for diving and other water sports, as well as for the training of lifeguards and astronauts. Chemical disinfectants such as chlorine, bromine or mineral sanitizers, and additional filters are often used in swimming pools to prevent growth and spread of bacteria, viruses, algae and insect larvae. Alternatively, pools can be made without chemical disinfectants by using a biofilter with additional carbon filters and UV disinfection. In both cases, pools need to be fitted with an adequate flow rate. 
Backyard swimming pool 
An overhead view of a rooftop swimming pool in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
The "Great Bath" at the site of Mohenjo-Daro was most likely dug during the 3rd millennium BC. This pool is 12 by 7 meters, is lined with bricks and was covered with a tar-based sealant. Ancient Greeks and Romans built artificial pools for athletic training in the palaestras, for nautical games and for military exercises. Roman emperors had private swimming pools in which fish were also kept, hence one of the Latin words for a pool, piscina. The first heated swimming pool was built by Gaius Maecenas of Rome in the first century BC. Gaius Maecenas was a rich Roman lord and considered one of the first patrons of arts. Ancient Sinhalese built pairs of pools called "Kuttam Pokuna" in the kingdom of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka in the 4th century BC. They were decorated with flights of steps, punkalas or pots of abundance and scroll design. 
Swimming pools became popular in Britain in the mid 19th century. By 1837, six indoor pools with diving boards were built in London, England. The oldest surviving Swimming Club in the World is believed to be the Arlington Baths Club in Glasgow, Scotland. The Arlington was founded in 1870 and is still an active Club to this day and continues to own its original Victorian building with 21M Pool. After the modern Olympic Games began in 1896 and included swimming races, the popularity of swimming pools began to spread. In 1839, Oxford had its first major public indoor pool at Temple Cowley, and swimming began to take off. The Amateur Swimming Association was founded in 1869 in England, and the Oxford Swimming Club in 1909 with its home at Temple Cowley Pool. The presence of indoor baths in the cobbled area of Merton Street, London may have persuaded the less hardy of the aquatic brigade to join. So, bathers gradually became swimmers, and bathing pools swimming pools. In the USA, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia clubhouse (1907) boasts one of the world’s first modern above-ground swimming pools. The first swimming pool to go to sea on an ocean liner was installed on the White Star Line’s Adriatic in 1907. Interest in competitive swimming grew following World War I. Standards improved and training became essential. Home swimming pools became popular in the United States after World War II and the publicity given to swimming sports by Hollywood films like Esther Williams Million Dollar Mermaid made a home pool a desirable status symbol. More than fifty years later, the home or residential swimming pool is ubiquitous and even small nations enjoy a thriving swimming pool industry (e.g. New Zealand pop. 4,116,900 - holds the record in pools per capita with 65,000 home swimming pools and 125,000 spa pools). A two-storey, white concrete swimming pool building composed of horizontal cubic volumes built in 1959 at the Royal Roads Military College is on the Registry of Historic Places of Canada
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