E2311: Essential Fluid Engineering
October 2 - 3, 2025
Greensboro, North Carolina
IACET CEUs offered: 1.6
Duration: 16 hours
Time: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET
Taught by: David J. Peterson, P.E., IWI
Address: The Club at Ridgewood
Foundational Knowledge for Aspiring Pool Professionals.
Dive into the fundamentals with Essential Fluid Engineering, a cornerstone course for building your technical knowledge of water flow in pools, spas, and waterfeatures. Learn how to create safe, efficient systems that meet industry standards, deliver outstanding results to clients, and set the stage for long-term success.
What you will learn:
Foundational knowledge
List key fluid engineering concepts including area, volume, volume, depth, mass, flow rate, pressure, velocity, energy, head pressure and others.
Hands-on practice that is regulation-aligned
Apply basic hydraulic principles, guidelines, standards and code limitations to watershape design.
How to optimize projects for efficiency
Discuss efficiency principles including total dynamic head (TDH), electrical efficiency, energy costs and heating efficiency.
Access to time-saving software
Practice using apps for pipe sizing and other key calculations.
Your instructors.
David J. Peterson, P.E., IWI
Peterson is President/CEO of Watershape Consulting, Inc., an international planning, design and engineering firm providing owners, architects, contractors, and the legal profession with services relating to residential, commercial and institutional pools, spas and water features.
He obtained his B.S. Civil Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is a registered engineer in several states. Peterson has been in the watershape industry since 1994 when he began his career designing life support systems for large aquariums and marine mammal exhibits. He was Vice President Engineering at Polaris Pool Systems where he developed and patented several products.
Peterson reorganized the Genesis 3 Design Group into GENESIS® University in 2012. When GENESIS merged with the National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) in 2016, Peterson became Director of Education for GENESIS, a position he held until forming Watershape University.
Lea Frederick, IWI (TA)
Lea Frederick is an engineer by degree and held a love for aquatics since a young age. As the owner and designer of Vue Custom Pools in Greensboro, NC, she has also held leadership roles such as President of a Professional Women in Building chapter, been a judge for the Southeast PHTA awards and was part of reviving our the NC PHTA chapter volunteering as President in 2020- 2023.
As the Watershape University Dean of Culture, Lea organizes and shares cultural experiences through travel with water as a common denominator.
Become certified.
Certified Watershape Builder
A continuation of the path begun while earning the Foreman Certification, the Builder Certification indicates completion of advanced studies in business administration, fluid engineering and design modeling—courses that combine to create a foundation for indispensable professional disciplines.
Requirements: CWF + E2311 + 2 courses