Sunday, July 28, 2013

Facts About Scuba Diving Atlanta Residents May Wish To Know

By Maryanne Goff


Scuba diving involves diving under water using special equipment for breathing while underwater. While other methods require one pumped air from the water surface or literally holding your breath, scuba divers use breathing gas. These are some of the important facts about scuba diving Atlanta residents would be interested to know.

The word SCUBA is historically an acronym, self- contained underwater breathing apparatus. The equipment was originally used by soldiers for underwater warfare. Military frogmen apply this technique in following up enemy lines, directly confronting their enemies or setting up bombs. The police department also uses this method in crime investigations involving water and in performing a search.

The field of professional diving is one that has continued to generate great interest from many different areas. Persons that want to be professional divers are among those that need to have highly specialised scuba diving equipment. This is because of the dangers that are posed by the deep waters. Professional divers offer training to other people who have an interest in this sport. Apart from this, they also play an important role in field such as marine biology, underwater archaeology, geology, oceanography and photography.

The apparatus that are used are designed in a way that the diver can breathe freely in spite of the pressure difference that exists between the deep ocean and the atmosphere. As one increases the depth, so does the pressure that they have to breathe against increase. For this reason, there are special valves that have been fitted to the equipment to help in the regulation of pressures.

One of the most preferred types of design is one that has two compartments. One of the compartments has a connection to the gas cylinder that is under very high pressure. The second is connected to the mouth piece and delivered the air to the mouth. Once the diver enters the water, a regulator in the first compartment lowers the pressure by about 30 times (from about 300 bars to 10 bars) above the pressure in the immediate environment. Once the pressure has been regulated, the air is released to the second compartment.

Other than open circuit sets, devices called rebreathers are also used though less commonly. There are basically two types: closed circuit (CCR) and semi closed (SCR) rebreathers. Unlike open circuit sets which release all the exhaled air into the external environment as waste, rebreathers recover it by processing that removes the carbon dioxide and replaces used oxygen. Chances of such devices failing are very high hence the need for special training and the right maintenance. This equipment is more complex and more expensive than the open circuit sets.

For buoyancy control, divers need diving suits, weighting systems and buoyancy compensators. A constant depth in water has to be maintained by controlling the speed of descent and ascent. This reduced the physical effort of swimming and economise on gas consumption.

There are a number of hazards relating to scuba diving Atlanta residents may want to know. The most frequently encountered include oxygen toxicity, barotrauma, hypothermia, nitrogen narcosis and incompetence. Dry suits are greatly helpful in helping avoid hypothermia. The suits also help prevent damage to the skin by underwater organisms. It is important to ensure that all the safety precautions are taken to avoid accidents.




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