The phrase ‘can of worms’ often gets used.  Anyway, there are two options (assuming not emptying the pool ever is discounted):

•  a small sump into which a submerisble pump is dropped to pump the water out to a drain or toilet;
• or a plughole. 

And with the plughole waste there is the option of a plug and chain, an upstand waste (a metal tube stuck into the plug hole to act as both plug and overflow), and a valve (which would be on the outside bottom of the baptistry.  Pop up wastes don’t work simply because of the weight of water. Upstand wastes can get in the way a bit as they need to be over a metre tall.  Valves mean that permanent, easy access is needed to the lower part of the outside of the baptistry, which needs to be planned in.  Another thing that needs to be understood is that a plumber needs to be able to get to the underside of the baptistry to physically connect the screwthread of the waste from the baptistry to the pipe work that will take the waste water away. To this end, a concrete pit can be cast overlong so that there is an access pit beside the baptistry for the installing plumber.  This can be closed up if it is not needed thereafter.  Or, we also make a baptistry with part-width steps.  This means that there is an ‘empty corner’, which again allows the plumber to get down to get a hand under the baptistry to screw the pipe to the waste thread.  If a wooden stage is being built around then baptistry, then access issues are much easier to solve.

There are ways of dropping the baptistry on to existing pipework without having to get a hand under the baptistry (it involves a shower waste) but this requires some pretty accurate measuring to get the pipework and waste to line up exactly!

It doesn’t bother us which way you go just so long as it has been considered.  Just over half of our customers opt for a sump and pump.  This is sometimes because gravity drainage just isn’t possible in their case (not because gravity is absent you understand), sometimes because it seems to be too much faff, and othertimes because people do have an aversion to putting holes in water-bearing containers.  In older baptistries that are leaking, it is generally the tiles/grouting that has packed up or the existing plumbing.  It is perhaps natural, therefore, that churches would chose an option that does away with the need for plumbing.

This, along with such matters as colour choice, is something that needs to be explored and settled by or with the church members at an early stage.  These blog entries can alway be a bit ‘over-summarized’ so do please feel free to get in touch to discuss anything with me either via the website, email (david@baptistryuk.com) or via twitter (@baptistry)

Architects may specify waterproof marine ply or MDF held together on a frame of treated timbers.  I have no problem with timber, lovely stuff, use it all the time.  Very cost-effective and easy to stick carpet to.  Where the problem may arise is when builders / users forget that it is wood.  Wood will swell and shrink and bend a liitle over the years but more especially because, as you will fully understand, baptistries are damp when in use.  It is good sense to put the lids over to keep the warmth in when filling and heating.  This will swell the lids and they and the empty pool are best left ‘open’ to allow them to dry.

Lids, whether of wood or reinforced fibreglass can be fitted with hand-holes, trap door ring pull handles or recessed threads which can take an eyebolt to give a convenient finger-hold.  Wooden lids tend to be 100mm deep to have the necessary strength, whereas GRP lids tend to be 70cm.  The GRP lids are reinforced by the incorporation of steel square section tubing – as you can see from the picture with a sturdily build Yorkshire gentleman stood on the lids, there is no bend.  These lids rest flat upon the flange of the baptistry rim (the surrouning floor whould hold them in place once installed), though we can make baptistries with a rebate so that lids are flush with the baptistry edge.  The advantage with GRP is that it just does not rot, doesn’t need treating or painting and carpet tiles or such like can be stuck to the back.

(And why use the adjective ‘expert’.)  Recently we despatched baptistry and wooden lids off to the south of England to a new home.  Two months later the builder was having problems with the lids.  Odd, we thought so off we went for a jaunt southwards.  Perhaps we should have made it clearer that leaving wooden lids in the rain for weeks was not ideal.  Nor do we feel a layer of building debris over the baptistry is beneficial to the ease of fitting the lids.  And this was a major contractor.  So, please, make sure your builder does not view wood as some novel material!

We can make them to whatever shape and size you like (so long as you can get it through the door!) but there are two basic patterns that keep coming up – the Elim model pictured here is a one-piece baptismal with integral steps; the Jordan a two-piece with a baptistry tank and a separate step unit that gets fixed into place within  the pool at installation.  Either model is reinforced with timber ribs to make the tank strong enough to hold water on its own without loads of extra support needed at installation. 

Sizes very but again, 3m long, 1.5 wide and 1.2m deep are recurrent sizes as they correspond with 10′ by 5′ by 4′, which many churches seem to want.  As we make all the baptistries from a timber mould, we can easily change to suit your preferred sizes – bespoke is normal!  And colour is easy as well – any solid colour (choose from the RAL website) or we can also do a cream stone effect or a black granite effect.

I shall leave drainage for another day!