FRESHWATER DIVING

The most obvious difference between seawater and freshwater diving is the change in buoyancy experienced by the
diver. This is normally expressed as "You'll need less lead in freshwater than you need in the sea". Why is this?

Archimedes' Principle states that the submerged object (the diver) experiences an upthrust equal to the weight of the
water displaced. The volume of water displaced by the diver is the same in freshwater as it is in seawater, but the
seawater is heavier because of the dissolved salts. Another effect of the lower upthrust experienced by submerged
objects in freshwater comes in lifting calculations.

To calculate the amount of air required to lift an object (a port-hole or a gold bar for example) we work out the volume
of the object and hence its weight. From this weight we subtract the weight of water displaced to give the actual weight
to be lifted, and hence we can evaluate the volume of air required. For lifts in fresh water we need to correct for the loss
of buoyancy of the submerged object.

Since an equal volume of freshwater weighs less than seawater, the pressure exerted at any given depth by freshwater
will be less than the pressure exerted at the same depth by seawater. What effect does this have on the diver?

The depth gauge (or computer) carried by the diver measures pressure. This pressure is expressed as a depth reading in
metres or, in some cases, in feet. Since the vast majority of dives are carried out in the sea, gauges are calibrated in
metres (or feet) of seawater. This means that a diver's actual depth on a freshwater dive will be deeper than that shown
by the depth gauge.

As we all know, when compressed air is breathed at depth the body tissues are exposed to increased partial pressures of
oxygen and nitrogen. The oxygen is metabolised by the body (remember the metabolic equation), but the nitrogen
dissolves in the blood and tissues according to Henry's law. To safely eliminate the absorbed nitrogen from the body it
is necessary to carry out decompression in a manner which avoids the formation of nitrogen bubbles and hence avoids
decompression sickness.

The method used to eliminate the nitrogen is called staged decompression which involves stops made at specified
depths to allow time for the dissolved nitrogen to diffuse from the blood and tissues without forming bubbles. The
decompression times required are laid out in the form of tables (such as the BSAC 88 tables, RN table 11, US Navy
tables etc) or are calculated by a dive computer if one is used.

It should, perhaps, be noted at this point that every dive is a decompression dive. Even a "no-stop" dive involves
decompression, and this is allowed for by the "surface interval" between subsequent dives.

The tables (and computers) base their decompression calculations on water pressure and time of exposure. The water
pressure used in the calculations is expressed in metres (or feet) of seawater. Decompression stop depths are also given
in metres (or feet) of seawater and are measured to the diver's chest. Stop depths must be accurate to ensure that the
water pressure at the stop is sufficient to permit the safe elimination of nitrogen from the body.

Since the diver's depth gauge is calibrated in metres (or feet) of seawater, and the tables are also based on depth of
seawater there should be no problem for the diver even when diving in freshwater provided that the tables are used
correctly.