For those who are afraid of the water, this churning pool is the stuff of nightmares.

Named FloWave, the device creates waves that are nine-storeys high and generates currents four times faster than an Olympic swimmer.

Its circular design means waves have no reflections and they can hit you from any direction, replicating what might happen in stormy seas.

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A Reddit user recently calculated that if you stood in the middle of the pool, you would suffer from ‘broken ribs and possibly more severe injuries.’

The pool, however, isn’t designed to test your swimming strength, but for University of Edinburgh engineers to trial marine technologies.

The system is 82ft (25 metres) across and 6.6ft (two metres) deep and can recreate powerful waves and currents from coastlines around the world.

It can simulate scale version equivalents of waves up to 92 feet (28 metres) high with currents of up to 14 knots using 2.4 million litres (530,000 gallons) of water.

For those who are afraid of the water, this churning pool is the stuff of nightmares.Named FloWave, the device creates waves that are nine-stories high and generates currents four times faster than an Olympic swimmer

HOW FLOWAVE WORKS The heart of FloWave is a 100-foot (30 metres) circular concrete basin containing the 82-foot (25 metres) diameter wave and current tank. The 16-foot (five metres) deep tank contains 2.4 million litres (530,000 gallons) of fresh water and is ringed by 168 absorbing wave makers. Additionally, 28 submerged flow-drive units can simultaneously and independently drive current across the tank in any relative direction, with maximum current velocities of 5.2 feet (1.6 metres) per second. A rising tank floor and overhead crane enable quick and easy installation of individual devices, or arrays of wave or tidal current generators. Advertisement

FloWave opened in July last year, but a more recent video shows how it can create different waves such as fast currents, large water spikes, single waves as well as random sea conditions.

To test marine technologies, researchers often combine the simulator for choppy seas with an Atlantic swell.

And just like the sea, FloWave can also turn the tide at any time.

One of the technologies that has been tested so far is AlbaTERN's model WaveNet device.

According to the Scottish company, this is 'a radical new array-based wave energy convertor that captures energy from ocean waves and converts it into sustainable low-carbon electricity'

As well as wave power technologies, it can also be used to test floating offshore wind platforms and vessels to install offshore projects.

According to Edinburgh University, by testing devices at scale in a tank, researchers can achieve milestones in days or weeks compared with months or years in open water.

To test technologies, researchers often combine the simulator for choppy seas can be with an Atlantic swell

A Reddit user recently calculated that if you stood in the middle of the pool, you would suffer from ‘broken ribs…possibly more severe injuries’