6 minute read
Pool Upgrades to Future-Proof Maintenance Costs
By Heather Barker Vermeer
Industry Reporter
Each year more than 280 people die due to drowning across Australia, and hundreds more are admitted to hospital following non-fatal drowning incidents.
A pool where children can safely explore the water and learn to swim competently is a life-saving facility, so school pools are critical in contributing to the goals of the Australian Water Safety Strategy (AWSS) 2030, which was launched last year. The AWSS seeks to raise awareness about non-fatal drowning incidents, encourage communities to create local water safety plans and promote access to swimming and water safety skills for all Australians. It aims to see drownings reduced by 50 percent by 2030. Water safety is everyone’s responsibility, says the AWSS, and the new strategy outlines what water safety organisations, councils, schools, and communities can do to help.
Having a school pool can be lifesaving, yes. But this is a big job that starts with the safety of the pool itself. Safety is not just to be measured in terms of supervision to prevent drowning risks, but in terms of water quality, infrastructure, and temperature too. If your pool is looking less-than-loved following lockdowns and disruptions over the past couple of years, maybe it’s time to give it a health check.
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Monitor, Audit, Upgrade
To ensure your school’s fi ltration system is functioning eff ectively, regular servicing is a necessity. Monthly microbiological pool water monitoring is one of the many aspects of pool maintenance. This may require water samples be sent to a specialist water treatment lab to check for chemical makeup and ensure optimum water quality. Maintaining a healthy water temperature requires more than simply lett ing the sun shine on your pool. In Australia, solar heating is one of the most effi cient ways to heat water year-round. Solar systems that have both not been installed correctly or cannot adequately handle the harsh Aussie weather can break down, damaging roof areas, so make sure you engage with professionals for design, installation, and maintenance.
Pool heat pumps can be an effi cient form of water heating and can prove to be up to fi ve times cheaper to operate than electric resistance heating and up to half the operating cost of natural gas. A well-engineered fi xed speed heat pump can be a good option given a pool’s large thermal mass, as it can hold the temperature, allowing the system to shut down and save money when optimum temperature is reached. Capacity and performance changes depending on air and water conditions, so comparison can be diffi cult, however, without a tailor-made solution from the pros. Keeping your pool covered is an essential for safety as well as water quality maintenance. Quality covers also prevent evaporation and can contribute to heat retention, so it’s important to factor this into your budget. The risk of budgets expanding due to costly repairs and maintenance over the long term can be mitigated by using a reputable company with a long, successful history of working with school pools from the outset.
School News spoke with Anthony Denahy from Supreme Heating, who has been working with schools to design systems that maximise their large available roof spaces. “The environmental impacts of a pool—with the energy required to maintain it at a usable and safe level—are high, and the costs associated are only gett ing higher. The greatest cost in maintaining a pool is oft en the heating requirements, which can be managed by having a strategy to reduce this cost and still maintain the desired temperatures. Traditionally, gas heating was the mainstay of pool heating but with the increasingly high price and negative environmental qualities, electric heat pumps have become a more common heating source. “Coupled with a suitably designed solar thermal system, costs are reduced signifi cantly, temperatures achieved, and maintenance costs reduced.”
Elaborating on this, he said: “The great thing with a thermal system is the lack of moving parts. A small inexpensive solar pump is really all that drives the system, and with improvements in manufacturing and compounds, a long product life is available. Still, as with anything that is constantly exposed to the elements, a yearly service is recommended to ensure the operating output is kept at a high level. “A well-designed solar heating system can be the heavy hitt er in heating any pool and should be the primary consideration. Supplementary heating, such as electric heat pumps or gas heating can then be coupled into the system to provide the shortfall for times when the system needs additional input.”
Solar upgrade for Rainbow Pool
Supreme Heating recently completed the heating renewal system at the Rainbow Community Swimming Pool for the Hindmarsh Shire Council.
The Shire was looking for a robust system to replace the existing damaged solar pool heating system which was nonfunctioning due to the age and damage caused by birds. The community wanted a pool that was warm during the swimming season, very low maintenance as well as environmentally friendly which fi t with councils' mission to “Provide infrastructure essential to support the community; and to protect and enhance our natural environment.”
Supreme Heating designed a system to incorporate the robust Heatseeker Suntuf range which is designed for environments where bird damage is prevalent as well as the innovative DualSun PVT system. The DualSun system was selected due to the ability of its dual purposes, that is generating electricity to off set the operating costs as well as the additional solar hot water generation. The DualSun system incorporates 24 PVT solar panels with a combined output of 9kW. The energy generated provides free electricity for the facility off sett ing the operational costs when operating and when the pool is closed during the winter months, this energy will be delivered back into the electricity network providing additional revenues for the Shire.
The water from the pool is pumped through the heat exchange system embedded within the DualSun panels as well as through the Suntuf panel system to provide warm water for the pool without the need for additional heat pumps or gas heating. This water also has a cooling eff ect on the PV generation which increases electricity performance by up to 20%. As there are no moving parts in the system apart from a water pump and the embedded heat exchange system is not exposed to the elements, the system has 25 year performance warranty ensuring high electrical energy output as well as high thermal output. We will continue to work with Hindmarsh Shire and the Rainbow community to monitor the systems energy output and the thermal inputs into the pool.
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