Issue 146
February/March 2023
Perfect prefabrication Modular pool innovation
The energy intricacies of Decarbonising aquatic centres
For over 30 years AIS Water has been a leader in designing and manufacturing water disinfection technology for swimming pools.
Since 2000 we have manufactured our own quality anode material that forms the heart of our award-winning residential and commercial chlorinators.
AIS Water’s commitment to quality is not negotiable and means that our products, in particular our electrolytic cells, are renowned for their longevity.
We believe in collaboration, not competition. With the opening of our new, dedicated anode production facility in 2022, we can now proudly offer our Australian made anode material to fellow industry partners.
Please contact us today for all your anode material requirements, and make your supply chain issues and exorbitant freight costs a thing of the past.
Our new anode facility is further proof of AIS Water’s longterm commitment to our industry. It’s yet another reason to choose AIS Water.
VERY
We only run the unit during daylight hours to utilise our solar generated power. It is working very well and certainly better than the roof system we replaced it with. The timer function means set and forget.
Had this heater installed and it’s fantastic. The pool heater is efficient, cost effective and has an attractive outer case design. It fits well in any space, it is quiet even being mounted in front of a window I can’t hear the unit when it’s running.
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On behalf of The Swimming Pool & Spa Association of Australia Ltd (SPASA Australia)
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Managing Editor: Chris Maher
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All material in this publication is copyright to the publisher and/or its contributors. No material may be reproduced without the express permission of the publishers.
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Disclaimer: This publication is published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (the “Publisher”) on behalf of SPASA Australia. Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information. All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof. To the extent permitted by law, the Publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising in contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damages. While we use our best endeavours to ensure accuracy of the materials we create, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher excludes all liability for loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false or misleading statements that may appear in this publication.
Disclaimer: This publication is published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (the “Publisher”) on behalf of SPASA Australia. Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information. All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof. To the extent permitted by law, the Publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising in contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damages. While we use our best endeavours to ensure accuracy of the materials we create, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher excludes all liability for loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false or misleading statements that may appear in this publication.
This issue of SPLASH! magazine published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (Intermedia) may contain magazine or subscription; offers, competitions, forms and surveys (Reader Offers) which require you to provide information about yourself, if you choose to enter or take part in them. If you provide information about yourself to Intermedia, Intermedia will use this information to provide you with the products of services you have requested and may supply your information to contractors that help Intermedia to do this. Intermedia will also use your information to inform you of other Intermedia publications, products, services and events. Intermedia may give your information to organisations that are providing special prizes or offers that are clearly associated with the Reader Offer. Unless you tell us not to, we may give your information to other organisations that may use it to inform you about other products, services or events or to give it to other organisations that may use it for this purpose. If you would like to gain access to the information Intermedia holds about you, please contact Intermedia’s Privacy Officer at The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd, PO Box 55, Glebe, NSW 2037. Copyright © 2023 - SPASA Australia.
This issue of SPLASH! magazine published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (Intermedia) may contain magazine or subscription; offers, competitions, forms and surveys (Reader Offers) which require you to provide information about yourself, if you choose to enter or take part in them. If you provide information about yourself to Intermedia, Intermedia will use this information to provide you with the products of services you have requested and may supply your information to contractors that help Intermedia to do this. Intermedia will also use your information to inform you of other Intermedia publications, products, services and events. Intermedia may give your information to organisations that are providing special prizes or offers that are clearly associated with the Reader Offer. Unless you tell us not to, we may give your information to other organisations that may use it to inform you about other products, services or events or to give it to other organisations that may use it for this purpose. If you would like to gain access to the information Intermedia holds about you, please contact Intermedia’s Privacy Officer at The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd, PO Box 55, Glebe, NSW 2037. Copyright © 2023 - SPASA Australia.
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This issue we have a few stories that show how technology and circumstance sometimes align to create new ways of doing things.
For example, aquatic centre management has always been keen to reduce running costs, and a major cost is heating the water, traditionally handled by gas. Environmental concerns coupled with the expense of gas brought heat pumps into the equation – and then with the gas price shock following the repercussions of the Ukraine invasion (and Australia’s poorly negotiated deals that meant we had to pay global prices for our own resources) the spotlight was placed firmly on shifting from gas to the new generation of heat pump technology.
Chris Maher Managing Editorchrismaher@ intermedia.com.au
But it’s not as simple as switching from one energy source to another – a number of considerations need to be taken into account including the design of the thermal envelope, the placement of plant rooms, heat recovery and air handling. I hope you find it an interesting read, starting on page 72.
Similarly, wave pools have been around for a long time. But who would have thought some surfers would actually prefer to catch manufactured waves than battle the line-ups for a natural break. Covid brought many people to surfing – a relatively solitary pursuit that is healthy and fun. But that meant bigger line-ups and less waves to go around. Enter the new surf park technologies that some surfers prefer, thanks to the predictability of guaranteed waves. It has also become a way for traditional surfers to get some practice. This story starts on page 62.
Another trend that had been accelerating is small prefabricated backyard pools, filling a market as housing blocks shrunk in size. But then covid happened, and everyone seemed to want a pool, no matter how small or difficult their block of land was. These innovative and adaptable products are proving very popular, and the number of options is constantly growing. This story starts on page 38.
Finally, I want to express our sympathy with everyone in New Zealand affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, the terrible floods that followed, and the devastating loss of life and the displacement of thousands of people. We wish everyone, especially those in the industry, the resilience and strength to overcome this disaster.
The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the above supporters, nor should any product advertised in SPLASH! magazine be seen to be endorsed by the above. This issue’s cover
The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the above supporters, nor should any product advertised in SPLASH! magazine be seen to be endorsed by the above.
The Intermedia Group takes its Corporate and Social Responsibilities seriously and is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. We continuously strive to improve our environmental performance and to initiate additional CSR based projects and activities. As part of our company policy we ensure that the products and services used in the manufacture of this magazine are sourced from environmentally responsible suppliers. This magazine has been printed on paper produced from sustainably sourced wood and pulp fibre and is accredited under PEFC chain of custody. PEFC certified wood and paper products come from environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests.
A surfer rips into a manufactured wave at Urbnsurf Melbourne. There is more on surf parks on page 62.
25 Insights on American pool and spa shows Bruce Everett and Brett Lloyd Abbott tell us about their recent experiences at two US pool and spa expos.
27 Thirst for wellness creates interest in swim turbines
Carl Voshege explains how the covid years helped grow interest in making swimming pools more than just a pool.
28 Big plans for little pools
Anthony Cross discusses Compass Pool’s latest offshoot that is addressing the increasing demand for small pools.
30 Reinvigoration of the commercial market
Tim Martin described how EvoHeat weathered the past couple of years, and lets us know what is on the horizon in the commercial market.
32 Debate topic: A qualification can never replace experience
David Stennett discusses whether qualification can ever replace actual on-the-job experience in pool building.
34 Finding and retaining the right retail staff
Multi-unit pool and spa franchise owner Malcolm Price offers his advice on finding the right staff and, importantly, keeping them.
36 What is equipotential bonding and electrical earthing
Swimming pool and spa builders including pool fence installers need to be fully conversant with the mandatory wiring rules.
38 Perfect prefabrication
Veda Dante looks at the options available in the prefabricated and precast swimming pool market, on the back of their recent surge in popularity.
56 Balancing modern requirements and heritage elements
We look at the National Commercial Project of the Year, won by Kirratech Lifestyle Pools for their reinvigoration and restoration of Townsville’s Tobruk Memorial Baths.
62 Creating the endless summer dream
Surfers endlessly search for the perfect wave. But what if it’s at a surf park, the same break every day. Veda Dante investigates.
72 Energy efficiency and the decarbonisation of aquatic centres
Ideas on improving the efficiency of aquatic centres from people intimately involved with both engineering design and practical application, including Tony Kimpton, Nick Yannakis and Adam Bonney.
Waterco has opened a branch in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, following strong sales growth in the developing region.
Founder, CEO and executive chairman Soon Sinn Goh attributes the country’s high growth economy and progressively wealthier population for the increasing demand of its water filtration and sanitisation products.
“Vietnam’s economy grew at the fastest pace in Asia last year and Waterco aims to improve market share by increasing awareness of its innovations in the region,” he says.
“With the population becoming progressively wealthier, research is showing that swimming pools and access to clean water are considered an important investment in improving quality of life.”
Vietnam’s reputation as a leading luxury travel destination in Asia gained traction after hosting the World Travel Awards of Asia and Oceania for the first time in 2019, further fuelling demand for swimming pools and associated equipment.
“Relaxed visa restrictions and a fast-growing tourism market have seen the construction of commercial swimming pools rise considerably,” says Waterco chief operating officer, Bryan Goh. “This in turn has increased demand for Waterco’s high quality water treatment products.”
Waterco’s manufacturing plant in Selangor, Malaysia coupled with its understanding of the region gives it a distinct advantage over other competitors hoping to enter the lucrative Vietnamese market.
“Well-established manufacturing and export facilities in Kuala Lumpur gives Waterco a competitive advantage, in terms of readily available product supply and sales support,” he says.
The Doi Moi economic reforms launched in 1986 had the aim of establishing a socialist-oriented market economy. They have been credited with propelling Vietnam from being one of the world’s poorest nations to a middle-income economy in one generation.
“Vietnam’s growing wealth, changing consumer attitudes and greater urbanisation is pushing the country through a period of great change, one that we are very excited to be part of,” says Goh.
Leading Australian and New Zealand smart metering and energy data specialists the Intellihub Group has acquired the assets of Australia’s first digital pool management and monitoring business, Pooled Energy.
As well as remotely monitoring and servicing backyard pools and supplying pool equipment, Pooled Energy (now rebranded as Pooled) also operated as an electricity retailer.
This finished in May 2022 when the business was placed into administration after a 10fold increase to wholesale electricity prices. Its electricity customers were transferred to other retailers and its retail licence was suspended.
At its peak, Pooled Energy serviced approximately 1600 customers mainly in Sydney and the Central Coast before its assets were acquired by the Intellihub Group.
The newly rebranded Pooled business will not operate as an electricity retailer. The business was rebranded to reflect its new focus on pool monitoring and management without an energy retailing component.
Pooled will install sensors and smart controllers to pool equipment to automate the management and monitoring of backyard swimming pools. Intellihub plans to get a new version of the Pooled software up
and running, and expand into other states of Australia.
Customers manage their pools via simple directions from an app, while a unique blend of chemicals is sent directly to the owner to add to the pool once or twice a year.
Intellihub CEO Wes Ballantine says the service is focused on delivering clean pools and clear, healthy water while reducing energy consumption and pool energy costs.
Ballantine says the Pooled technology was a great match for Intellihub, which specialises in smart meter technology and behind-the-meter data management.
He says Intellihub has plans to significantly grow the business and open new opportunities to control and manage the large electrical load from pools.
“We’re targeting an extra 20,000 new customers over the next two to three years and expansion outside New South Wales, particularly in states like Queensland and Victoria,” he says.
“There are more than 1.3 million pool owners in Australia, and we believe Pooled can help better manage their pools.”
BELOW: The launch of Waterco’s new branch in Ho Chi Minh City
The New Zealand High Court awarded $NZ270,000 ($AU245,000) plus interest and costs to two homeowners after the Tasman District Council was found negligent in a pool barrier dispute.
The judgement in February to pay damages to Keith Marshall and Louise Buchanan highlights the importance of having competent and trained individuals undertake pool and spa barrier inspections.
The homeowners discovered their pool barrier was not compliant by a Tasman District Council inspector despite the same council inspecting and determining the same pool barrier was compliant on three previous occasions.
The council had also issued a code of compliance certificate (CCC) prior to the couple purchasing the property.
The council inspected the pool several times and found the pool barrier to be compliant. In 2019, the owners decided to sell the house and the council conducted a further inspection. The owners were advised that –despite no changes being made since the previous inspections – their pool barrier had failed the inspection and was non-compliant.
The council was found to have negligently issued the initial building consent, negligently carried out the original inspection and issued a compliance certificate, negligently carried out an inspection in 2009 and 2012, made negligent misstatements about the property’s compliance in the inspections, and caused loss to the homeowners.
In 2019, the couple were preparing to sell their home, planning for retirement, when the council inspection officer deemed the pool noncompliant as the property’s doors were not self-closing or alarmed.
The innovative award-winning home was specifically designed around a central pool, linking the studio and living areas. The council awarded the CCC in 2006, prior to the couple buying the home. The couple said they would not have purchased the home without the certificate, and the timeframe to launch an appeal had passed.
The changes to the design were valued by the Property and Standards Board as a 25 per cent reduction in amenity, although the council valued the loss of value at a lower rate.
SPASA chief policy officer, Spiros Dassakis, says that pool barrier inspectors play an important role in keeping the community safe.
“A certificate of compliance or approval confirming compliance should not be issued by a pool barrier inspector if they are not satisfied or are unsure that the barrier complies with the prescribed pool barrier requirements,” he says.
“This recent legal precedent reinforces the need for better educational outcomes delivered by credible organisations when undertaking training to support the safety and wellbeing of the public.”
Michelle Marks, SPASA’s region manager for New Zealand says SPASA supports practical training of industry professionals and clear guidelines.
More information at www.splashmagazine.com.au/quicklinks146
Comparing the available pool DA figures for the 12 months to January with the same period last year, annual applications were down by nine percent nationally. Victoria was up 17 per cent, but all other states were down: Western Australia by four per cent, Queensland by 10 per cent, New South Wales by 19 per cent and South Australia by 29 per cent.
The numbers over the most recent three months were down by 13 per cent nationally when compared to the same period last year. The November-January numbers from Cordell show Victoria up by 63 per cent but all other states down: New South Wales by 22 per cent, Queensland by 26 per cent, Western Australia by 35 per cent and South Australia by 65 per cent.
While these figures give an indication of the way the market is trending, they are not comprehensive and don’t include all pools built or even all DAs lodged. By some estimates, the total national numbers including all types of pools could be almost double these figures. They do not include pool projects that are approved as part of a new home, smaller projects under the cost threshold, renovations that don’t require a DA, or some aboveground pools. Additionally, not all councils are forthcoming with data or report on time; councils in some states such as Queensland and Victoria are particularly reluctant. For further information, call Cordell Information on 1800 80 60 60.
Fluidra has launched the new website for Fluidra Lab, its open innovation program aimed at the worldwide innovation ecosystem of startups, research centres, technology centres and universities.
Fluidra Lab is tasked with identifying, unpacking, and delivering on the company’s internal needs, as well as sounding out new technologies and sector business models. It is a point of contact between the company’s business units and external innovation stakeholders.
The program spans four areas of interest: sustainability, safety and wellbeing, user and customer experiences, and digitalisation across operations. Sustainability is a priority and crosscutting strategy for the entire company and one of its core objectives is to make the pool a system with a neutral environmental impact.
The safety and wellbeing area is focused on upholding the quality and safety levels that enable pools to be a safe and convenient place
Training
to practice water activities. The customer and user experience area is centred on the search for new solutions that enhance the pool professional’s and pool owner’s experience. And finally, digitalisation across operations aims to streamline internal processes by introducing pioneering digital technologies.
Fluidra will harness the program to offer the global innovation ecosystem proprietary resources to help roll out new products and services across the pool and wellness market such as: testing equipment, financing for pilot programs and co-developments, in-depth industry expertise, reputation and visibility by partnering with the market leader, industrialgrade manufacturing capacity, and access to Fluidra customer and distribution networks.
The ultimate aim behind Fluidra Lab is for the partnerships with external stakeholders to
lead them to onboard technology in the Fluidra portfolio today and going forward, as well as in operations and to invest in them to generate innovative sector value.
Fluidra Lab has already isolated and assessed more than 300 opportunities, of which 20 have been transferred to the appropriate business unit, 11 pilot schemes put in place, and three programs integrated.
Contact: www.fluidralab.com; au-marketing@ fluidra.com
Fluidra Lab has already isolated and assessed 300-plus opportunities
SPASA’s training division, the Institute of Research and Learning (IRLearning) is exploring training collaboration opportunities with industry partners to help reduce the shortage of trades, while fostering future innovation and growth.
IRLearning wants members of the Australian and New Zealand industry to benefit from training that underpins future workforce needs.
Industry has a huge role to play in underpinning industry learning, content,
Keep informed by subscribing to the free online newsletter.
Swimming pool buying intentions jump 21 per cent over 2022 Commonwealth Bank of Australia research has shown that consumer interest in purchasing a residential swimming pool jumped 21.4 per cent.
delivery, and micro-learning by partnering with IRLearning to deliver a combination of academic and work-integrated learning.
By working with industry through collaborative training, IRLearning can start to develop micro-learning pathways that address many of the trade shortages the industry now faces.
Industry partners can proactively contribute to the development of industry specific training outcomes by engaging with IRLearning to address the following example sectors:
• Tilers and interior finishes.
• Steel fixing.
• Pool and spa hydraulics.
• Retail customer service.
• Pool building and installation.
• Spa maintenance.
• Landscaping.
• Concreting.
• Onsite labour.
Contact: spiros@spasa.com.au
The online stories that made the news over the past two months.
Heat pump and pool cover standards published New Australian Standards
AS5348 Pool Covers and
AS5352 Swimming Pool Heat Pump Systems were published and made available to the industry.
Pooled Energy resurrected by Intellihub acquisition
Smart metering and energy data specialists the Intellihub Group acquired the assets of Australia’s first digital pool management and monitoring business, Pooled Energy.
BWT continues local growth, acquiring Austral Pool Solutions
BWT Pool Group acquired Austral Pool Solutions Pty Ltd, a leading Western Australian pool equipment distributor, effective November 21.
New Kew aquatic centre roof collapses in the middle of the night
The long delayed Kew Recreation Centre suffered a serious setback as the roof collapsed at about 10pm on October 20.
March 25-26 Pool & Spa Lifestyle Expo, South Australia
March 27-31 ASSA National Conference, Glenelg, South Australia
March 29 ASSA Excellence Awards
Apr 1-2 New Zealand Pool and Spa Expo
Apr 14 WA Golf and Business Conference, The Vines, Swan Valley
Apr 21-23
Melbourne Autumn Home Show
May 20-21 Pool & Spa Lifestyle Expo, Queensland
June 22
July 8-9
Aug 25-27
World’s Largest Swimming Lesson
The Melbourne Backyard & Garden Show and Pool & Spa Show, MCEC
Melbourne Home Show
Sep 19-20 Surf Park Summit, San Diego, USA
Sep 8-10 Brisbane Home Show
Oct 13-15 Sydney Home Show
Oct24-27 Aquanale, Cologne, Germany
Nov 29-30
Nov 27-30
Dec 4-7
2024
Aug 21-22
Engineers Australia Climate Smart Engineering Conference, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Piscina & Wellness, Barcelona
Canadian Pool & Spa Conference & Expo, Niagara Falls, Ontario
SPLASH! Pool & Spa Trade Show, Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre
More details at splashmagazine.com.au. Dates are subject to change and should be checked with the relevant organisation. Send calendar submissions to info@splashmagazine.com.au
This year, BioLab is celebrating 40 years in the pool and spa industry in Australia and 30 years in New Zealand. During this time, BioLab has become a leading manufacturer and marketer of pool and spa care chemicals in both countries.
Leon Bloom, founder of BioLab, often called the godfather of modern pool care, is credited with ushering in a number of industry innovations, including computerised water testing and shock, packaged for proper dosing.
When he began BioLab in 1955 from a home basement laboratory in Georgia USA, self-taught chemist Bloom set his sights on the burgeoning poultry industry, where bacteria and disease was running rampant. He determined that quaternary ammonium algaecide was the answer, and developed a disinfection system to cleanse eggs and sanitise drinking and bathing water, dramatically increasing hatch rates.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia research has shown that consumer interest in purchasing a residential swimming pool jumped 21.4 per cent.
As the pool and spa industry is well aware, this is on the back of a surge of interest in creating backyard entertainment, leisure and wellness spaces with the swimming pool or spa as the prime focus.
This trend skyrocketed during the covid period, with demand through the roof and many builders filling their books for months to come.
At the same time, “pool” was the top search item on Domain.com.au in 2022 – in fact, it has been the top searched item for the three years since covid began.
The 21.4 per cent rise in the pools category in the year to November appeared in Commonwealth Bank’s Household Spending Intentions Index, which measures spending among CBA customers and Google Trends search data. It focuses not only on what
Exploring other avenues for his algaecide, he discovered a ripe market in swimming pools, importing the idea of using the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) from boiler water treatment.
Bloom sold the company to Swedish chemical supplier Lonza in 1979 and retired to Florida shortly thereafter. Alex Chandler was given the rights to market the Swim Chem brand (which morphed into BioGuard) to the Commonwealth countries and in 1983, BioLab expanded into the Australian market and in 1993, into the New Zealand market.
BioLab’s brands have included Swim Chem, Guardex, Omni, ProGuard and BioGuard. BioLab is now part of KIK Consumer Products.
consumers are spending money on, but on what they intend to spend money on.
Commonwealth Bank’s chief economist Stephen Halmarick says it is a significant increase for the category and consistent with people’s focus on improving the liveability of their home during lockdowns.
He says that while having to spend more time at home, they’ve decided to also spend more money on their home – improving the home and improving the liveability of their home.
Additionally, the data shows that for the year to November, there was also an increase in spending on swimming pool services.
While the covid period is petering out – and raising interest rates are starting to bite – there still seems to be a backlog in demand.
Factors affecting meeting the demand include supply chain issues and skills shortages.
Sunbather Queensland has moved. As part of their continued efficiency program with Fluidra, they are integrating their Queensland warehouse with Fluidra’s Queensland facility at 25 Industrial Crescent, Willawong.
Swimply, the app that enables pool owners to rent their pools by the hour, has relaunched in Australia. Initially Swimply had a positive response when it launched in the Australian market, although there were concerns about householder liability. Swimply launched a local headquarters and was looking to expand when covid ended their plans. Now that covid restrictions are over and La Nina appears to have ended, Swimply has entered the market once again. The app is available Australia-wide and rental rates start at $25 per hour.
HIA chief economist Tim Reardon is predicting a decline in new house builds to the lowest level since 2012. In the HIA economic and industry outlook report, he says the 2022 cash rate increases were sufficient to bring the building boom to an end and further increases in 2023 will accelerate the downturn. “There was a large volume of work in the pipeline when rates started to rise in May 2022, and there remains a record number of homes under construction, but this will shrink quickly as market confidence continues to fade,” he says.
Swimming pool
intentions jumped 21 per cent over 2022
The Hayward OmniLogic pool and backyard automation system provides an easy way to control the chemistry of a residential pool and spa, as well as the heating, lighting, water features and any other pool or backyard equipment... straight from your smart phone!
Michelle Marks
Michelle Marks has joined SPASA as the region manager for New Zealand. Based in Auckland, she will be responsible for improving engagement and support for members. With her extensive industry experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role, with a background that covers business operations, franchising, sales, marketing and finance.
Marks says she is thrilled to take on the role in an industry that has gone through an incredible trajectory over the past three years.
“SPASA is more relevant than ever. One area I am passionate about is ongoing training and qualifications in the industry, and I look forward to supporting our members in their businesses.”
Contact: michelle@spasa.co.nz; +64 021 562 199
Sadie Stevenson
Sadie Stevenson steps in as general manager of membership and engagement at SPASA. Already well known to the industry as executive officer of SPASA WA, she will be utilising her extensive experience and knowledge to lead SPASA Australia’s membership services team to provide support and engagement for current and future members.
Stevenson says she is excited to be joining the SPASA team in a national role.
“I look forward to meeting with many members over the coming months and working with them to ensure they are getting the most out of their membership with SPASA. The next year or so will present new challenges for our industry, and as an association we are here to support in any way we can. To be leading the membership team at this time is a real privilege.”
Contact: sadie@spasa.com.au; 0467 310 125
In October 2022, the Australian Government introduced new requirements for swimming pool pumps and spa pool pumps.
When selling most new pool pumps in Australia, you must now make sure they meet Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), that they are registered with the Australian Government, and that they display an Energy Rating Label.
There are now more than 400 models of pool pump registered across more than 30 brands.
Chief policy officer, Spiros Dassakis, says
Meanwhile, Stevenson has been nominated for the Western Australian 40 under 40 Awards, which recognises leadership, commercial drive and personal determination amongst other attributes. Voting is open until March 17.
Contact: www.businessnews.com. au/40under40-Awards
Rebecca Smith
Rebecca (Bec) Smith has taken on the role of region manager for WA, SA and NT. In this role, she will focus on providing support and service to members in these regions, working closely with the rest of the member services team to enhance their experience.
Smith says that coming from membership and events based roles in the club industry, the pool and spa industry has been a welcome change and also very enlightening.
“I love being around water, usually not far from a pool, a spa or out on the ocean, so feel I’ve landed in the right place,” she says.
“The past 18 months has been a huge learning curve and I’m enjoying being involved in such a progressive, friendly and extremely busy industry. The rollover from SPASA WA to SPASA Australia is very exciting and it’s great to be a part of the national team and being able to share the benefits of this with our WA members.
“I look forward to organising more great events for our WA members and to introduce some new and exciting events to our SA and NT members, who I will hopefully get to meet in the coming months. It’s going to be a busy year and I’m super keen to provide as much support as I can to our members.”
Contact: rebecca@spasa.com.au; 0467 310 442
SPASA Australia has worked hard to meet these new requirements, and it means great news for pool owners.
“Pool owners can have confidence in the energy their pump will use,” he says.
“They can also choose a pump that limits its impact on their electricity bill. For example, if a pool owner compares Energy Rating Labels and decides to purchase a 6-star variable speed pool pump over a 1.5-star single speed pool pump, they could save more than $260 a year.”
Pumps must be registered, meet minimum standards and display an Energy Rating Label
By helping Australians use less energy on pool pumps, the pool and spa industry is also helping Australia to reach net zero emissions by 2050. For more information and help to meet the new requirements, visit energyrating.gov.au or email energyrating@industry.gov.au.
Adrian Plebani has been promoted to Fluidra state manager for New South Wales after re-joining the business in September 2022.
Jenny Barkachi, Fluidra’s national sales manager, says he has been a valuable member of the NSW team over the past few months, exhibiting great leadership skills and reconnecting with Fluidra’s customer base.
“Adrian has more than nine years of extensive experience in the pool and spa industry, working for various companies over this time including Zodiac where he established strong relationships with many Fluidra customers who are welcoming his return.
“We are excited to have Adrian’s knowledge and experience within the business and industry to support and lead our NSW Sales team,” she says.
Phil Hemmer has been appointed as the new business development manager at Brauer Swim. He will be looking after New South Wales and Victoria.
CEO David Brauer says Hemmer brings a wealth of experience from the commercial pool industry.
“Phil has spent his entire working life in the aquatics industry,” says Brauer. “From facility management, project and business management to building customer relationships.
“His extensive industry experience, motivation and customer focus will be a great asset to the team,” he says.
Hemmer says he is excited by the appointment.
“I’m very excited to join the Brauer team and assist in taking the business to new heights,” he says.
“It is a great organisation with world class technology and a fantastic team behind it.’’
Daisy Pool Covers has appointed Russ Donohue as their new area manager for Victoria.
Donohue has extensive technical experience in supporting B2B and B2B2C relationships, as well as a wealth of experience in helping his trade customers increase sales.
Managing director Derek Prince says that in recent years, Daisy Pool Covers has experienced a great deal of growth in Victoria and Tasmania, and they are committed to further expanding the offering in the area to ensure their customers receive the best service possible.
“We’re excited to have Russ onboard to help drive that growth and development,” Prince says.
Contact: russ@daisypoolcovers.com.au; mobile: 042956-8500.
Meanwhile, Daisy has launched the second stage of its dealer portal, offering even more functionality and training resources.
The portal has been designed to provide dealers with a seamless and streamlined experience, making it easier for them to do business with Daisy. The first phase of the portal provided dealers with complete self-service account functionality, including the ability to
download invoices and statements, view orders in production, and track shipments.
With the roll-out of stage two, dealers can now log in to the portal and place orders directly through the website, which integrates with Daisy’s order management system. This new feature saves dealers time and streamlines the order process, making it easier and more efficient for them to do business with Daisy. In addition, dealers can access trade and retail pricing information, make payments via credit card, and create quotes for customers.
To help dealers and their staff learn more and sell more, Daisy has also launched its new training videos. The series of 12 videos covers a range of topics, including detailed explanations and benefits of Daisy’s pool cover and roller ranges, sales, care, maintenance and handover tips, along with comprehensive instructions on how to measure and install all product ranges. The videos are available exclusively to registered dealers and can be accessed through the dealer portal.
The Daisy Portal
Industry moves
Adrian Plebani
Phil Hemmer
The combined efforts of the Master Pool Builders Association Australia (MPBAA) and SPASA Australia saw the largest consumer event in the southern hemisphere help drive consumer demand in the Victorian industry.
More than 8000 registered attendees came through February’s Melbourne Pool and Spa Show + Outdoor Living over the two and a half days.
The level of qualified buyer interest was reported as being of a very high calibre and, in a market where interest rates and weather patterns conspire to deflate aspirational consumer dreams, the Melbourne Pool & Spa Show delivered an event the industry can be proud of.
Chris Samartzis, MPBAA CEO, says it was an incredible weekend that saw many thousands of people through the doors at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for what was one of the best pool and spa show ever produced.
“The collaboration between MPBAA and SPASA was a success and the exhibitors and consumers benefitted greatly with the offering,” he says.
Lindsay McGrath, SPASA CEO, says it was great to see the enthusiasm from the attendees.
“The aspiration to own a pool or spa continues to be an integral part of our culture,” he says.
Speaking at the show with David Stennett for the Ready Steady SPLASH! Podcast, Samartzis elaborated on the expo’s success.
“It’s just been an incredible two and a half days. It has blown away all expectations – there was a little bit of worry about interest rate rises, Armageddon, a bit of bad weather, the whole thing,” he says.
“However, thousands and thousands walked through the door. One of my barometers is always our Kids Zone. Seeing the little kids, ten of them lined up, waiting to get their faces painted, and the mothers and fathers just hanging around. It was just absolute gold.
“The show’s gone fantastically well. It’s just been building up bigger
and bigger every day. Together SPASA Australia and Master Pool Builders Association Australia have collaborated to make this the biggest consumer event in the southern hemisphere.
“Our job is to plant seeds in the community and make sure they’re thinking about us – our real competition is caravans, boating, travelling. That’s who we compete against. And we want the consumers to think about our industry. And they are and they’re doing it in droves.
“It’s just a testament to both organisations – we’ve put the members first across the board. We’re going to work together and I think it’s just a great thing for the industry. May it be a long and wonderful relationship!”
To listen to the full conversation go to www.splashmagazine.com.au n
An 11,000m2 site just north of Auckland is set to become the largest swimming pool display centre in New Zealand.
The Ultimate Pools site in Dairy Flat when complete will encompass a water testing and product research and development facility, extensive storage facilities, sales and showrooms, product displays, a children’s entertainment area – and of course display swimming pools.
Ultimate Pools is the authorised New Zealand dealer and distributor for Compass Pools north of the Harbour Bridge and south of Laings Beach.
The company started with a small warehouse and three staff in March 2017, as a distributor of Compass Pools NZ. The new purpose built facility has been five years in planning and is expected to cost more than $NZ4 million when complete.
General manager Rainbow Morris says the company has quickly grown and made a name for itself as an industry leader.
“Our success at the SPASA awards over the past few years is testament to this,” she says.
“We now have 26 staff over our pool building and swimming pool aftercare service businesses, including a retail store and fleet of service vehicles. With this success came the need for expansion and we quickly recognised the need for a business premises which could allow us to grow and develop many different facets of the business.”
Ultimate Pools are currently working with suppliers from across New Zealand to design and build an industry-leading complex where both trade suppliers and end users will be able to access swimming pool products in a working environment.
“This will be a fantastic opportunity for training, product testing and sales to be carried out,” says Morris.
“Owners Warren Wright and Steve Westlake had a vision of creating a state-of-the-art centre, which will become a destination venue for families and an event hub. This dream is now becoming a reality as construction has begun on the facility in earnest.”
It is anticipated the new Ultimate Pools facility will be open to the public in April/May 2023. n
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In January, Bruce Everett was at the Northeast Spa & Pool Association (NESPA) pool and spa show in the famous convention town of Atlantic City, New Jersey. He says it was a memorable experience.
“The trade show ran from January 23rd to 25th and offered a strong trade focus with exceptional training opportunities,” he says.
“Despite the winter weather in Atlantic City, the show for a cover manufacturer and vinyl fabricator is the best in the USA.
“The show began with a patriotic rendition of the national anthem, where the crowd stood in respect and the silence was palpable.”
He said most Americans turn right on entering the show, so to be different and avoid the crowds, he turned left.
“I was impressed with the different styles of pool construction available in North America, including in-ground panel pools with liners, fibreglass pools, modular plastic plunge pools, fibreglass walled pools with cement floors, and a wide range of spas, concrete pools and aboveground pools.
“The fire pits, water features, and mosaic tiles were some of the products that caught my attention. The use of concrete around the swimming pool area, including the clever embossment moulds for a textured finish, was also surprising,” he says.
“The big players such as Fluidra, Pentair, Hayward, and BWT were present, as well as several Australian companies like Poolwerx, Spa Electrics, and a stainless steel company from Perth.
“The training section was impressive with various courses offered before, during and after the show. The new product wall and featured product aisle added to the overall experience.
“The after-show entertainment was a highlight, and the Heritage fundraising night, with legendary American rock groups 38 Special and Lynyrd Skynyrd. They may be geriatric, but they can rock!”
The famous rockers played hits including Hold On Loosely, Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird.
“The atmosphere was electrifying with flowing alcohol. Overall, I highly recommend attending this show as it won’t disappoint.”
Heritage Pool Supply Group paid for the concert including the open bar and raised $165,000 for the Step Into Swim and Swim Across America charities.
Contact: www.nespapool.org/Events/The-Pool-Spa-Show
Brett Lloyd Abbott attended the 2022 Pool Spa Patio Show as both a visitor and on a panel with luminaries, Brian van Bower, Terry Brannon and Scott Cohen.
He says the show was a success and the show floor was packed, as was another Heritage Pool Supply charity concert.
“The welcome party on the terrace was convenient and fun, but I should have realised terrace means outside, so should not have told my wife, Don’t worry, you won’t need your coat!”
He says that two of the best sessions he attended were on the last day of the event.
First was Scott Cohen’s session How to Quickly Bond with your Prospects.
“It was undoubtedly one of the best sales training sessions I’ve ever attended in my life,” Abbott says.
“Powerful content, presented in a very entertaining way.”
He says an equally powerful session was the Service Industry Consolidation panel with two senior members from three national service consolidation companies: National Pool Partners, Pool Troopers and SPS Pool Care.
“They explained what consolidation is, and why it’s so crazy popular right now.
“On a more personal note, I had a fascinating chat with Wallace J. Nichols, the author of the supremely prowater book Blue Mind.” n
Contact: www.poolspapatio.com
“Unofficial SPLASH! reporters“, Bruce Everett, general manager of Abgal, and Brett Lloyd Abbott of Pool Builder Marketing, tell us about their recent experiences at two US pool and spa shows.
At the 2022 SPLASH! expo, Remco general manager Carl Voshege explained how the covid years helped consumers think of swimming pools as more than just a pool.
How has Remco fared during the period of disruption over the past couple of years?
It’s been a really interesting couple of years – we’ve been very fortunate to be part of an industry that’s actually thrived in many ways. But that’s been offset, I guess, by the challenges in supply chain and availability.
Overall, as a company we’ve managed very, very well and feel fortunate to have come out of this where we feel like normality is on the horizon again.
What have been your most popular products in the recent short term?
We’ve had a lot of growth in our automatic cover range. Pool owners are seeing the benefits of having something that is automatic, hidden away from view and ultimately is used every time you swim.
Our swim jet range has had a lot of growth as well. People recognise that integrating a swim jet turbine from our range means the pool becomes something other than just a place to cool down. It’s a lifestyle decision – it’s something that keeps them fit.
And that awareness of wellness in the industry has encouraged people to look at a turbine as part of the pool package.
How have you found SPLASH!?
It’s been great. Yeah, it’s just fantastic to be around our customers from all around the country.
Can you see any headwinds with the economic climate over the next year?
It’s really, really hard, isn’t it? From a crystal ball perspective – I wish I had one!
But I try to keep my finger on the pulse, talking to people at all different levels within the industry. We absolutely expect a downturn of sorts, but I wouldn’t forecast anything particularly dramatic. You know, pool builders are telling us that they’re still getting a lot of inquiry. And they’ve given us an awful lot of confidence moving forward.
It really feels like a privilege again. At times it’s been so difficult to connect, and having people right here in front of you and people genuinely happy to be here – it’s just been fantastic. n
Contact: www.remco.com.au
“Integrating a swim jet turbine means the pool becomes something other than just a place to cool down.”
We caught up with Compass Pools CEO Anthony Cross at last year’s SPLASH! Pool & Spa Trade Show, and he let us know about their latest offshoot – The Little Pool Co.
This is our freestanding fibreglass pool that’s marketed under the name, The Little Pool Co.
Our little pools are manufactured by Compass Pools, and are turned into freestanding pools by adding a full composite structure. It’s plug and play, so all you need is a concrete slab and you crane the pool into place on the slab. You can also attach decking to it.
They’re engineered to go up to 600mm below ground, which means you’ve got only about 800mm above ground at that point. So they’re really designed to be flexible enough to tie into a customer’s sloping backyard where they may have a deck and they want to marry it up and have a nice level situation.
We’ve been doing the R&D on these for three years. We’ve got patents in place for the way that we uniquely attach the composite structure to the fibreglass pools, which makes it a freestanding pool.
That has been quite challenging. Fibreglass pools are designed to go in the ground, but we’ve been able to come up with a way to support our pool, keep everything nice and square and straight.
We’ve been marketing the product in the Hunter Valley for a couple of years, and now we’re releasing it to the market. The boys have reported a lot of interest. Now we’ve just got to build more – sales seem like they are going to look after themselves, so it’s all about construction now. You know what the world we live in is like at the moment, it’s hard to get labourers and workers. So that’s what we’ve got to do.
The SPLASH! show has been great. It’s been really nice to connect with everybody again. It’s been a long time between drinks so to speak. SPLASH! has done a great job and it’s really nice to see everybody, and there’s been a really good attendance too.
Contact: www.littlepools.com.au
The customer can basically buy a full plug and play system – add the water, connect the power, and it’s ready to go.
It’s got all the equipment, all the plumbing, everything with respect to the customer’s requirements. So they want heating, they can have heating; they want extra lights, they can have extra lights.
We use the major suppliers, so we’ll use an AstralPool system or we’ll use a Hayward system. With the lights we’re using an Aqua Quip or a Spa Electric. So we mix and match a little bit depending on what the customers are after.
The pools are manufactured by Compass Pools who build a very high quality fibreglass pool, so you’re getting the same quality of fibreglass pool in the Little Pool range.
There is more of prefabricated pools in the feature Perfect Prefabrication on page 38.
“The customer can basically buy a full plug and play system – add the water, connect the power, and it’s ready to go.”Compass Pools CEO Anthony Cross
At the 2022 SPLASH! expo, general manager Tim Martin described how EvoHeat weathered the past couple of years, and let us know what is on the horizon in the commercial market.
It was very challenging – we had issues with components, we had issues with shipping delays, we had issues with the availability of complete products.
But we were in a fairly fortunate position that we have a great distribution network around the country, a lot of our major distributors carry bulk inventory of stock, so they were able to satisfy the immediate demands of the market.
And we were able to support them locally through our warehouses in each state as well.
Having said that, we also made a significant investment at the start of the year [2022] to our inventory. We would have liked to have made more investment and capitalised on the opportunities, but I think overall we weathered this storm quite well.
And we were able to come out of it in a strong position and still have available stock on hand to satisfy the demands of the majority of our customers.
I think it will certainly taper off compared to what we’ve seen over the past 24 months. You know, we’ve had an enormous increase over the entire industry over that period, which has been great. But there will be a levelling off at some point.
I think most of our clientele, particularly the builders, are still heavily booked for the next twelve months. So we’re still quite confident that the next twelve months [to the middle of 2023] will be a very strong period.
But you know, there are factors that we can control, and factors we can’t control. So we focus on what we can control. And certainly that relates to product and performance and how active we are within the market.
We’ve always been strong in both segments of the market, and we’ve seen fairly consistent growth both in domestic and commercial markets over the past five to six years in particular.
We do have some new technologies that we’re launching here at SPLASH! – our commercial inverter series. These products have higher energy efficiency than any other product available in the country at the moment.
We’ve already seen that product being adopted by a lot of local councils and governments around the country,
and we’ll continue to pursue those markets and those opportunities.
Covid obviously hit the domestic market with an upward swing; the commercial side was impacted the other way. There were a lot of projects we had planned or budgeted for throughout that 24 month period that were shelved, because there just wasn’t the funding available because those funds went to other programs.
But we’re now seeing a reinvigoration of those segments – there’s a bit more funding now for upgrading facilities, and certainly some holiday parks, tourist parks and tourism resorts are reinvesting in their facilities.
So we see this as good opportunity for our products to help them provide better facilities for their clientele.
The event this year [2022] has been fantastic.
We’ve been really happy with the people we’ve been speaking with – the conversations we’ve been having have all been of a really high calibre.
Looking around the hall, all of the suppliers have stepped up a notch in terms of their standards and their exhibits. And we certainly have as well.
I think it’s been four years of frustration of everybody not being able to be out and at the coalface with our clients and with our customers and with each other. n
Contact: www.evoheat.com.au
For more on EvoHeat’s commercial inverter system, go to the story on energy efficiency in aquatic centres, which starts on page 72.
Tim Martin at the EvoHeat stand at SPLASH! 2022“Covid obviously hit the domestic market with an upward swing; the commercial side was impacted the other way.”
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David Stennett has proposed a topic for general debate, discussing whether qualification can ever replace actual on-the-job experience in pool building. Below are the For and Against arguments for the proposal that a qualification can never replace experience.
By David StennettBuilding a swimming pool is no small feat. It requires a complex understanding of design, construction and safety regulations. When evaluating the quality of a pool builder, it’s important to consider both their education and their experience. While a recognised education qualification is important, there’s something to be said for the benefits of real-world experience over a qualification. In the case for the affirmative, I’ll explore why experience can often be more valuable for pool builders in Australia.
One of the biggest benefits of experience is the hands-on knowledge and skills that can only be gained from working in the field. Building a pool is a complex process that involves a number of different tasks, from digging and preparing the ground to installing equipment and adding finishing touches. With experience, pool builders are able to develop a deeper understanding of the process, including how to handle unexpected challenges and adapt to changing conditions.
Another benefit of experience is the development of client relationships. Over time, experienced pool builders develop a better understanding of what clients
are looking for in a pool and can offer more tailored solutions. This often leads to stronger client relationships and more repeat business.
Experience can also provide a deeper understanding of industry trends and changes. With experience, pool builders are able to stay up-to-date with new technologies and advancements, which can help them provide more informed recommendations and better meet the needs of their clients.
Finally, experience can help pool builders build a strong reputation in the industry. With a proven track record of successful projects, pool builders can attract new clients and grow their business.
The concept that a recognised education qualification is more valuable than realworld experience alone for pool builders in Australia and New Zealand is a complex issue that can vary depending on the specific standards and regulations in each state and territory.
When evaluating the quality of a pool builder, it’s important to consider both their education and their experience. While experience is valuable, there are many benefits to having a recognised education qualification in the field of pool building.
For this side of the argument, I’ll explore why a qualification can often be more valuable for pool builders in Australia.
One of the biggest benefits of a recognised qualification is the formal training that is provided. This training includes a comprehensive understanding of construction techniques, design principles and safety regulations. This formal education provides a solid foundation for pool builders, which can be built upon through experience.
Another benefit of a qualification is the ability to stay up-to-date with the latest regulations and standards in the industry. With the constant evolution of technology and building techniques, it’s important for pool builders to have a solid understanding of the latest regulations and requirements. A recognised education qualification can help ensure that pool builders are compliant with these regulations and can provide their clients with the highest level of safety and quality.
A recognised education qualification can also provide professional recognition within the industry. This recognition can help pool builders establish themselves as experts in their field and can help them attract new clients. With a recognised education qualification, pool builders can differentiate themselves from their competition and demonstrate their commitment to their profession. An active membership of the peak body is also very important here.
Finally, a recognised education qualification can provide opportunities for career advancement within the industry. With a deeper understanding of the construction process, pool builders can take on more complex projects and expand their skill set. This can lead to new opportunities for growth and advancement within the industry.
While experience is valuable, a recognised education qualification can provide a number of benefits for pool builders in Australia.
A combination of both qualifications and experience can provide the best overall understanding and expertise for pool building in Australia and New Zealand.
Contact: If you want to contribute to this debate, contact David Stennett on david@ spasa.com.au n
In 2018 Malcolm Price, who had decades of experience in the financial markets, started his first Poolwerx franchise in Sydney’s Killara with four service vehicles and $1.5 million in turnover.
Over the past four years, he has grown his network to nine marketing territories across the Upper North Shore of Sydney and Ryde, with four retail stores and 14 service vehicles. The business has achieved more than $5 million in FY21/22 – one of the first Poolwerx franchise to ever achieve this revenue success.
Price now manages 32 staff across his retail portfolio.
SPLASH! asked him if he has had problems with being short-staffed over recent times.
“Like most industries and SME businesses, recruitment over the last couple of years has been challenging,” he says.
“We have chosen not to deviate from our strategy, but rather be patient and expand our hiring focus into other areas. We have used our local school networks to promote retail staff openings and the merits of working in our industry during their university studies.
“Last year we made three excellent hires from a local school, with these individuals being excellent additions to our business.”
Price’s background is in financial markets and he held a range of senior executive positions around the world.
“This enabled me to bring additional skills and extensive cross industry experience to the business and help make it a success,” he says.
Price says this experience matched the
new franchise partner profile Poolwerx was seeking to attract – innovationled with the drive and business acumen to quickly build a substantial scale business.
“So that’s what I look for when recruiting staff,” he says. “Innovative and lateral thinking individuals with a passion for business and the drive to succeed and grow.
“Our hiring strategy is largely centred on non-industry participants to stimulate new thinking and create diversity. Much of our talent comes from other technical trade industries – electrical, mechanical, managing landscape teams. We select people who want longevity, are careerorientated and showcase dynamic thinking, and those we think will fit in with the existing team.
“My philosophy is that higher success can be achieved by hiring a lesser experienced person who can be trained up, and rely on our robust and deep training capabilities. That is part of my push to find a better way when it comes to hiring.”
When asked about the importance of retaining key staff, Price says he is incredibly lucky to have talented staff working with him, and they are a big factor to his success.
“Therefore, retaining people is absolutely imperative, especially at the leadership level,” he says.
“Several of my key managers have been with me for the five years that I have owned the business; and more than 60 per cent of my staff have been with the business for more than three years.
“My service manager, one of my most important team members, was a retail assistant when I first met him and he is now responsible for managing a weekly schedule of over 450 service appointments.”
Price says he and his team pride themselves on identifying “future stars”, and building a development program for them, so they can achieve their goals and make a significant contribution to the business.
“We are committed to our staff’s growth and development so we work closely with every team member to develop career pathways to achieve their goals and aspirations. We tell our team that working with us is a career, not just a stepping stone to the next job.
“We are looking for motivated individuals who will make a longterm commitment to our business, and in return we invest time and resources into them. We also work with Poolwerx to assist with training opportunities that allows staff the opportunity to gain retail and pool maintenance certification.”
Price says that the past few years have been incredibly challenging for business owners, but thanks to their strategic planning, they weathered the pandemic quite well.
“However, so much uncertainty in the world can be intimidating and physical distancing can feel isolating, so we worked hard to build strong team camaraderie through constant check-ins and training sessions to bring a sense of normalcy to the work week,” he says.
We asked a multi-unit pool and spa franchise owner for his advice on finding staff during this period of skill shortages and – importantly – once found, how to retain them.“We are also personally invested in our team to work closely with individuals on matters outside of the job to ensure they feel supported through challenging times.
“I take a lot of pride in personal acknowledgements, highlighting positive client feedback and celebrating these wins face-to-face with staff. Selective recognition for outstanding achievement allows for examples of learning and evolving.”
In overcoming these issues and for general staff management, Price’s earlier experience in the business world gave him a good grounding.
“My previous executive experience has been such an asset to many facets of the business with staff management one of them. I’ve drawn many of the staff protocols from the international companies I worked for and adapted them for my unique business model to ensure we are constantly trying new ways to succeed.
“Our strong commitment to extensive training is one, because it shows our staff that we’re invested in their development and education, which strengthens company loyalty. When staff believe you are invested in their development and wellbeing, they are happier and less likely to look for other opportunities — that’s one of the reasons why we have such a low turnover rate.”
He also says that being part of a franchise means that the network can share learnings, and he has passed his learnings onto other franchise partners at Poolwerx.
Price says that remuneration will always be an important consideration when searching for new staff and retaining quality talent, but investment in employee growth is one of the strongest retention strategies.
“Employees want to feel valued and that they can grow with a company, so giving our staff these opportunities shows we’re invested in their development and future with the company.
“My philosophy around long term staff satisfaction and retention is to onboard employees well, and continue to foster and create positive employee experiences. Simply put, ‘know your staff’ and make sure they feel aligned to your goals.”
Contact: www.poolwerx.com.au n
Poolwerx chief people, performance and culture officer, Kelly Micallef, says that the post-pandemic skills shortage has forced employers to objectively view not only how they recruit new team members, but also how to keep their current team engaged.
“Now more than ever, a strong employer brand has been the difference between finding a super star or not hiring at all,” she says.
“People are more conscious and passionate about work life balance, with the hybrid work life is here to stay. This has pushed employers to find solutions that practically fit their business and their team’s demands, while keeping up with changing employee work trends.
“The other glaringly obvious change to employment is people want to know what their career path looks like: they want to ensure the company they are working for has their career development opportunities top of mind.”
AS/NZS 3000:2018 Electrical installations (also known as the “Wiring Rules”), contains essential electrical requirements for swimming pools and spas. The Wiring Rules is legislated for compliance in all Australian States/Territories and therefore is mandatory.
Swimming pool and spa builders including pool fence installers need to be aware of the additional electrical works required by the wiring rules.
Equipotential bonding is the practice of intentionally connecting all metallic items in a zone together to protect from electric shock.
The items that form part of this equipotential bond are then given a single earth through the main switchboard of the house. Equipotential bonding and electrical earthing is a two-step process to ensure electrical safety.
Equipotential bonding differs from electrical earthing due to earthing aiming to prevent a dangerous situation in the first place, and bonding providing a protective conductor to stop any electrical current passing through metallic items not directly connected to an electrical circuit.
In its most basic form, equipotential bonding is in place to minimise the risk of touch voltages. Both equipotential bonding and electrical earthing are essential ingredients for electrical safety within a swimming pool or spa area.
It is mandatory for an equipotential bond to be performed with an accessible bonding connection point installed and connected between:
• The conductive components of any pool/spa structure including the reinforcing metal within the shell of the pool or bond/footing structure.
• The reinforcing metal within the surrounding deck/slab.
• The exposed conductive parts of any electrical equipment that is located within the ‘pool zone’ (within 1.25m of the water).
• The exposed conductive parts of electrical equipment that is in contact with pool water, including but not limited to filtration pumps and heating systems.
• Any fixed conductive material that is within the ‘pool zone’ (1.25m of the water) including but not limited to ladders, diving boards, fences, pipework, windows, doors, metal pool fence spigots.
• Earthing conductors associated with each circuit supplying the pool or spa, or the earthing bar at the switchboard at which the circuits originate.
What doesn’t need to be part of the equipotential bond?
Fixed items of conductive material that have an accessible surface that is smaller than 100mm in any direction within the ‘pool zone’. Metal items outside the 1.25m ‘pool zone’.
Electrical equipment that is in contact with pool water that is double insulated.
What are the risks if these works aren’t performed?
• Electrocution – death/injury.
• Prosecution for failing to follow mandatory rulings.
• Disputes with clients.
• Rectification work to penetrate the concrete structure and install suitable equipotential bonding.
** All Wiring work is Electrical work and should be performed by a licenced Electrician. **
Robert Sterland, aquatic systems product manager for Pentair, reminds us that equipotential bonding is essential for pool heaters.
To reduce voltage gradients in the pool area, the heater and the pool system must be electrically grounded and “bonded” together. Not properly bonding and grounding the heater can cause damage and electrolysis to the heat exchanger.
This is also mandatory according to the wiring rules AS/NZS 3000.
Par 5.6.2.6.4 states that electrical equipment shall be equipotentially bonded where there is exposed conductive parts of any electrical equipment in contact with the pool water, including water in the circulation system, which includes heating systems. n
Conductor Hub has developed Bond Point – a testable bonding point that can be installed anywhere in a pool area that requires bonding under AS/NZS 3000:2018.
It connects to the reinforcing steel within the pool shell, bond beam or surrounding slab via the Bond Point’s clamp, leaving a hollow plastic tubing section protruding vertically out of the concrete.
Once the area has been completed (i.e. tiled), the plastic section is cut off and a stainless rod is screwed into place leaving a 35mm stainless steel button that fits seamlessly into any finish to test the continuity back to the bonding connection point.
The market hasn’t previously been able to test this area after the concrete has been poured, but now with the release of Bond Point they can confidently test the steel’s electrical potential. Contact: www.conductorhub.com.au
Aquaguard ® X – an exciting new range of pool gelcoats, manufactured in Australia, to withstand harsh outdoor conditions
Aquaguard® pool gelcoats have long been the flagship product of our offering to the local and global composite pool markets with over 20 years of proven field history.
Aquaguard® X gelcoats are an exciting new range of pool gelcoats from allnex Composites, proudly manufactured in Australia, and designed to withstand our harsh outdoor conditions. They are high performance finishes for the manufacture of composite swimming pools exhibiting high durability, outstanding UV protection, weathering and chemical resistance properties.
Product Features Benefits
High Performance Surface Coating
High Quality Gelcoat Pigments
A striking and visually appealing cosmetic finish with exceptional durability
Vibrant and long-lasting colours
Outstanding UV Protection The Aquaguard® X technology protects the decorative finishes from harsh effects of the sun
Excellent Chemical Resistance Products are tested extensively for chemical fade resistance to ensure a longer lifespan for the cosmetic finish
Performance Advantages:
• Improved chemical (chlorine) & water resistance
• Improved UV resistance, protecting the finish of your pool for many years
• Increased colour retention during outdoor exposure
• Superior aesthetics of laminate during service life which maintains the original cosmetic appearance for a longer period
Aquaguard® X gelcoats are available in a range of contemporary colours and striking finishes.
For more information, please contact allnex on 1800 789 607 or visit www.allnex.com
Prefabricated and precast swimming pools have had a surge in popularity in recent years due to their affordability, compact size and reduced running costs.
Although prefab pool category also includes full-sized fibreglass pools (now the most popular form of swimming pool in Australia) in this article we will focus on the new smaller backyard segment of the market – although it’s worth noting some of those new entries are from existing fibreglass companies making smaller “plug and play” swimming pools.
The global economy has entered an inflationary stage, affecting Australian households with higher mortgage repayments and reduced disposable income. In this environment, the reduced cost of installing a pre-built pool is seen as more attractive than investing in a new pool build.
Builders are also turning to these budget-
friendly pools because of their quick and easy installation. The pre-engineered specifications speed up building approval and there’s no need to wait for concrete to cure or set – once the pool is in place, backfilling can start straight away.
Depending on the desired location of the finished product — and ensuring there are no additions such as crane hire costs, Prestige Plunge Pools (PPP) can install a council approved, fully reinforced, prefabricated concrete plunge pool for between $22,000 and $32,000 — ready to swim, including delivery, installation and pool equipment.
“Our pools are pure luxury, but without the premium price tag,” says PPP co-founder Amy Smith.
With most new home blocks being significantly smaller lots, prefab plunge pools have become a workable solution to traditional swimming pools.
“Gone are the days of huge pools taking up the whole backyard as people want to maximise the space that they have while minimising maintenance,” she says.
The family-owned business, which was the first Australian pool installation company to receive SPASA’s Climate Care Certified status, was awarded Golds in two categories at last year’s SPASA Australia National Awards of Excellence (Prefabricated Composite Pool Under $30,000 and Over $30,000) along with Prefabricated Pool Builder of the Year.
“All our pools are made right here in south-east Queensland, and can be positioned in-ground, partially out of the ground, or fully above ground,” Smith explains.
The company offers three pre-built options: the 15,000-litre Large Round measuring 3.45m x 4.5m in diameter; the 12,000-litre Rectangle measuring 2.45m x 4.5m; and the 5000-litre Small Round measuring 2.45m in diameter.
“The process starts with our licensed builder visiting the site to discuss what the customer wants to achieve, such as desired pool location and positioning,” says Smith.
“We also provide essential information on where underground services such as sewerage lines are located and guide the customer in relation to any council requirements to provide peace of mind and ensure the process of getting a pool is a smooth one.”
Once the building approval process is
completed, which is entirely managed by PPP, the pool is built to the customer’s specifications. This involves making the steel cage, pouring the concrete into a mould, pouring the step and seat in the desired location before the pool is waterproofed and tiled.
The finishing touches of the skimmer box, jet returns and LED pool light are then installed with the pool itself being completed before being put on the delivery truck.
Earthworks are then completed and the base for the pool is prepared. This is followed by the installation of pool equipment.
Smith explains: “The pool is then craned into place, plumbed and backfilled. We then install a temporary
pool fence round the pool and have it certified. The pool is then filled with water, turned on, an instructional handover is completed and then it’s time to swim! Our onsite component takes a total of only two days.”
The post-installation process is completed by the customer and includes installing a permanent pool fence followed by landscaping.
“A final inspection completes the process with the certifier to finalise the building approval — there is no additional cost for this as it is included as part of the building approval,” she adds.
With their long, narrow, rectangular shape ideal for laps, shipping containers make good swimming pool solutions for those who want a convenient pool which can easily be installed in their backyard.
However, when you visualise a shipping container swimming pool, you might imagine a backyard DIY project involving a rusted shipping container and a brightly coloured vinyl layer stuck to the inside, as an upcycled and cheap option to get a pool.
However a company on the Sunshine Coast has subverted that image.
Designed by Jonavan Roux, Shipping Container Pools have earned a coveted Good Design Australia Award for their innovative construction — along with a slew of SPASA Awards of Excellence across three Australian states in 2022 alone.
They were featured on two Network Nine TV shows: Australia’s Best Pools, and The Block for two contestants’ house builds, one of which ultimately won the show.
“Our pools have a patented design that is the result of six years’ worth of engineering. They were originally created not to be a cheaper
alternative to traditional in-ground pools, but to fill in the gaps of the market for difficult sites that have tight access or steep slopes,” Roux says.
A pre-moulded fibreglass shell is dropped in a prepared A-grade shipping container and is then painted with an industrial 2Pac satin finish.
“The pool comes complete with a composite decking from ArchiDeck that has a 20-year warranty and is completely maintenance free,” he says. “The design incorporates a complete pre-plumbed filtration system that can be personalised with accessories such as a swim jet.”
Roux says Shipping Container Pools were used for training by Australian 100m Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers, Cross-fit Super athlete Kara Saunders, and the GWS Giants AFL team.
“The design of the shipping container pool allows for easy transport and installation by crane and enables the pool to be instantly placed on a flat, prepared site or on an elevated engineered structure for a sloping site,” he says.
“One of these pools has even been placed on the roof of a seven-storey building in Brisbane city.
“Gone are the days of huge pools taking up the whole backyard, as people want to maximise their space.”Placing the pool in a semi-aboveground location Filling the pool Ready for a dip with only two days of onsite work.
RIGHT:
Image: Swimming Container Pools
BELOW: You wouldn’t even know it’s a container.
Image: Swimming Container Pools
Sloping sites can be accommodated with containers.
Acrylic viewing windows can also be installed as an additional design element.”
Roux says the pools are extremely sustainable not only due to the fact that two pools are built from one container, and all waste gets recycled or reused in the streamlined factory, but also as there is minimal site preparation and less environmental impact.
“As shipping container pools are
above-ground, no excavation work is required on your property, minimising disruption to your lifestyle that goes with having an in-ground pool installed,” he says.
“Additionally, the shipping container pool arrives as a complete product and once a qualified electrician connects it to power, it can be filled with water and used straight away.”
For people who like the shipping container concept but prefer more design and installation options, The Little Pool Co has overcome some of common disadvantages with a few clever improvements.
Similar to container pools in that they arrive as complete kits, the Little Pools also require little installation work due to their pre-built features.
They have been developed in conjunction with a leading Australian fibreglass manufacturer Compass Pools, meaning they are designed and built using the latest technology and engineering expertise.
“Not only are they lightweight but also strong and durable enough to last for decades,” says CEO Anthony Cross.
Starting around $25,750 — which is around the same as the average container pool price — they are easy to customise with a range of pool colours and exterior cladding options.
“There are additional upgrades including external steps, heating, lighting, balustrades and sanitisation
systems that further personalise the finished product,” he explains.
“Our ready-made fiberglass pools come with everything you need to create a stunning backyard oasis without any of the hard work, says Cross. “Simply set up a concrete slab or engineered raised platform, position the pool on top, plug-in, fill-up and play!”
Little Pools’ innovative engineering have made it faster, easier, and cheaper to install a luxury swimming pool in any backyard.
“Our patented structural support system is made using composite technology, which makes our pools ultra-light and easy to manoeuvre into difficult sites. Composite glass reinforced plastic is super strong, cannot rust, rot or be degraded by pests, making it the perfect support material for an outdoor pool.”
Dive right in
Another company disrupting the pool industry with a prefab offering is Brisbane-based Plungie, manufacturer of the “the world’s largest monolithic precast concrete swimming pool” measuring a generous 6 metres x 3 metres.
“Plungie was born one balmy Queensland evening over a couple of brews between friends Ty, Ben and Mick,” says head of sales Mark O’Brien.
“After two years of intense research, product development, and sleepless nights, Ben hand-built the very first prototype in 2018,” he says. “Fast forward to now and Plungie is an award-winning, world-first product that’s pioneering the future of swimming pools in Australia, the United States and Canada.”
O’Brien says the company gives builders more control over their projects and Australians “a
faster, easier, and more often than not, costeffective solution for a premium concrete swimming pool”.
Business is certainly booming with an estimated 2000 Plungie pools to be sold this financial year, which is up from 1300 last year.
“Every Plungie is manufactured in quality controlled facilities in Brisbane, Queensland and Kilmore, Victoria and we know to the gram how much steel and concrete is in each one,” he says.
“This controlled factory environment allows us to produce a proven and tested concrete product that’s regularly performance tested to ensure consistency. This means our customers get exactly what they’ve paid for.”
While fibreglass is very competitive against formed or sprayed concrete, O’Brien believes precast concrete tops it.
“When looking at an aboveground or semirecessed installation, a precast concrete pool doesn’t require the structural reinforcement that a fibreglass shell does,” he says.
“This reduces trades, time and materials on site. Precast concrete also saves time and money in engineering, as all footing requirements have been pre-engineered to cover a range of soil classifications.”
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TOP: An Aqua Pools container installation
He says that concrete pools are more durable than other materials and aren’t subject to peeling, fading or popping over time.
“Plunge pools, particularly the type we manufacture at Plungie, also offer a low carbon solution by reducing site work, using fewer materials in the fabricating process and requiring far less water and energy than large traditional pools and fibreglass pools,” he says.
Primary plumbing fixtures are also pre-fitted
and include the skimmer box, hydro-static valve, and the provisions for general filtration, safety suction and spare lines.
“The pool requires a plumb-up service to connect the general filtration equipment to these pre-fitted provisions. Depending on the chosen equipment, this can be completed by a pool service professional, builder, pool builder or a plumber,” says O’Brien.
“Equipment is generally installed on top of a concrete slab or concrete paver measuring around one metre square. If surplus hardware is purchased, additional space may be required.”
As with all prefabricated pools, every Plungie must be earthed by a trade-qualified electrician.
“Earthing, or grounding as it’s also known, is a process where the bonded pool components are connected to the earth, to direct and dissipate any electrical current to the ground and away from the pool,” he explains.
“All of our pools include eight precast ferrules throughout the shell that are connected directly to the steel reinforcement. The pools can be earthed directly from any of these points.”
[For more on grounding and equipotential bonding in general, see page 36.]
A standard equipment package requires
A crane is typically required to lift the prefabricated pool from the delivery truck and place it onto the concrete footing on the property. Therefore, understanding access plays a crucial role in determining the overall ease, speed, and cost of installation.
“This is because no two sites are exactly alike, which means no two installations are exactly alike,” says Mark O’Brien from Plungie.
Crane hire is one of the most variable factors when installing a pre-built pool and is influenced by a number of elements, such as access from the road, crane setup position, reach distance and whether road closure is required.
“Depending on the above, crane hire can range from $1000 for easy access to upwards of $15,000 when there is a larger reach distance (30-plus metres) over a house, structure, or terrain,” he explains.
“Any lift is possible, but the more comprehensive the lift or restricted the access, the higher the crane cost may be.”
While suppliers will provide lifting specifications, the owner or installer will be required to engage a local crane company for an accurate lifting quote.
“Most reputable crane hire companies offer a free site assessment and quote, but we also encourage you to do a little homework to better understand your access as well,” says O’Brien. “You can do this by taking a walk around your property or using satellite imagery to gauge the level of access you have.”
A franna crane is popular due to its ability to travel long distances, set up in tight spaces and operate quickly on the work site. Image: Plungie
access to two 10amp general power outlets, one general power outlet for the chlorinator, which plugs into the pool’s pump, and another for LED lights.
“Both the light and the chlorinator have a simple power point plug connection,” he says. “Additional electrical provisioning is required if users purchase add-on equipment like a heater.”
O’Brien attributes the popularity of
Plungie won the Emerging Exporter Award at the 2022 Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards.
Plungie’s precast concrete plunge pools – available in four designs – are the first of their kind in the world. Plungie CEO Cameron Levick says the win acknowledged the impact Plungie had on the swimming pool industry since its launch in 2018.
A member of the Venlo group of companies, Plungie has manufacturing facilities in Texas, USA, a fast-growing New Zealand market and plans to expand into Canada and Europe in 2023.
“We were thrilled to be nominated but to take out the category is such an acknowledgement of the team’s mission to bring the Australian dream to the world – to have a pool in your backyard,” Levick says. Levick says Plungie has created 78 new jobs in Australia in the past four years and has also supported the creation of thousands of new jobs in associated trades and among crane drivers and suppliers.
prefabricated pools to a range of factors that tick the boxes for builders and homeowners.
“There are clear time and cost efficiencies, such as fewer tradies on site and a faster installation time that’s 75 per cent quicker compared to that of a new pool build.
“That is very appealing for people who, let’s face it, just want to get things done.”
Homeowners should seek out their region’s zoning regulations as a first step, to determine how close an inground pool can be to their home, property lines and other structures on the property.
Many municipalities require a three-metre distance between the pool and house walls. This is to protect the electrical wiring inside your home from flooding and water exposure, and though this is the national average, local rules may require the pool to be built even further from major structures. n
www.aquapools.com.au
www.au.plungie.com
www.goplunge.com.au
www.littlepools.com.au
www.shippingcontainerpools.com.au
A new Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLS) special report on learn-to-swim shows positive trends on children returning to lessons after covid restrictions have been lifted.
An estimated 1.7 million children are now in lessons, a 20 per cent increase on prepandemic enrolments.
RLS chief executive officer Justin Scarr says this represents an additional 300,000 children in lessons compared to pre-pandemic levels, with the growth most evident among preschool age groups.
However, this growth is not enough to offset missed lessons in seven-to 12-year-old children – meaning at least 100,000 children in late primary school years are unlikely to return to lessons before high school.
Scarr says the lack of water safety lessons for those older children heightens the drowning risk in the years to come.
“The importance of school aged children returning swimming and water safety programs cannot be overstated. It is critical that we have a medium-term national plan to get seven- and 12-year-old children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds back into lessons,” he says.
He adds that the significant growth in enrolments of children aged under four may reflect the availability of swimming vouchers for preschool children, particularly in New South Wales, and parental interest in Queensland.
RLS recommends a national action plan to address kids who miss out on learning to swim should at least include strategies to:
• Strengthen existing school and vacation programs;
• Increase participation, especially of those most at-risk through targeted programs;
• Promote and track national swimming and water safety benchmarks;
• Increase lifesaving and water safety skills in teenagers;
• Address infrastructure gaps, build and/or upgrade aquatic centres and swim schools.
Meanwhile, Swim Australia is trying address the decline in school age swim lessons – and increase swim lesson participation generally –through their Swim It Forward campaign.
Their research shows that more than half (55%) of all Australian children are not learning to swim due to the cost to enrol in lessons and in recent times more than 8 million swimming lessons were missed due to covid.
Swim It Forward is an initiative to take the financial barrier out of the equation and get more disadvantaged Australian families enrolled in swimming lessons at their local swim school.
For every child they help place into a learnto-swim program, there is a reduced risk of drowning deaths, and greater confidence in the water.
$20 will provide one lesson to a child.
$200 will provide a child with lessons for one term.
$800 will provide a child with lessons for a whole year.
To donate: www.asf.org.au/donate/swimaustralia/swim-it-forward
Regional southwest Western Australia is seeing swim lesson waiting times of up to six months due to a surge in enrolments and local pool closures.
In February, City of Bunbury team leader of sport and recreation Daniel Clark spoke to the ABC, saying 1200 children had signed up for lessons this term.
“Some days of the week we’re at full capacity and other days there are a few spots,” he says.
The long waiting list was particularly evident among early primary school age children, and Clark says some people were still waiting from August last year.
He says the lack of local facilities, along with a need for more swim instructors, had contributed to their longer waiting times
“Another two, three or four instructors would allow us to keep growing the numbers on weekends. But during the week the lane space becomes the issue.”
Margaret River area are dealing with a similar issue, with a council-run aquatic centre closed in for a 12-month upgrade.
Roberta Williams, who owns an aquatic academy in Margaret River, told the ABC that she had been unable to find an indoor pool to rent to cater for lessons for babies.
She says parents are disappointed, and children are losing whatever safety skills they had already picked up.
The council has directed parents to classes in Augusta, which requires an additional hour-long round trip.
Three days of intense competition and exciting finishes in the line throw and manikin tow finished with the Victorian state team crowned champions of the Royal Life Saving Australian Pool Lifesaving Championships.
Competitors travelled from all over Australia to the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre for the championships, where the “do or die” approach takes on new meaning, as every event has a real-life application and precision is as important as speed and agility.
The Victorian team edged out strong competition from the Western Australian state team, and the New South Wales state team to claim victory. NSW had held the title for five events running.
Pool lifesaving is one of the three core disciplines that make up the sport of lifesaving internationally. In addition to ocean and beach disciplines, more commonly known as surf lifesaving, pool lifesaving tests swimming, rescue skills and initiative in a still-water environment.
The Lifesavers of the Meet were Jake Smith, WA State Team (Open) and Chelsea Jones, NSW State Team (U19). It was Smith’s second Lifesaver of the Meet honour in a row, having taken home the award in 2022.
Special mention goes to Kevin Corry from Victoria who was awarded Official of the Meet by Chief Referee Jo Teagle, for his role at the event.
“Kevin jumped in to switch roles and help with equipment when he heard we were short of volunteers,” Teagle says.
“He was a great asset to the equipment team and the first to arrive and the last to leave each day. His contribution was key to ensuring the success of the championships.”
Royal Life Saving’s Justin Scarr says the athletes use their training not only in competition, but also to be teachers, swim teachers, swim club members, and pool lifeguards, supporting the next generation of Australians to stay safe around water.
“As well as the tremendous athleticism on display, I’d like to acknowledge all the volunteers behind the scenes who make this event an important part of the pool lifesaving calendar,” he says.
The Australian Pool Lifesaving Championships took place from Thursday 19th January to Saturday 21st January 2023 at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Albert Park.
Contact: www.royallifesaving.com.au
Aquatics
On the night of 20 October 2022, a section of the steel roof structure at the Kew Recreation Centre construction site partially collapsed.
WorkSafe have now approved a methodology to safely dismantle the collapsed steel, and the project builder, ADCO Constructions, is in the process of completing the propping works to prepare the collapsed zone for dismantling.
Dismantling works for the steel roof structure began in early February 2023 and will take approximately 4-6 weeks. WorkSafe will be on site to supervise these works.
ADCO Constructions are implementing a traffic management plan to ensure community safety and manage any temporary path and road closures while these works take place.
Thorough investigations into the cause of the collapse are still ongoing and will continue while the collapsed steel is dismantled. The impact of the collapse on the project timeframe is not yet known but council will provide an update once a revised construction timeframe is confirmed.
Boroondara Council says every step is being taken to ensure the final structure is safe and secure, and a high-quality, modern recreation and aquatic facility is delivered for the community.
Contact: www.boroondara.vic.gov.au
Industry moves
Sarah Murray has been appointed the new CEO of Recreation Aotearoa (RA), effective March 13.
Murray was a previous RA board member, and was most recently the parks, sport and recreation community partnerships manager at Wellington City Council. Prior to that role she held a variety of leadership roles with the Department of Conservation in both Southland and Wellington. Her career has seen her work across parks and open spaces,
recreation, sport and play with a focus on leading and developing impactful partnerships and driving positive change.
In addition, she has held a range of governance roles within the sector including supporting the development RA’s current strategy Te Whai Oranga during her time on the board. She is a longstanding RA member and current ARPro Assessor and regional committee member.
The Australian Swim School Association (ASSA) has announced the line-up for its 2023 national conference. Presenters to share ideas on strategy, social impact and sustainability in Adelaide from March 27 to 31, include Daniel Flynn, co-founder of Thankyou; Natalie Kyriacou OAM, ESG and Social Impact Adviser for PwC Australia; Erinn Klein, co-founder of Ngeringa Wines; and Will Moorhouse, CEO of Prosper EX. The program includes: Monday March 27, swim school tour, teaching stream and welcome drinks; Tuesday March 28, ASSA Conference; Wednesday March 29, ASSA Conference and Awards Gala; Thursday March 30, ASSA Conference and end of conference function; Friday March 31, Experience Adelaide Hills Tour. Contact: www. australianswimschools.org.au
Queensland-based aquatic centre management company, City Venue Management, has achieved child safe certification – the first Queensland based operating management company to achieve child safe certification by nationally accredited industry training specialists Child Safeguard. The certification recognises that City Venue Management has implemented child safe best practices across its portfolio of aquatic and recreation venues, including Rackley Swimming and Fish & Flips.
A young girl was rescued by bystanders, including a young boy with a pool noodle, after becoming unconscious in the Merrylands Swim Centre in Sydney’s west. Lifeguards pulled her from the water unconscious and administered four rounds of CPR before she became responsive. NSW ambulance inspector Kevin McSweeney said: “When paramedics arrived, thankfully the girl was conscious and breathing. We just want to recognise the young fellow in the pool who was able to get help for the little girl. Water-related incidents can often have a tragic outcome, but fortunately today had a happy ending.”
NZ facility management business, Community Leisure Management (CLM), has appointed Lynn Cartwright as their new general manager of programs and community engagement. Cartwright started at CLM as a swim school coordinator and worked her way up to SwimMagic National Manager. She has been a well-respected part of CLM for more than 13 years. During her leadership, SwimMagic grew to become the largest swim school in New Zealand with 14 facilities across the nation.
Swimming Australia has released its Disordered Eating Prevention and Management Guidelines.
The guidelines form part of Swimming Australia’s broader Performing in Lycra initiative, the amalgamation of several projects conducted since 2015 which aims to ensure the swimming community is equipped to support the growth and development of a swimmer’s mind and body that is capable of performing in all aspects of life.
Disordered eating (DE) and eating disorders (EDs) are serious and complicated issues that can impact the health and performance of all members of the swimming community, from those in the highperformance pathway to those working and engaging in the broader Australian swimming family.
The Disordered Eating Prevention and Management Guidelines aim to allow Swimming Australia to model the practices required to create and provide a healthy sport system within its unique environment.
Swimming Australia President, Dr Michelle Gallen, says the guidelines had been developed in the interests of the entire swimming community.
“Swimming Australia strives to provide all athletes, coaches, parents and fans a safe and supportive environment in which to train, perform and thrive throughout their swimming life,” Dr Gallen says.
“We believe these guidelines will help identify and change language, culture and environments related to negative body image – things often said or done with unintended consequences.
“Ultimately these guidelines provide clear actions and processes that our community and Swimming Australia can follow to ensure all swimmers and swimming people can swim, train and compete in a low-risk and supportive environment, representing body positivity, a love for the water and lifelong health.”
In conjunction with the Disordered Eating Prevention and Management Guide, Swimming Australia has also been developing a best practice guide for supportive environments to measure and monitor body composition.
Contact: www.swimming.org.au, or www.splashmagazine.com.au/ quicklinks146
Meanwhile, four-time Olympic champion Cate Campbell has opened up about her health issues while competing, saying she spent most of her professional swimming career trying to find a way to manage her periods.
She experienced “patchy” periods which would often appear during competitions, and her weight would fluctuate during her menstrual cycle.
“We are so precise about every other aspect of our training, from our physical to our mental health, to our nutrition to our recovery,” Campbell told ABC Sport.
“Why is this an area that has been neglected for so long?”
Her experience is something Swimming Australia hopes to change through a new partnership with City Fertility.
ABOVE: The requirement for the 50 metre swimming pool to fully comply with the FINA standards added complexity to the project
The 2022 National Commercial Project of the Year went to Kirratech Lifestyle Pools for their reinvigoration and restoration of Townsville’s much-loved Tobruk Memorial Baths.
The baths were built from 1941 to 1950 by Townsville City Council as a World War II memorial, and were added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1995.
They had stood proudly for more than 70 years – having played host to swimming greats Dawn Fraser and Laurie Lawrence among others – when the council saw the necessity for a restoration.
Council invested $11.3 million to restore and reinvigorate the heritage features of the pool which required a new 50 metre pool, and a kiddies pool, and improved disability access in and around the pools.
The project’s design was to meet the existing aesthetics of a heritage site meaning improvements in functionality while not changing
the look and feel of a facility that has a memorable history dating back more than seven decades.
Owner and director of Kirratech Lifestyle Pools, Rick May, says the brief by Townsville City Council was fairly simple, but complicated by two issues: international standard certification and heritage constraints.
“It involved a 50m swimming pool, shallow covered leisure pool for toddlers and a heated therapy rectangular pool that cherished and respected the much loved facility while modernising the facilities,” he says.
The council’s request that the 50 metre swimming pool fully comply with the standards of the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) added some complexity to the project.
One of the biggest challenges arising from this simple request from the council was the shipping of the required dive blocks in order to achieve the international FINA standard certification.
“The dive blocks and timing system had to be shipped from overseas in the middle of a pandemic and commissioned by an out-of-state installer,” says May.
“A fairly straightforward task pre-covid. However, with international shipping plagued by delays and border closures, the logistics involved in the final piece of the puzzle to achieve that ever important FINA certification requested by the client became a logistical nightmare.
“This was overcome by patience, negotiation and a little bit of help from our friend Anna to open the borders in time for Christmas – which coincided perfectly with the project end date.”
The site had extremely tight access. On top of that, it is located in a very public area on the busy Townsville Strand, meaning meticulous traffic control co-ordination was required for the large construction equipment and deliveries, as well as for the installation of specialised large equipment.
On top of that, the site is heritage listed.
“Heritage listing is always a challenge,” says May. “Especially keeping within the constraints of colour choices that are no longer available 70 years later.”
The combination of strict FINA facility rules and heritage requirements meant that every decision had to be carefully considered to visualise the overall flow-on effects in order to comply with the heritage listing while adhering to FINA stipulations.
“We had to balance the old with the new to comply with two competing ideologies,” says May.
He says that also meant that the project was constructed in concrete to the exact measurements usually provided by the modern prefabricated materials that are now branded
There was improved disability access in and around the poolsas “new and improved construction techniques” and endorsed and encouraged by leading manufacturers in order to meet the tolerance requirements set out by FINA.
One more challenge was covid, which had meant several hold ups with equipment, staff and general restrictions in movements.
Nonetheless, the project was delivered on time, and the pool passed full FINA approval on completion giving it the highest racing standard in the world.
This project was completed and the facility reopened to the public in July 2020.
A North Queensland institution May was born and raised in Cairns, and has been part of the swimming pool industry for more than 30 years.
By day he is the business director of a successful commercial pool builder, but at night he takes up his favourite pastime: drag racing.
“If I’m not racing for Mayhem Drag Team, I’m out on the lake or quad riding with my mates,” he says.
“Business can be a battle, but when you learn to stop fighting and focus on maintaining and forming relationships, business becomes more about the people you interact with – and then achieving satisfaction comes from the completion of a project, and less about monetary values.
“I have a strong belief that attention to detail is the key to success and job completion hinges on the customer being satisfied,” he says.
After becoming the director of Kirratech Lifestyle Pools in 2000, he expanded and developed Kirratech to the large-scale commercial construction business it is today.
“We are proud to be Cairns’ largest commercial swimming pool builder,” he says.
“We specialise in designing unique luxury swimming pools as well as state-of-the-art large scale aquatic centres. We constantly push the boundaries with the latest hydraulic design and technology in order to deliver an easy maintenance swimming pool, giving customers a true luxury product.”
Kirratech Lifestyle Pools have constructed quality commercial projects including FINA approved 50 metre and 25 metre swimming pools for several local councils, as well as designing and constructing water parks, splash parks and splash pads across Australia including remote indigenous communities.
“Our growth has primarily stemmed from word of mouth recommendations,” he says. “We’re proud to say our loyal customers have often built pools with us more than once – that’s the 100 per cent satisfaction we will always leave our customers with.”
Following the Tobruk restoration, the Kirratech team finished another commercial 50 metre pool in Townsville at the Northern Beaches Leisure Centre. n
Contact: www.kirratechlifestylepools.com.au
ABOVE: The historic front of the Tobruk Memorial Baths
TOP RIGHT: The pool has been much loved over the past seven decades
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Surfers endlessly quest for the perfect wave. But what if it’s at a surf park, the same break every day.
By Veda DanteABOVE: The surf is up all summer, regardless of what the sea is doing
In 1914, celebrated swimmer and 1912 Stockholm gold medallist, Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, visited Australia, demonstrating the important Polynesian cultural pursuit of surfing. Little did he know his visit would ignite a powerful sub-culture in our country.
During his visit to Sydney, “The Duke” constructed a board from store-bought solid sugar pine, and with it famously surfed Freshwater Beach on a sunny December day —
population – people who live away from the water, are put off by crowded waves, or worried about the unpredictability of the ocean.
The inclusion of surfing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is testament to the sport’s growth and popularity. Industry bodies such as the International Surfing Association (ISA) estimate there are between 20 million and 35 million surfers worldwide, with Australia accounting for around 6 million to 7 million of them.
“Surfing’s growth has been rapidly on the rise since the surf media influence of the 1960s and the commercialisation of the industry in the 70s and 80s,” says Tanner Wilson from Endless Surf.
“But recent years have shown us that surf is truly starting to go mainstream.”
an historic moment widely considered to be a seminal episode in the development of surfing in Australia.
Although the sub-culture of surfing remains strong, it has also evolved into a competitive sport and a billion-dollar clothing and equipment industry.
Now, the new wave of surf parks has helped bring that sport into reach for a much greater
What exactly is fuelling this? Social media, the Olympics, newfound aspirations during the covid pandemic?
“All of the above,” he says. “Plus, we know that the technological advancements in wave pools and the rise of inland surf facilities are also starting to bring surfing to the masses.”
Wilson shares some of the industry’s more impressive stats:
• The US surf population is up 94 per cent over the last 17 years.
“Learners can grow in skill and confidence under expert supervision.”
• In 1995, there were 32 member nations of the ISA. Today there are more than 100.
• There are now more women and girls enjoying the sport than ever before. In the US, females account for 35 per cent of all surfers — an increase of about half a million in just a decade.
• Stab magazine estimates that local line-ups are now 35 per cent more crowded than before covid.
• The number of surf fans is also on the rise, with an estimated 120 million worldwide.
“The WSL’s 2022 Rip Curl Finals were the most watched in history, surpassing 2021 by 22 per cent,” says Wilson.
“It’s clear that surfing is exploding. And these numbers are only going to grow with the development of surf parks around the world to meet the unprecedented demand for waves in both core surf regions and inland surf deserts – or regions without any access to surfing.”
Back in 1997 when I co-edited the best-selling Surfing Australia Travel Guidebook, finding the perfect wave was largely dependent on being in the right place at the right time.
You could spend hours looking for that magical formula — offshore winds, deep groundswell,
uncrowded peeling waves, sunny conditions — and even then, you weren’t guaranteed to get wet.
Today, it’s a very different story thanks to artificial wave pool technologies that allow you to surf peak conditions 365 days of the year. And, in many cases, nowhere near the ocean.
Mimicking nature in the form of artificially generated waves dates anecdotally to the 1880s, but the first wave pool ever recorded on film was captured in 1929. The grainy newsreel shows swimmers in Munich, Germany, splashing about in an indoor pool where a mechanism crudely but effectively generates waves of water.
Fast-forward to 2023 and artificial wave pools can be found around the world from Australia and Malaysia to Spain and the United Arab Emirates.
Concealed behind the formula for perfect manufactured waves are impressive feats of engineering and technology. Below is a basic introduction to the more common water displacement techniques.
Pneumatic: Wind is created using a vacuum and pressure inside multiple concrete chambers. This pressure is then forced through an opening at the bottom of each chamber and released into open water, creating swell.
Hydrofoil: Powered by a gearless drive system, a
TOP: Catching a manufactured tube at the Surf Lakes project in Yeppoon, Queenslandgalvanised steel blade is pulled underwater along a track down the side or the middle of a body of water. When pulled, the submerged foil displaces the water and pushes out a wake that forms a wave.
Levers: Small levers fire off inside a module to push out waves. Each module moves sequentially, continually adding energy to the wave as it moves along.
Plunger: Compressed air generated by a central hub plunger mechanism. The plunger is released into the hub creating a wave that is sent in all directions.
Water Dumping: Water is pumped into a reservoir tank and, once the tank is full, can be suddenly released into a main pool. This force displaces the water and creates a wave.
Rotating Fan: A new technology that resembles a disc, spinning out waves from a central hub.
These wave-making technologies are constantly being finessed, further increasing surfing’s accessibility and affordability.
“With hundreds of surf parks in planning globally, we are entering a global surf development boom as many entities are recognising the major benefits that wave pools bring,” says Wilson.
When determining an appropriate setting for a wave park, Surf Lakes head of engineering Ed Syzmanski says the ideal site is flat with bedrock about 10 metres down and no ground water. Oh, and easy soil to excavate!
“Most sites have some groundwater, clay or sand, which we can work around. Locations with
a high rock level are difficult to dig through, so it’s probably better to build up,” he explains.
“It is best to have rock levels that are deeper than six metres. A geotechnical survey (by licensee) allows us to understand the intricacies involved with delivering a Surf Lake at any site around the world.”
For Endless Surf chief commercial officer Baptiste Caulonque, there are many considerations when developing a surf park. However, a few of the main ones include location, land size, constructability and master-planning.
“The exact location of the site is incredibly important as it has a direct impact on your audience and the types of waves/sessions that will be sold to customers,” he says.
“For example, is there already a core surf audience? How far from the city centre is it? Will it draw in tourists?”
Regardless of the size and scale of the project, constructing a surf pool requires a considerable footprint.
“Surf Lagoons are large therefore how much land you are working with dictates how much you can accomplish with your venue,” says Caulonque. When it comes to actual constructability, site conditions play a major role in dictating the size of the pool while also flagging potential issues down the track.
“For example, is the site on a high water table? Does it have challenging soil conditions?” he says. Master planning involves everything that goes into the development of a wave pool and creating a compelling attraction that not only caters to individual surfers but whole families.
Caulonque explains: “We like to think of the ‘three tiers of ROI’ when considering how a venue will fit together — the surf lagoon, the beach and boardwalk, and the additional amenities. When considering a site, think about what your business goals are and how well you’ll be able to plan your venue to achieve them.
“With Endless Surf’s fully scalable footprint, developers can choose a model that fits without having to sacrifice wave quality. In addition, Endless Surf is unique in that it offers 360 degrees of waterfront development potential, including along the backwall of the lagoon. This means that venues don’t have to back the surf pool into the corner, but rather can develop around the lagoon in its entirety — legitimately anchoring developments around world-class surf.”
With man-made wave pools making surfing more accessible to the masses — and easier to hone skills thanks to consistently generated waves — it’s no surprise that people of all ages are flocking to experience them. So, how does a surf park line-up differ from those in the ocean?
With Endless Surf, Caulonque says surfer turnover is easily controlled because of the operating flexibility.
“With a wave interval management system, waves can be produced anywhere from eight
seconds to 16-plus seconds, to meet the needs and capacity of surfers in the pool,” he says. “Wave types could also be customised during sessions to meet the demands of and skill levels of those surfing.
Since surf park sessions are typically prebooked by the hour, he says they like to focus on “surfed-out” customers.
“If you’re a surfer, you know what we’re talking about — that addictive feeling after a great session where you got your fill but are stoked enough to want to experience it all over again.”
Kit Sidwell, Surf Lakes co-inventor and lead R&D/mechanical engineer, explains how surfer turnover is controlled.
“Let’s say we are running the machine at five set swells. Five surfers will catch waves one to five in a predetermined manner that has been discussed amongst themselves and the marshal,” he says. “The waves will move them down the line away from the starting point.
“While this is occurring, another group of surfers will be close by, sitting next to pontoons in the channels of the lake. After the sets have finished, the new group of surfers will rotate into position and repeat the process.”
While the environmental impact of surf parks varies greatly between the wave-generating technologies, they all ultimately rely on a large body of water and use significant amounts of energy to create waves.
For Endless Surf, its environmental ethos is a top priority.
“When it comes to water specifically, there is no need to drain an Endless Surf lagoon for yearly maintenance, or for nearly any maintenance for that matter,” says Caulonque.
“All our wave making machinery is located outside of the water, offering easy access for repairs, and increasing the longevity of the equipment thanks to no parts being submerged.”
Endless Surf’s partnership with Myrtha Pools and its steel lagoon construction offers further water savings, as steel is more durable and less prone to cracking with wave action as opposed to concrete.
“In terms of energy consumption, our operating flexibility tailors wave production to the capacity of surfers in the pool — meaning no energy is wasted by waves going unridden,” he says.
“For example, on lower capacity sessions, Endless Surf can be operated on half power (utilising only half of the lagoon) and wave intervals can be
TOP: The Urbnsurf concept – a Sydney venue is planned for 2024If you’re looking for a pool or spa professional to assist with your business, the choice is clear.
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completely customised to only produce waves when needed. Operations are not fixed on both the left and the right, or within specific wave intervals as opposed to other technologies.”
As Syzmanski explains, Surf Lakes’ sustainability measures include undertaking a water balance for the whole facility, not just the lake, as there is the potential to use water from many sources, including ground water and grey water.
“Rainwater harvesting is also an option as these are very large bodies of water capable of capturing rainfall,” he says. “Regarding energy conservation, with multiple air compressors, we have the ability to turn-down or turn-off compressors when we have smaller waves. We also use high efficiency motors.”
Furthermore, as the Surf Lake is run 100 per cent on electricity, and as long as the power requirements of the facility are met, any source of renewable energy is possible.
“It’s Surf Lakes goal to ensure that each facility meets the company’s high standards of sustainability, so we prefer to be powered from renewable energy where possible,” says Syzmanski.
Future’s looking bright
Surf parks and wave pools are not only helping to meet demand among the growing surfer population, but they are also becoming bona fide surf tourism destinations with their own distinct culture and community.
For Sidwell, authenticity of experience will become paramount as the sector becomes more developed.
“Focus will expand from the current simple metrics of wave size and quantity to encompass factors such as open space, surfing towards a beach rather than a wall or fence, and enjoying ocean-like powerful waves that can provide an ocean-like experience,” he says.
Sustainability will also be a key area of focus, with Endless Surf for one anticipating major innovations in the renewable energy space to ensure venues operate more efficiently.
“Another trend we anticipate is the adoption of the surf experience within venues that have smaller footprints,” says Caulonque. “As seen with some of our other products at WhiteWater, depending on budget and land, venues can still offer surf.”
For example, smaller venues can offer a taste of the surf experience with stationary waves like FlowRider or FlowSurf, while large venues can operate a full-scale surf park.
“Because surfing is growing so rapidly around the world, we foresee that the whole industry will evolve and enter many new markets,” he says.
“We’re already seeing intuitive developers of different venue types recognise the benefits that a surf lagoon can have on their business. From hotels and resorts to urban mixed-use developments and even golf courses, surf is reaching into new areas and investors are taking note. We are just at the beginning of a global surf park development boom and future is looking incredibly bright.”
Paul McShane has been a keen surfer since his teenage years, growing up in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire surfing district and then moving to the NSW south coast.
He recently spent two hours surfing on the automated waves at Urbnsurf Melbourne and told SPLASH! about the first-time experience.
“Overall, it was fun, especially the intermediate session,” he says.
TOP: Going acrobatic on the Urbnsurf ride BELOW: Endless Surf pool coming to Wisemans Ferry in 2024.“I met other experienced surfers there who use it for almost all their surfing now. Another guy took up surfing last year and told me he hasn’t surfed anywhere but there – taking regular lessons and sessions, once going 16 days in a row.
“I think this wave park model represents a growth avenue for surfing,” he says. “It makes it very accessible, safe and fun for whole families to be involved. Girl surfers and newbies don’t have to tolerate male (mostly) aggro behaviour hogging waves by priority or dropping in and snaking.
“Learners can grow in skill and confidence under expert supervision.”
However, when these wave park surfers graduate to the ocean, McShane foresees some possible problems.
“First, the ocean is inherently more unpredictable than a manufactured facility, and second, the influx of new Urbnsurf riders could see line-ups become even more crowded with semi-experienced newbies,” he says.
McShane believes this may lead to many surfers who learned on Urbnsurf to become primarily surf park surfers, only occasionally venturing into the ocean.
“While it seems expensive, when you factor in transport time and costs, and the certainty of getting reliable waves versus maybe nothing and the wasted hours looking, it obviously has appeal for many,” he says.
“Once they start adding even more variety and longer waves in bigger parks in the future, then things could get interesting.”
McShane started with a righthanded cruiser (intro level) wave, followed by the righthanded intermediate level wave. He says there were about 11 catchable waves in each set from the wave generator, and he caught approximately 16-18 waves over the two hours, making it about $10 per ride. There were about 15 riders in each session.
ABOVE: In the Surf Lakes green room.
Image by One Palm Media
RIGHT: Endless Surf coming to the Gold Coast at Parkwood in 2025
“The wind was up quite strongly but it didn’t affect the experience that much, whereas the ocean waves would have been blown out,” he says.
“I was the only person riding a genuine longboard (a 10ft McCoy), so the others were interested to see how I went, including some of the guides.
“There were a lot of kooks [clueless newbies] in the cruiser session, so it was a bit wild,” he says. “Plenty wiped out in intermediate too – especially at the start of the session as there were a few newbies in that one too.”
McShane took one nosedive on the second wave, due to having to take-off late as the guy in front missed his wave and took his instead.
“I got caught out too far into the take-off zone, which is very tight, but I made all my other waves to varying lengths of rides,” he recalls. “I actually thought the longboard went well by comparison to the shortboards.”
While there is no walking back option after a ride, there is a strong outbound rip that runs along the inside walls near the wave generator that helps you get back to the break — just like it does in real surf. Staff also offer directions if you come off at take-off, ushering you out of the way of the next surfer before you’re able to walk across to the rip to go out again.
The surf park industry’s leading event returns for another year at San Diego, California, USA, featuring expert discussions that help shape and define the future of surfing outside the ocean.
Jessica Mahoney, CEO of Surf Park Central says the goal of the event is to provide year-round connections and the resources that people need to enhance their business opportunities.
New this year is a dedicated developer track series. This is a curated day of sessions targeted for developers and investors which focuses on bringing more construction, designing and other developer-related businesses into the surf park space as a means to move the industry forward. This track provides information for owners, investors and developers to more efficiently and effectively succeed with their surf park development and is only open to qualified attendees actively involved in surf park development.
The event is anchored with expert panels and unmatched networking that helps deals get done and advances the future of surfing outside the ocean. Industry leaders include founders and CEOs of surf parks and wave technology leaders like Urbnsurf, Wavegarden, Endless Surf, Surf Lakes and more.
“You want to come to connect with suppliers, investors and other developers, and that is exactly what happened,” says Aaron Trevis, founder and CEO of Surf Lakes.
“We’ve been really pleased with the connections we’ve made. We’ve now got a number of projects and licensees in America, so they’ve come along as well, and they’re really pleased with the whole thing.”
Dozens of new surf projects are underway in 2023, with a handful expected to open this year, bringing surf parks and the manufactured wave industry even more into the mainstream.
Contact: www.surfparkcentral.com
“If someone comes off in the crash zone, they hold up the next wave, leading to missed waves which can be frustrating if it happens a lot,” he says. “There are some hazards, and it isn’t without risk.
“I think it was an interesting experience, but I still prefer the ocean, as there is so much more to surfing than the actual surfing!”
Endless Surf plans to open two new Australian locations in the near future: Wisemans Ferry northwest of Sydney in 2024, and Parkwood Village on the Gold Coast in Queensland in 2025.
Parkwood founder and managing director Luke Altschwager says he wants to make sure Parkwood becomes the heart of the sport on the Gold Coast.
“Not only is a world class surf pool in Australia a perfect fit for our active community, but it also anchors a whole new level of economic investment in the area,” he says.
Parkwood chose Endless Surf from established aquatic entertainment provider WhiteWater.
He says the Canadian company has built more large-scale wave pools than anyone else in the world and their tried and tested pneumatic technology and patented pool design has a number of environmental benefits.
The compact size of Endless Surf means it consumes fewer resources to build and water to operate, plus the natural shape provides the largest beachfront for a genuine surf feel.
“Endless Surf represents the most cutting-edge surf technology today, offering an authentic vibe in an attractive and welcoming setting, while providing great, flexible waves for all types of surfers,” he says. n
Maintaining water chemistry can be challenging in a small swimming pool, so how do these large-scale, artificial surfing lagoons reduce risks associated with untreated water?
While water treatment is site specific and designs are heavily reliant on local regulations, Ed Syzmanski from Surf Lakes provides a brief explanation of their water treatment process. “Water is passed through strainers followed by ultra-fine coated media filtration units. From there the water is disinfected using ultraviolet or ozone,” he explains.
“The multi-barrier pathogen removal system includes both physical/chemical removal and the use of disinfection agents that include the provision for a chlorine residual. Treated water is then discharged to the lake.”
While this treatment process is suitable where the source water is either chlorinated or untreated fresh water, it is not suitable for sea water.
At Endless Surf, sanitisation and filtration are typically handled by a pre-qualified list of local aquatics consultants.
“Our technology, however, is intentionally designed to relieve many headaches that can be attributed to these areas due to our lessened impact and compact footprint size,” says Baptiste Caulonque.
www.surflakes.com
www.theclubparkwood.com.au
www.endlesssurf.com
www.isasurf.org
www.myrthapools.com
www.urbnsurf.com
www.wavegarden.com
www.wisemans.surf
In December 2022, Derek Harbison, director of Negawatt Projects, organised a travelling series of seminars on decarbonising aquatic centres and improving their energy efficiency.
The aim of the seminars in Melbourne and Sydney was to make councils more aware of the steps required to upgrade these centres.
“It is not as simple as just buying some heat pumps off the shelf,” says Harbison. “There are a lot more elements to consider to fully leverage what heat pumps have to offer if you are going to make the most of the transition.”
He says that while a gas boiler based system can provide heating for pool water and provide heating for air above the pool, an integrated heat pump system can provide heating for the pool, provide heating for air above the pool, provide cooling for air above the pool, provide air conditioning for dry exercise areas, provide air
conditioning for office spaces, provide hot water for showers, recover heat from the pool hall air, recover water vapour from waste air rejected from the system, and store heat for use when the sun goes down via thermal storage water tanks.
“As such there are a lot of things that need to be done to prepare the centre for an upgrade such as measuring the existing energy usage, upgrading power supplies, preparing for an M and V process, and so on,” he says.
SPLASH! spoke with some of the seminar speakers as well other people intimately involved with improving the environmental impact of swimming pools and aquatic centres, including Tony Kimpton, Nick Yannakis and Adam Bonney.
Harbison is currently planning a “hypothetical” day for later in the year, where attendees work together to design the perfect energy efficient pool.
Tony Kimpton of TK Thermal has more than 25 years’ experience in industrial refrigeration, including heating aquatic centres using heat pump technology.
He is a solid advocate for heat pumps, and believes modern aquatic centres should use heat pumps instead of being built with gas in mind.
“It might cost a little bit more to build an aquatic centre with heat pumps, but certainly the running costs will be lower,” he says.
“And that is now. In the future, it’s only going to get better. The cost of gas is going to go higher, and it doesn’t make sense to use gas anymore. Environmentally, it certainly doesn’t either.
“Potentially you could put up enough PV on the roof to run all the heat pumps and keep the pool running on solar energy.”
He says that at night, the energy can be stored in thermal tanks, or in batteries which are an improving technology.
pump, so you can buy a smaller, less expensive heat pump.
“With boilers in the past, if you wanted to upgrade from say a 600 kilowatt boiler to an 800 kilowatt boiler, it would only cost you a few thousand dollars extra.
“But if you want to change from a 600 kilowatt heat pump to an 800 kilowatt heat pump, it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars difference. So you can’t afford to have little inefficiencies, you need to make it as efficient as possible to save money on the cost of the heat pump, and then you’re saving money on the running costs as well.”
Although the pool water itself may be 28 degrees for example, Kimpton says that the higher the temperature you supply the water from the heater, the more energy it needs.
“So, it becomes less efficient to heat water to 80 degrees, which is what they will normally be using in a gas boiler situation. But to use a lower temperature – 45 degrees or 40 degrees –would be a more efficient way of doing it with heat pumps.
“So that changes the design of everything once you do that. You lower the temperature of the heated water, you then make heat exchanger surfaces larger, and the pipe sizes and pumps and everything is changed,” he says.
“It’s not a simple matter of just taking out the boiler and putting in a heat pump.”
Normally pool water in a 50 metre pool would be about 28 degrees, with children’s and hydrotherapy pools perhaps 30 degrees to 32 degrees.
“But the biggest problem is spas – and often they put the spas on the same circuit. Spas might be 35 degrees up to 38 degrees,” he says.
“So you need a heating water temperature above that to be able to get to 38. If it’s just a 50 metre pool at 28 degrees, you might only need 35 degree heating water to heat the pool to 28.
“But – and I’m always having this argument – every time you put a spa into an aquatic centre and you’re trying to use heat pumps, the cost of the running the spa is not just the cost of running this spa – it’s the additional cost of running everything else, because all your hot water has to be heated to a higher temperature.
“And there’s a penalty for every degree that you heat that hot water to.”
“You’ll find one day soon they’ll have a completely off-grid aquatic centre, which can generate its own power and store what it needs. Theoretically it’s possible now, it’s just a matter of time before the technology catches up.
“Everything points to making your heating systems as small as they can be,” he says.
“So you want to start from scratch and make everything as efficient as possible, so that the last thing you put in is the heat pump.”
Because heat pumps are more expensive than gas boilers, it is important to reduce the energy use in the centre before installing the heat
Kimpton says there needs to be a rethink about how spas fit into aquatic centres.
“For example, they could use the main circuit that’s heating the pools to keep the spa at a certain temperature, then use a booster to heat it up to the temperature that people like to have in a spa.
“So it could be that you have a button on the wall that you push in. It runs for 15 minutes whenever a person uses the spa and it heats it up almost instantly – maybe a few minutes to heat up and then you stay at your 36 degrees to 38 degrees water temperature. And then when they leave, it maintains the same temperature as the pool. If
“There are massive savings to be made if you actually design the pools better in the first place.”
they want to have a long spa, they have to get out of the pool, push the button and get back in again. And they tend not to do that, so it saves energy.”
He says that while you could use heat pumps for the spa booster, they would have to be larger to get the quick heat, and would therefore run a little less efficiently than the rest of the heat pumps.
The spa booster should also have its own plant room located near the spa.
“I went to a pool recently and it’s a very, very new facility. It’s got heat pumps in there. And the spa is probably the furthest pool away from the main plant room. So they’re pumping water from the spa all the way back to the plant room. And I did a quick calculation – there’s almost as much water in the pipe as there is in the spa itself! It just seems inefficient to be heating all of this water – and double it because you’ve got to heat all the water in the pipes as well. And then you have to get that heat from the plantroom all the way up to the spa – losing heat along the way. It’s really not a very efficient way of doing it.”
Kimpton describes how he saw another pool with heat pumps on the roof – different ones heating the pool and cooling the gym and nonaquatic areas. The heating system for the pool was spitting out cold air while the cooling system was spitting out hot air.
“You think well, isn’t there some way that we can put the heat and cold together? It just seems a waste to have two sets of heat pumps, one doing cooling, one doing heating, when one can do both.
“So instead of pumping the heat from the non-aquatic areas and blowing that heat away and wasting it, you could be taking that heat and putting it in the pool. And basically, you’re getting that heat for free.”
He also describes a system he saw at a pool in St Albans.
“They have what’s called a water-to-water heat pump. So in summer, they’ll be using chilled water to air condition the non-aquatic areas. And
ABOVE: Thermal storage can be used to warm a pool at night when PV is ineffective
the heat that’s generated from that will go into the pool. And sometimes they’ll have more heat than they need, so they store it in a hot water tank. Then at night when there’s no cooling required in the non-aquatic areas, they can draw on it to heat the pool.”
Because air source heat pumps take the heat from the air, as the air gets colder at night the capacity of the heat pump becomes less – so stored hot water can overcome that issue.
“There’s a lot of clever things you can do, anywhere where there’s waste heat. Maybe you’ve got an ice rink next door for example, that’s a perfect opportunity because they’re cooling the ice rink all the time, and you need heat for the pool. So one’s getting rid of heat and the other one needs it. So you can just join the two together.
BELOW: Yannakis (left) and Tony Kimpton (right) presenting at one of the energy and decarbonisation seminars, with Stefan Jensen of Scantec (centre)
“Nick Yannakis did a project in New Zealand that involved a supermarket next door. And supermarkets have freezers and fridges to cool, so they took that heat and used it to heat the pool.”
The height of the pool hall in aquatic centres can be an impediment to saving energy. The lower the
ABOVE: Photo-voltaic panels are being used more often to supply off-grid energy to aquatic centres, but their embedded carbon must be taken into consideration when looking at the total decarbonisation effect
“When you’re talking about the most energyefficient pool, you’re talking about the energy needed to run the pool – not the energy you buy,” he says.
Yannakis says that to actually be energy efficient, you need to reduce the raw energy – that is, the energy consumed in running the centre – before you start thinking about how the energy is generated.
“If you generate all your own electricity on site, that in itself doesn’t make you energy efficient,” he says.
Putting photo-voltaic (PV) solar panels on the roof may mean you don’t need to buy as much energy from the grid, but it doesn’t address the issue of how efficiently the aquatic centre’s systems work.
Simply replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump is not going to have any effect on raw energy.
If you replace gas with heat pumps, you may only need to buy one-third as much energy because of the efficiency of the heat pump.
“But your raw energy doesn’t diminish unless you change what is going on inside the building and the pool hall. You change what you buy, but not what you use.”
To change your raw energy you need to find where the systems are being inefficient and improve them.
“There are massive savings to be made if you actually design the pools better in the first place,” he says.
BELOW: This graph shows the effect of relative humidity of energy consumption. The aim is to keep the humidity in the Good Control band
“And even PV solar is contributing to greenhouse gas emissions,” he says. “Because you’ve got embedded carbon in the manufacturing of the panels and you need to consider the whole-of-life effect.”
Yannakis says critical areas to at look when trying to minimise raw energy use include the ventilation and heat recovery systems, but the first place to focus on, particularly for a new build, is the thermal envelope.
He says questions about the height of the pool hall and the use of glass, as discussed earlier in this article, are valid, but they can be accommodated if the planning takes into account the associated energy losses.
“To be fair, most of these pools are public spaces, so you can’t just have a boring box. You’ve got to compromise. You want glass? Absolutely. You want views? Absolutely. You want features? Absolutely. But the heat loss from these needs to be analysed and the ventilation system needs to be designed for them accordingly.”
Pool water pipework is another concern. The distance the water has to travel from the plant room to the pool and back again has a bearing on efficiency, but the more important consideration is the distance the pipework goes outside of the envelope.
The St Sidwell’s Point Leisure Centre in Exeter is England’s first Passivhaus pool, which opened last year.
With a 70 per cent on average annual energy and carbon saving potential, the building is a grand design and has been modelled to withstand predicted change in climate up to 2080.
Building biology is at the forefront of the design, and due to the selection of materials and design of the internal environment, customers can enjoy improved air quality, optimal air temperatures and natural lighting.
Buildings are a significant culprit of carbon emissions – accountable for 35 per cent of total global energy consumption. Backed with over 30 years of international evidence, Passivhaus is a tried and tested solution that gives a range of proven approaches to deliver carbon neutral buildings that can help to improve health and wellbeing of their users. Passivhaus buildings provide a high level of comfort using very little energy for heating and cooling.
Passivhaus adopts a whole-building approach with clear, measured targets, focused on high-quality construction, certified through an exacting quality assurance process.
To achieve the Passivhaus Standard in the UK typically involves:
• Very high levels of insulation.
• Extremely high performance windows with insulated frames.
• Airtight building fabric.
• Thermal-bridge-free construction.
• A mechanical ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery. Contact: www.exeterleisure.com/passivhaus
“Your thermal envelope often stops at the ground. So you have a whole bunch of pipes that run underground that become massive heat exchangers to the ground.”
One solution is to design the thermal envelope so it goes down under the pool hall and includes the pool tanks, and if any further pipes go outside of that, ensure they are insulated.
Managing relative humidity (RH) is a balancing act, but Yannakis believes that balance often leans too far in favour of low humidity.
The RH graph on page 78 shows the relative humidity for a hydrotherapy pool, splitting the humidity levels into three bands: Risk Area, Good Control and High Energy.
“If you have your humidity too high, you’re talking about condensation issues – and with condensation you’ve got a wet environment that is highly corrosive. So you have potential premature failure of building elements and high maintenance. This is called the Risk Area,” says Yannakis.
“Then in the middle you have the zone we refer to as Good Control.
“Below that you have the High Energy area. So if you drop the RH down too far, you’re going to start purging your building.”
Low humidity leads to higher evaporation from the swimming pool, which in turn means an increased rate of heat loss. Replacing that heat requires energy.
“You want to sit in this Good Control area. As part of a decarbonisation study for the site (one we didn’t design) there was all this energy to save in the High Energy area, sitting underneath the Good Control band,” he says.
“You need to design the HVAC system with the ability to control the relative humidity so it remains in the Good Control band.”
The humidity is unlikely to affect the swimmers as they’re in the water, but if it affects the spectators (for example, parents at a swim school), they can watch from a cafeteria or other area outside the envelope.
“We recently did a high performance centre in Hawke’s Bay,” says Yannakis.
“It’s mainly for our athletes to train in. In the spectator area, we had fans that blew a massive downdraft, which gave them perceived cooling.”
Bringing in too much dry air from outside can also adversely affect the humidity levels.
He says that, for example, Green Star rewards you for bringing in additional fresh air above the code minimum. But that comes with a massive energy penalty.
“If you have hot, dry air, like you do in Australia, and you bring lots of hot, dry air into the hall, you evaporate your pools like no tomorrow and you use a lot more energy bringing in additional outdoor air,” he says.
Yannakis prefers the German Passivhaus rating system to the Green Star rating system, and is currently working with NZ Green Building Council
This diagram describes the difference between Bought Energy and Raw Energyon ways they can adapt their current rating system to make it better representative of how green or sustainable a pool really is.
It is worth noting that AS1668.2-2012
The use of ventilation and airconditioning in buildings, mechanical ventilation in buildings requires centres to be built so they can exchange air four to six times per hour. However, some engineers believe the system can then be turned down to exchange air less often, and so preserve the humidity and thwart evaporation.
Yannakis says that for existing builds, one of the big issues is modelling.
“We’ve found there’s no energy software that accurately models the energy use of aquatic centres, as they do not model the moisture movement of both the evaporation and the moisture levels in the air,” he says.
“You can’t put a body of water evaporating and moisture control on your ventilation system. There’s no standard package that does that. So we developed our own.”
He says that generally, heating and air handling would take 70 per cent to 85 per cent of the energy consumed at an aquatic centre.
“The big thing for existing facilities is that you want to understand where you are consuming raw energy, so you need sub-metering around your facilities, you need to know how much energy goes to your air handling, you need to know how
much energy goes into your pool water heating, so you can understand how to upgrade it,” he says.
“Because ultimately, most facilities just have their electricity tariff meter and gas tariff meter, and they can’t understand how energy efficient they are or how to upgrade that effectively without understanding all this raw energy.
“The critical thing is you always need as much data as possible on where your energy goes.”
“Rising energy and gas costs have dramatically increased the cost of aquatic operations. While pool heating is an essential part of aquatic business, there are opportunities to significantly reduce your heating costs.”
He says they are seeing more aquatic centres upgrading their gas heaters or traditional fixed speed on/off heat pumps with variable speed full inverter heat pumps.
“These are the latest innovations in refrigeration technology,” he says.
“A full inverter commercial heat pump combines high-performance inverter compressors, DC inverter fans, and inverter controls, which provide precise optimisation of power consumption and heating outputs to match the exact thermal requirements of the pool in changing weather conditions,” he says.
Aquatic centres, particularly those with indoor heated pools, are very expensive to operate and maintain, but Adam Bonney, commercial BDM at EvoHeat, believes full inverter technology can help bring the costs under control.
“Water and space heating can account for up to 80 per cent of an aquatic centre’s total energy costs, and is the single most expensive operating cost after labour,” says Bonney, quoting the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage’s guide for energy efficient water heating technology for aquatic centres.
“They are the most energy efficient way to heat a commercial pool year-round.”
He says that an aquatic centre using gas or old generation heat pumps can expect to save up to 80 per cent on their heating costs if they switch to new technology, such as EvoHeat’s award winning CS-i inverter heat pump. He says aquatic centres could see a return on investment within the first year, and could save hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of dollars over the life of the equipment.
Bonney also recommends facility managers review other measures to lower energy costs including reducing
“It’s not a simple matter of just taking out the boiler and putting in a heat pump.”
After upgrading, Lakeside Leisure Centre has seen significant operational savings and a reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions
Play areas can exist quite comfortably in relatively low-ceilinged pool halls
In 2021, the centre’s 50-metre outdoor pool required an efficient means of heating after their older generation heat pumps failed. Mark Greentree from Image Air Conditioning was awarded the contract and worked closely with the Port Stephens Council on the project.
Three EvoHeat CS-i 130 commercial inverter heat pumps were recommended and installed at the aquatic centre, in total providing a heating capacity of up to 390kW for their outdoor 50m pool.
After upgrading, the centre has seen significant operational savings and a reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions.
They have more than halved their operating costs, allowing the centre to invest the additional savings into other areas of service around the aquatic centre.
Almost twelve months after this installation, EvoHeat were awarded the 2022 SPASA National Commercial Systems Award for their project at Lakeside Leisure Centre. n
heat loss, recovering heat and regularly servicing equipment to ensure it’s operating at optimum performance.
Lakeside Leisure Centre
Bonny provided SPLASH! with a case study where they upgraded old heating equipment at Lakeside Leisure Centre.
Located in Raymond Terrace, New South Wales, the centre is home to many aquatic activities such as learn-to-swim programs, squad swimming and casual swimming for the locals.
The winter temperatures can get to below five degrees – a temperature far too cold for comfortable swimming.
Energy Resources New Zealand: www.energyresources.org.nz
EvoHeat: www.evoheat.com.au
Heating Guide: www.splashmagazine.com.au/QuickLinks146
Negawatt Projects: www.negawattprojects.com.au
NSW Dept Environment: www.environment.nsw.gov.au
Powell Fenwick: www.pfc.co.nz
A four-pipe heat pumpDesignerite, marketers of Beadcrete swimming pool interior linings, has acquired sole Australian rights to premium natural pebble finish, Skypebble.
David Cairns, CEO of Designerite, says he is thrilled a supply agreement had been signed.
“We can now offer the very best of both natural and glass finishes to new pools and renovations,” he says.
He says Skypebble’s Arctic White Skysheen, sourced from New Zealand’s South Island, is widely considered to be the purest, whitest, natural stone product in the world consisting of almost 100 per cent pure silica. It has been proven over time to remain in pristine condition with a minimum of maintenance.
Beadcrete glass bead products are all pre-mixed with cement, but Designerite has decided to supply the Australian market with bags of Skypebble consisting of 100 per cent pebble, mainly the Arctic White (pictured) and the popular Greystone.
“This is because the possibilities with Skypebble are endless; they can be used alone or mixed with any combination of coloured or clear glass from the Beadcrete range to accommodate customers’ requests, then set in a matrix of white cement mixed on site, which is the traditional method for pebble interiors.”
Contact: www.designerite.com.au
Daisy has recently introduced a new solution for customers with smaller, narrower pools – a Below Ground Box Small that is suitable for pools less than nine metres long.
This aesthetic solution offers a number of benefits. One of the biggest advantages is its lower price. Plus it is easier and more affordable to install. Additionally, the slimline lid opening means it won’t take up too much space around the pool, keeping the area clutter-free.
Below Ground Boxes (small and large) are fitted flush to concrete or paving, allowing for a seamless look. They have easy, single person operation, and come with a 5 year structural warranty. Contact: www.daisypoolcovers.com.au
Evolution Water and Lighting Solutions has expanded their popular Evopure Pure Minerals range with the addition of Pure Minerals Ultra Blend. Ultra Blend is a specially formulated one-step blend of magnesium, salt and borates designed to enhance water quality while reducing the guesswork of mineral pools.
Ultra Blend caters to customers wanting to convert to a mineral pool that may not be comfortable blending separate mineral and salt products.
Contact: www.evolutionwls.com.au
Pentair has introduced their new Sta-Rite PosiChlor salt chlorinator for healthy, clean and silky pool water. It features chlorine production by highly efficient switched-mode power supply and automatic modulation.
Modulated output depends on the concentration of salt and the temperature, ensuring continuously efficient chlorine production. It also features an automatic and adjustable reversepolarity cleaning cycle and a battery backed-up time clock with automatic restart. It is compatible with regular and mineral salts, and has a three-year warranty.
It is available in three configurations: Basic – with convenient adjustment of chlorine output; pH – with an automatic probe-free adjustment of pH; and Advanced – with probes and full automatic control of pH and chlorine (ORP).
Contact: www.pentairpool.com.au
Fairland have developed a new multi-product concept: the 20x Saving iGarden. The iGarden includes the Inverx20 TurboSilence full inverter pool heat pump, achieving a COP of up to 20, saving an estimated 60 per cent of the energy used by a traditional heat pump.
Another product in the 20x Saving iGarden is the X-Warrior AI-wireless pool cleaning robot providing real AI-wireless technology and bringing a better pool cleaning experience. The robot can achieve 10 hours of ultra-long service.
Integral to the 20x Saving iGarden is their iGarden Solar Energy Storage System, offering comprehensive support for energy storage, usage and efficiency. It intelligently distributes power, enabling renewable energy selfconsumption with a single click.
Contact: www.fairland.com.cn
The H2flo cleaner is exclusive to Pool Systems. It has a fivehour run time and cordless battery operation. This robotic cleaner was displayed and well received at the SPLASH! Pool & Spa Trade Show, and is a welcome addition to the very popular H2flo equipment and chlorinator range. It has large power wheels and is suitable for all pool surfaces. Pool Systems says it is light, smart, safe and easy to use.
Contact: sales@poolsystems.com.au; www.poolsystems.com.au
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