Splash November 2013

Swimming Pools / Leisure / Aquatics / Spas / Health

Issue 90

Putting the “aahhh” Back in spas Peek-a-boo Glass and acrylic pool windows Turning pools Into waterparks Resolution To SPASA legal battle

www.splashmagazine.com.au

October/November 2013

Take a closer look at HAYWARD, visit www.hayward-pool.com.au or

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48

28

Contents 63

Usher child entrapment sparks suction concern Suction entrapment has become a hot topic in the United States after the son of a famous rapper just managed to escape with his life.

Enterprise planning A new enterprise resource planning solution has helped integrate and enhance processes across a swimming pool group’s global operations.

70

The big attraction Jennifer Harbottle looks at how aquatic management is using theme park secrets to turn aquatic centres into popular family destinations.

30

Cartridge filters Cal Stanley looks at cartridges as a viable and convenient way to filter pool water, especially when coupled with a pre-filter and a variable speed pump.

79

Ideas hatching at Turtle Beach A Queensland holiday resort has been trialling a new chlorine-free system with the aim of reducing chloramine smell and improving water clarity.

32

Putting the “aahhh” back in spas Kim Ball looks at ways to ensure spa comfort is the priority, whether in concrete inbuilt spas or the portable variety.

42

70

45

regulars

Remember the three Rs: Repair, Replace, Refund The ACCC offers advice to ensure business owners are aware of their obligations under the Australia Consumer Law. Are retailers delivering what customers expect?

Larry Bloom looks at why well-trained knowledgeable staff are considered more favourably by shoppers than superior service or strong personal relationships.

48

Peek-a-boo Viewing panels and pool windows are becoming very popular on high-end residential pools, but when is glass better, and when should you use acrylic?

News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Industry moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Pool DAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Commercial news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Tenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Expo news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

New products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Spa tech tip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Ad index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Global news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

October-November 2013

SPLASH!

7

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF GREAT CHEMISTRY.

After 30 years in Australia we know it all comes down to a clean pool and a happy customer. But it all starts with the great chemistry that we share with our retail partners, that makes us successful.

Rest assured, we are as committed to innovation, product development and customer support today as we were back in 1982 and we look forward to keeping your customers safe and happy for many years to come.

Freecall AUS 1800 635 743 or NZ 0800 441 662 for more information. www.bioguard.com.au

Published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd ABN 940 025 83 682 41 Bridge Road, Glebe, NSW, 2037 Australia Ph: (02) 9660 2113 Fax: (02) 9660 4419 Managing Director: Simon Grover Managing Director Interpoint Events: Simon Cooper Editor: Chris Maher Phone: 0412 048 639 Email: chrismaher@intermedia.com.au

editorial Things seem to be looking up

Contributors: Kim Ball, Jennifer Harbottle, Cal Stanley, Larry Bloom.

Advertising Manager: Karen Jaques Phone: (02) 8586 6135 Email: kjaques@intermedia.com.au

It’s hard to deny that consumer sentiment has been much lower than it should be, if you weigh it up against the relevant economic data. The toxic political discourse had been a major influence in denting home owners’ and wage earners’ confidence. So, no matter what your political stripe, it should be some relief to see the long and bitter election campaign finally over, and hopefully the economy will now be talked up instead of down. Time will tell, but everyone is hoping for a burst of consumer led spending coming into the summer.

Designer and illustrator: Ben Akhurst Production Manager: Mia Tierney Head of Circulation: Chris Blacklock For Subscriptions Call: 1800 651 422 Copyright 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.

Disclaimer: This publication is published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (the “Publisher”). 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.

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Copyright © 2013 - The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd.

SPLASH! contains NO advertorial.

Proudly supported by

Chris Maher Editor chrismaher@ intermedia.com.au

One factor that might help encourage home owners to dig into their wallets is the rise in home values. House prices are going up almost everywhere, and are showing considerable leaps in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. This of course will lead to increased equity for a number of home owners, with many of them possibly thinking of dipping into that source of funds to buy a pool. We can only hope.

Then, the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting warmer weather, especially in south eastern Australia, with the chances that average temperatures will be exceeded in early summer. Lower rainfall than average is expected for Queensland (although possibly slightly higher in some parts of NSW and Victoria). All in all, their advice offers reasonably positive signs that people are going to want to buy a pool and equally importantly – swim in it. Again, we can only hope.

One more piece of good news is the resolution to the long running court case involving our industry associations. There is more on that in the news section, but many observers are hoping this will lead to improved relations between the parties, and a renewed focus on talking up our industry and encouraging more people to get in the water.

This issue’s cover The total relaxation of a floating lounge from Uwe Jetstream.

There is more on the comfort of spas on page 32.

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.

Members of

Audited Circulation Average Net Distribution Per Issue 5,724 CAB Yearly Audit Period ending 31st March 2013 October-November 2013

SPLASH!

9

news

Litigation

Relief all round as SPASA court case resolved The presidents of SPASA Australia and the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance have both expressed relief that an agreement has been reached regarding the Federal Court action.

Lynley Papineau, President of the Pool & Spa Association of Australia, says it is a positive thing for every member nationally that the court case has been resolved.

“I hope that it’s a step towards resolving some other issues and perhaps working towards being one united body again in the future,” she says.

“We are a small industry and we should be represented nationally by one single body.

There’s been a lot of damage done in the past but we have to put that behind us. There are enough big issues in business that our focus has to be working on those issues for our members.

We look forward to being able to have further discussions with

SPASA Australia and the Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance (SPASA) will be able to continue to use those names under the mediated agreement

the Alliance.

“The door is open.”

Rob Guthrie, President of the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance (SPASA) is also pleased the action is over.

“We are pleased to see the Federal Court action brought by four state associations against our organisation settled at mediation. As the respondent to the action both my

predecessor Peter Moore and I had proactively sought a formal mediation to bring what could only be described as a distraction to members to a conclusion,” he says.

Manufacturing

Crystal Clear Chlorinators gutted by fire Swimming pool chlorinator manufacturer The premises includes three properties: Crystal Clear Chlorinators has overcome the manufacturing facility, a bulk storage a devastating fire at its Gold Coast premarea and a trade outlet. The trade outlet ises to post record sales figures. was destroyed, though luckily the fire briNo-one was hurt in the fire, and the gade arrived just before the fire managed manufacturing facility and warehouse to spread to the other two areas. were smoke affected by mostly spared.

“It was a huge shock. It took the whole However the trade outlet was destroyed. trade outfit – it was one of the best trade Crystal Clear owner Wally Nunn outfits on the whole Gold Coast,” says Nunn. received an alarm call after 10pm on The fire happened on July 24, and by the night of July 24. He rushed to the July 26 they were taking orders out in the premises expecting to confront burglars, carpark. On the weekend they moved into The trade outlet was destroyed, though luckily the but instead saw the fire brigade arriving a vacant unit next door, then up the road fire brigade arrived just before the fire managed to at the same time. Smoke was billowing the next week. spread to the manufacturing and bulk storage areas from the property and he warned the “I’ve seen fires on TV and I now symfiremen to be careful of the chemicals pathise with those people – it’s dramatic stored onsite. enough just to move – but when you have to physically clean and move “We warned them about the chemicals,” says Nunn. “But it turned every item you own, it’s devastating,” he says. out it wasn’t the chemicals that were the problem, it was the plastics.

The good news for Nunn was that they had record months for July We had 400 pool cleaners in there and the plastic doesn’t have retardand August and even managed to get two big commercial chlorinators ants in it – they all went up.” out despite the disruption.

Ironically, the chemicals were the only things that didn’t burn in the fire, although the plastic containers melted.

Renewed focus The insurance company report suggests a chlorinator under re“It was a big loss for us, but it’s made us sit down and focus on what we’re pair activated during the night, generating heat and starting the fire. doing – we’ve got a strong business, we don’t owe anyone any money.

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SPLASH!

October-November 2013

called at the time. However, the state bodies that now consist SPASA Australia believed it had been a necessary action to protect their brand.

Under the mediated agreement, the Swimming Pool & Spa Association of Australia (SPASA Australia) and the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance (SPASA) will continue to operate under those names.

SPASA Australia comprises SPASA Queensland, SPASA South Australia, SPASA Victoria and SPASA Western Australia.

SPASA NSW operates as the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance.

“Fortunately no-one was hurt. We had to let two permanent staff go – their speciality was in the trade side and we’ve decided Year-to-September 2012 on manufacturing Year-to-September 2013 not to go back into trade again. We’ll focus 1500 OEM products.

“The trade side was dynamic but so busy. We had astronomical 1200 traffic. We did it because there was a real need for it on the Gold 900for the guys with vans. But now we’re talking with Coast – especially other distributors – one of them will actually move in next door.”

600 Crystal Clear was lucky to save all their data – despite losing the server – as it300 was stored in a couple of locations including on the cloud.

Nunn says the insurance doesn’t cover everything, as his stock 0 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept had grown by 60 per cent but the last insurance review was September 2012. ptember 2013 Year-to-September 2013 “We just cop it on3500 the chinYear-to-September and move on. 2012 “Our focus it going to be on new directions with chlorinators – 3000 everything seems to be moving that way now – we used to do some 2500 of that ten years ago, but then the market wasn’t interested; but its matured now and become more health savvy.”

2000 Crystal Clear Chlorinators have moved into new premises at 1500 Unit 3, 498 Scottsdale Drive, Varsity Lakes, Queensland and will be 1000 operating from there for the time being.

500 “I want to thank all our customers for the incredible support 0 and understanding,” says Nunn.

“Also,VICwe have regrettably had une July Aug Sept NSW QLD WA SA to let a few staff members go and are looking for any placements anyone has.”

People with relevant positions vacant can contact Wally Nunn on (07) 5593 5494.

Comparison Year-to-September

“We are delighted that we are now able to move forward as the Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance (SPASA), representing the industry as a national peak organisation. Our mandate of servicing members and delivering the best possible representation for industry will continue without distraction.”

The court case had been an impediment to negotiations between the parties since it was launched by the four non-NSW state SPASAs nine months ago, following the establishment of the Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance of Australia, as it was

With August and September DA numbers dropping back below last year’s figures, there is the danger that the massive July 2013 numbers were an aberration. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that demand may be improving, and with the expectations of a hot and hopefully dry summer, there are still plenty of reasons to feel positive about the upcoming season.

Overall, 12-months-to-September figures are steady, at -1 per cent on the previous period. Queensland is up by 62 per cent, admittedly off a low base; Western Australia is continuing its growth with DA numbers up 19 per cent. Insurance numbers support the belief in a growing WA market (see page 26). However, NSW (-10 per cent) and Victoria (-18 per cent) are down.

The past three reported months of July, August and September show an improvement of 10 per cent over last year.

Additionally, consumer sentiment seems to be on the rise and house values are improving. RP Data shows that all capitals bar Hobart and Adelaide have shown home value rises over the 12 months to September, with the big markets of Sydney (+8 per cent), Melbourne (+5.4 per cent) and Perth (+7.6 per cent) all showing highly positive growth.

Year-to-September 2012

Year-to-September 2013

35

1500

30

1200

25 900

20

15

600

10 300

0

5

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept

Year-to-September 2012

Year-to-September 2013

3500

Approvals by State

Rob Guthrie, President of the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance

Pool DAs hold steady

1500

3000

1200

2500 900

2000 1500

600

1000 300

500 0

Two-Monthly Comparison

Lynley Papineau, President of the Pool & Spa Association of Australia

NSW

VIC

QLD

August & September 2012

WA

0

SA

August & September 2013

1500

1200

900

600

300

0

These figures give a valuable indication of the way the market is trending. However, they are not comprehensive. For example, they do not include pool projects that are approved as part of a new home, smaller projects under the cost threshold, or renovations that don’t require a DA. Also, not all councils are forthcoming with data; councils in some states such as Queensland are particularly reluctant. For further information and more complete reports, call Cordell Information on 1800 80 60 60.

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

11

news

Restructure

Compass ceases manufacturing in Queensland Compass Pools Australia has announced a restructure of its manufacturing operations in Queensland and New South Wales, which will see the Yatala plant ceasing to operate as a manufacturing centre and all manufacturing moving to the larger factory at Newcastle.

Managing Director Ian Mewett says that a significant number of Yatala employees will be made redundant as a result of the direct restructure of the Group’s manufacturing activities.

The Yatala facility will continue to operate as a distribution hub for all Compass pool deliveries in Queensland and Northern NSW. Specialist staff will also be retained in the Queensland business for new mould development work, pool shell technology R&D and warranty support activities.

Staff employed at Chermside in the Compass Pools SEQ dealership will not be affected.

“Less than 25 per cent of our national pool sales are in Queensland, so it really does make sense to concentrate our production efforts in New South Wales,” he says.

Mewett says that the downturn in Queensland played a part in the decision, but it was equally balanced with a need to stream-

Staff at Compass’s Newcastle facility

line manufacturing operations.

“Since the industry downturn from the GFC in 08/09, the Victorian and New South Wales markets have largely recovered, but Queensland has not. The depressed pool market in Queensland has contributed to the decision, but it is equally as much about economies of scale with the rising costs of manufacturing, including costs of electricity, waste disposal, compliance and labour,” he says.

Between three and five additional production and yard staff will be employed at Newcastle.

The NSW business currently employs approximately 40 staff and has a production capacity of 1800 pools per year. Compass has retail sales of approximately 200 pools per year in the Newcastle area.

“We are fortunate to have a very competent management team

Canadian diva, Celine Dion, has put her Florida mansion up for sale. The $US72 million property includes an epic pool featuring a beach area, lazy river, waterslides with covered flumes, a tip bucket and an entertainment “island” including a spacious circular lounge and a fire pit – sure to be a hit when neighbours Michael Jordan and Olivia Newton John pop over for a barbie. Anyone with sufficient funds should contact Joseph Montanaro Real Estate. Go to splashmagazine. com.au for a video walkthrough of the property.

12 SPLASH! October-November 2013

in Newcastle, headed up by our Chief Operating Officer Anthony Cross,” he says. “With Anthony’s team looking after all manufacturing going forward, it really does free us up to expand our retail brand in Queensland and to work on some new R&D projects that will benefit the entire Compass Pools dealer network.”

Victorian potential

Compass also has longer term plans to look at manufacturing opportunities in regional Victoria.

“Victoria is our biggest market, followed closely by NSW. We have an extremely efficient transport and distribution capacity between NSW and our distribution hub in Shepparton, Victoria, but it is only a matter of time before the right manufacturing opportunity comes along,” he says.

Compass also has plans to expand retail operations in south east Queensland, building on the recent takeover of the Brisbane dealership by Compass Pools Australia.

“With my wife and business partner Kerri, we are focusing on growing our retail presence in South East Queensland, as well as providing ongoing administration support to our head office operations in New South Wales.

“Despite the obvious economies of scale and transport efficiencies in consolidating all manufacturing at our New South Wales factory, it was a personally difficult decision to make,” says Mewett.

“Even though some Yatala staff have been made redundant, I am buoyed by the fact that our participation in the Queensland marketplace will continue to grow as we expand our retail operations here.”

For 33 years, Compass Pools has been a recognised brand and a leading group in the Australian pool industry. For almost two decades the company has successfully promoted the benefits of its patented ceramic composite pool technology and Vantage in-floor cleaning and circulation system.

Compass Pools are also successfully produced overseas under licence.

Titanic opportunity as diva’s epic pool for sale

centrifugal water filtration

70XL

Despite the collapse of the Northside dealership, this pool was completed to the customer’s satisfaction

Warranties

Keeping the customer satisfied – in the end Les Engelbrecht had paid $28,000 for his new pool. Then he discovered the company was going into administration.

His is one of the stories following the collapse of Credibility Queensland Pty Ltd (trading as Compass Pools Northside) which left more than 50 pools incomplete in one way or another.

“We’d paid a deposit of a couple of grand. The day before the pool was delivered I needed to pay 28 grand on the Tuesday to be cleared by Thursday and the pool was to be delivered on the Friday,” says Engelbrecht.

The pool didn’t come on the Friday or on the following Monday, so he went to Compass Pools Northside but was told the owners were in a meeting. On Wednesday they rang to say administrators had been appointed but “don’t worry, the pool will still be completed”.

“At that point in time I was 28 grand short and no pool,” he says. “Even if it was on the footpath I wouldn’t have felt so bad.

So I drove straight to SPASA at nine o’clock. They said fill in this form and pay a $500 excess, which I did. I was prepared to give them 500 bucks instead of losing the 28 grand.”

He then went to Compass at Yatala to make sure they didn’t allocated his shell to anyone else, and to hear their side of the story.

“When I rocked up there, the receptionist looked a bit puzzled.

Anthony and Ian were there and heard me talking and said come into the boardroom and we’ll

update you on where we’re at.

That was fortunate and they put me at ease. They said it will take time to go through the process.”

Besides the obvious determination to see his pool built, Engelbrecht had the problem that his new project home could not be completed until the pool was put in.

In the end, Engelbrecht was happy with the result.

“It was only a couple of weeks before it got finished. A week and half later they were there digging the hole for the pool, then the driveway went in and the rest of the works were completed in due course,” he says.

“In the end we got everything in the contract, and they actually upgraded some pumps and the automation – they gave me better gear than in the original quote for the same price.

“We were absolutely satisfied with Compass and SPASA – it couldn’t have been any better – it only cost us a couple of weeks and $500 in the end. It could have been our worst nightmare – moving into a new house which was 90 per cent done except for the pool. It would have been a struggle.”

Engelbrecht admits he might have been a bit of a “squeaky wheel” but he had to ensure he could move into his house, so he didn’t want to be forgotten.

“I sent a letter at the end to Tony and SPASA thanking them.

“We’re swimming in the pool and enjoying it now. Its’ all good – and we’re looking forward to summer!”

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www.waterco.com October-November 2013 SPLASH!

13

news

Regulation

Industry fights “anti-infinity” law In the last issue, SPLASH! reported concerns about NSW changes to the Building Code of Australia (BCA) that could, in effect, act as a defacto ban on infinity pools.

The surprising change stunned industry designer and builders, as it stated that builders constructing pools partially out of the ground can no longer consider a 1.2m non-scalable pool wall as an effective barrier. This is despite the fact that these types of pool walls have been treated as barriers in NSW for a very long time.

Additionally, it went against an understanding with others states not to “tinker” with the BCA. Concerned landscape architect and pool designer Peter Glass garnered a great deal of support and lobbied the NSW government.

On September 19, a group representing industry, design and construction bodies met with government.

Representatives came from the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, the Australian Institute of Architects, the Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance, the Institute of Engineers of Australia, the Australian Institute of Landscape Designers and Managers, the Landscape Contractors Association, the MBA and the HIA. “It was a great representation,” says Glass. “I was really pleased with the support, and the involvement from the industry shows the level of concern about this issue. Following the article in SPLASH! and on the SPLASH! website, a lot of people contacted me to express support for our cause.

Keep informed by subscribing to the free online newsletter.

1. Evolve buys Poolrite The Poolrite deal is finally sealed with Evolve, Zodiac and Allchlor sharing the assets.

14

SPLASH!

This pool designed by Peter Glass could not be built today because of two seemingly pointless NSW laws. First, even though the pool is four metres out of the ground, it would need to have a superfluous1.2m fence in front of the pool wall. Second, and even harder to understand, the shade structure inside the fence would not be allowed – the reasoning for which is unclear

“All sorts of people called.

Someone from SPASA Australia called to support us. One guy from down on the Murray River called saying how stupid it was that he’d have one law on one side of the river, and a different law on the other.”

The industry representatives met with three policy planners from the NSW Division of Local Government (DLG) and the senior policy adviser to the Minister of Local Government.

“Basically at the meeting it was agreed that there is a problem,” says Glass. “At the moment they’re not going to change the law, because that would take a long time and they would have to put it to parliament. Instead, they’re going to assist people work around it.

“It’s as if there was a great big elephant in the middle of the road.

They acknowledge it’s a major problem and it’s blocking traffic

but it’s too hard for them to move the elephant so they’re going to help people get around it.”

The DLG is commencing work on the wording of a “work-around” and will provide feedback as a priority.

“They all accept it has created major problems and a huge lack of logic in what is required. For example, one Sydney council on the northern beaches was making an owner install a 1.2m high fence around a pool that is already 6m high out of the ground!

“In another instance, a council is trying to make us put a pool fence on the cliff side of one pool in case someone abseils up the cliff to then gain access to the pool.”

Past pools technically illegal

Glass was particularly interested to learn that the DLG believes the changes to the BCA 2013 really represent nothing new, and

that many of the pools built over the past 20 years in NSW are technically illegal.

“They say NSW has always prohibited the wall of the pool being part of the pool barrier. But they just didn’t enforce it for 20 years.”

Another issue of major concern was the NSW ban on shade structures being built inside swimming pool enclosures.

“There was a consensus from our representatives that their current ban on shade structures inside swimming pool enclosure is ridiculous,” he says.

“It appears that uninformed people not involved in the industry, and who have little knowledge of the industry, are making regulations that control the industry. They make the regulations but have no idea of the impact on the industry.”

The representatives are lobbying for a uniform BCA to be adopted across Australia.

“The question is, why is NSW so precious that it needs separate legislation to the rest of the country? For a start, the Australian code is the strictest in the world anyway. And NSW is insisting on making it even stricter,” says Glass.

“The whole pool industry is concerned about pool safety, but the reality is that pool drownings in the 0-4 category have decreased by 53 per cent on the five-year average in the last year, to the extent where more children drown in baths and buckets than in swimming pools.

“One drowning is one too many, but some of the rules they put in – it’s like banning twodoor cars. There’s no statistics to base their decisions on.”

Top five online news stories

The most popular online news stories at splashmagazine.com.au were...

2. Criminal Conviction for NSW pool owner Lismore court convicts a home owner to send a strong message regarding safety and residential pools.

October-November 2013

3. The Poolrite saga Timeline of the long running story of Poolrite’s rise, collapse and eventual sale.

4. Crystal Clear Chlorinators gutted by fire Crystal Clear’s trade outlet was destroyed by fire, but the manufacturing facility managed to escape largely unharmed.

5. SPASA court case resolved After nearly nine months of legal wrangling, the SPASA legal stoush was put to bed.

Be part of the Swimart success story Upcoming events 2013 Oct 15-18

Piscina Barcelona, Spain

Oct 16-18

World Aquatic Health Conference, Indianapolis, USA

Oct 22-25

Aquanale and FSB, Cologne Germany 2013

Nov 1

SPASA SA golf day

Nov 6-8

Qatar Pool and Spa, Doha, Qatar

Nov 9-14

International Pool Spa Patio Expo and Conference, Las Vegas, USA

Nov 13

SPASA Victoria AGM

Nov 18-22

IAAPA Conference and Trade Show, Florida, USA

Dec 2-5

Canadian Pool & Spa Conference & Expo, Niagara Falls, Canada

Dec 7-8

Adelaide Sport, Fitness & Health (ASFH) Festival

2014 Jan 31-Feb 2 Melbourne Consumer Pool & Spa Expo, MCEC Feb 2-4

Spatex, Ricoh Arena, Coventry, UK

Feb 4-7

Aquatherm, Moscow, Russia

Feb 12-15

Piscine Maroc, Casablanca, Morocco

Feb 13-15

Aquatherm Egypt, Cairo

Feb 20-22

Forum Piscine, Bologna, Italy

Feb 22-24

UK Pool & Spa, Birmingham

Mar 11-14

Piscina Moscow, Russia

Mar 13-16

Aqua Salon, Moscow, Russia

Mar 14

SPASA Victoria Golf Day, Kingston Links

Apr 1-3

International Swimming Pool Sauna & Spa Expo, Beijing China.

Apr 22-24

Piscine Middle East, Abu Dhabi, UAE

May 3-4

Brisbane consumer Pool Spa & Outdoor Living show

May 7-10

Turkey Pool Expo, Istanbul

Jul 16-17

SPLASH! Pool and Spa Trade Show, Jupiters, Gold Coast

Oct 20-24

Interbad, Stuttgart, Germany

Nov 18-21

Piscine Global, Lyon, France

More details, dates and links are available at splashmagazine. com.au.

These dates are subject to change and should be checked with the relevant organisation. Please send calendar submissions to chrismaher@intermedia.com.au

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Swimart has a strong and very successful business model which we believe would benefit YOUR business.

Swimart franchisee’s enjoy; 3 Powerful marketing program lead by me, Susie O’Neill 3 Higher than industry average profit margins 3 Exclusive products 3 Professional business support from a franchisor with over 30 years’ experience in the industry There’s never been a better time to join. For a limited time, we’re offering; 3 No up-front franchise fee when you convert* 3 The security of a business buy back agreement* 3 Financial assistance to rebrand your business If you want to add real value to your business and see your sales and profit grow, call Swimart NOW Susie O’Neill Mother and former Olympic and World Champion

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October-November 2013 SPLASH!

15

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news

Expos

Convention dips toe into SOPAC

Expo News One of the highlights of SPLASH! New Zealand for Daisy was that they picked up a new distributor. BMH Pool Covers are now their agent for the Showcase range of Berlin and Venice automated pool cover roller units.

The new venue at SOPAC

The NSW trade day moved from its former location at Rosehill Racecourse to the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, and was rebadged as the SPASA Convention.

Many exhibitors said they liked the new location as it was airy and bright, although being

Merve Smith showing off Sunbather’s iPad app (see p82 for more)

spread out made the venue look a little sparse. Spiros Dassakis says 640 people attended the show and as the inaugural event they were pleased with the result.

“Everyone in our industry should support all trade shows, because it’s important to support the companies and to keep

Lighting from Spa Electrics

abreast of new products,” he says. “We see the Convention as another tool to do this.”

He says the feedback was good, with exhibitors saying it was an appropriate venue. Next year they will not hold a trade day, but will have a conference at an as yet unnamed 65-acre venue.

Zoodles from IQ

Awards

Achievements recognised Cal Stanley

Cliff Cooke

Two icons of the swimming pool and spa industry were recognised at different award nights recently. Cal Stanley received a Life Achievement award from the Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance for his tireless work for the industry over more than three decades.

Meanwhile Cliff Cooke was recognised for his significant contribution to the pool industry at Compass Pools awards night, and now joins the Compass Pool’s Hall of Fame honours list.

Interpoint Events has suggested prospective exhibitors get in quickly as SPLASH on the Gold Coast is already 85 per cent sold.

At the time of writing only 14 stands remained for the SPLASH! Pool & Trade Show to be held on July 16-17, 2014 at Jupiters.

The Award-winning trade show attracts thousands of pool builders, retailers, technicians, specifiers, developers and aquatic facilities managers from all over Australia, Oceania and South East Asia.

“The last exhibition sold out and we had insufficient space for every company wishing to exhibit,” says Simon Cooper of Interpoint Events. “So join some of the leading companies in the industry such as Pentair, Waterco, Maytronics, AstralPool, Davey, Emaux and Heliocol – just to name a small selection.” Contact Karen Jaques (02 8586 6135) for more details.

Genesis 3 will be presenting pool design training at the upcoming 2013 International Pool Spa Patio Expo, to be held on November 12-14 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The educational conference will take place between November 9-12.

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

17

news

Giveaway

Fitness Swimming Spa Tech Tip

Spa not heating? What do you check for?

There are many reasons why a spa may not be heating. It may be due to a fault, or one of the settings may be incorrect.

Below is a checklist to help isolate the cause: • Ensure the temperature is set above the current water temperature and that the spa controller is not set to an economy or sleep mode – heating is inhibited or disabled in these modes.

• Air venturi controls should be closed to prevent ambient air cooling the spa • A waterlogged spa cover will suck heat from the spa • There may be a flow-related error preventing heating caused by a failed pump, dirty filter or other blockage.

• The heater element or the associated fuse or relay on the circuit board may have failed.

• If the spa is new to the customer, they may be unaware it could take 12-24 hours to reach the set temperature.

Contact: Australian Spa Parts technical support 1300 736 025

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October-November 2013

SPLASH! has a giveaway copy of the second edition of Fitness Swimming by Emmett Hines.

Expert swim coach Hines has created 60 workouts and 16 sample programs, each arranged into suggested training zones to correspond to your fitness level and performance goals. Over a dozen cutting-edge drills help you progressively build an effective freestyle stroke. The text covers stretching, warm-up and cool-down methods, heart rate zone targets, expanded instruction for stroke efficacy, progressive drills, conditioning tips and fitness assessments.

To be in with a chance of getting the book, simply be sure you’re subscribing to the free online newsletter. Details of how to win the book will be included in a future newsletter. To subscribe, go to splashmagazine.com.au Standards

Funding hopeful for safety and heating proposals The Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance believes its recent proposals to Standards Australia will find favour and gain funding.

The proposals, which had been the focus of widespread consultation for 12 months cover five standards in the heating and safety areas. The Alliance submitted its proposals during the submission window so they will be assessed and considered by the Standards Development Committee for funding.

A wide range of industry and association stakeholders in Australia and New Zealand were involved as stakeholders in the preparation of the proposals, including manufacturers, manufacturers association, testing bodies, technical associations, regulatory bodies and academic institutions.

The standard proposals are: 1. Revision of AS3634 – 1989 - Solar heating systems for swimming pools

1(a) AS2369.1 – 1990 - Materials for Solar Collectors for Swimming Pools Part: 1 Rubber Materials 1(b) AS2369.2 – 1993 - Materials for Solar Collectors for Swimming Pools Part: 2 Flexible or Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride 2. New Australian Standard - Heat Pump Systems for Swimming Pools 3. AS2818 - 1993 - Guide to Swimming Pool Safety

Accolades

Awards season Soft Swim, BioLab’s mineral pool maintenance range, has picked up three sustainability accolades during the Award Season. The streak started in July when SPASA South Australia gave Soft Swim a product innovation award as well as naming BioLab Supplier of the Year. In August, Soft Swim picked up two sustainability awards from the Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance – one in the energy conservation category and another in the water conservation category. Also in August, Soft Swim picked up a sustainability award at the SPASA Victoria awards.

Meanwhile, International Quadratics picked up two awards in a week: the Commitment to Industry Training and Education award at the Al-

liance’s awards, and Supplier of the Year at the PoolWerx awards (the third time in five years).

PoolWerx Spearwood’s Nicole and Warren Williams won the Poolwerx National Franchise Partner of the Year award.

Swimart held their awards in Fiji. The awards presentation capped off a week of activities including a trade show and numerous workshops, supplier training sessions and the national conference. For the second year running Swimart Oxenford from Queensland bagged the Australasian Franchisee of the Year award, along with four other awards.

Compass also held their awards, with Pool Builder of the year going to Jeff Geering from Compass Pools Central Queensland.

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news

Partnerships

Global news Clorox Co, a manufacturer of household goods with a $6bn turnover, has entered the pool chemical market in the US. The Californian company has teamed up the Canadian parent of Easy 1,2,3 Pool Care. Clorox’s new pool and spa chemical line is likely to be sold through big box stores. In Australia Clorox supplies Handy Andy, Glad and Chux branded products, and manufactures and supplies Mono and Roto products in New Zealand.

Prince William, who is the Patron of the English Schools Swimming Association, has recorded a short video calling for school swimming to be accessible for all children at all primary schools, as “swimming is the only sport that can save lives.”

(Go to splashmagazine. com.au to see the clip.)

After surveying 3,501 schools, it was discovered that half of children aged seven to 11 cannot swim 25 metres, despite swimming being a compulsory element of the national curriculum.

The world’s largest pool and spa association, the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals (APSP) in the US, has announced the appointment of Richard Gottwald as their new president and CEO, replacing William Weber.

Pentair has been named on the Forbes 2013 top 100 list of “The World’s Most Innovative Companies.” This is their first appearance on the list.

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October-November 2013

Narellan joins forces with AIS and Waterco

Fibreglass swimming pool manufacturer and franchisor, Narellan Pools, has announced a partnership with one of Australia’s leading manufacturers of salt and mineral water chlorinators, Australian Innovative Systems (AIS).

Chris Meyer, managing director of Narellan Pools says that his company had recently decided to consolidate its supply chain to include only two Australian companies, AIS for chlorination systems and Waterco for pumps, filters and accessories.

“As a proudly Australian owned and run company, it was important for us to choose supply partners with a proven track record and with equally respected reputations,” says Meyer.

“In the case of AIS, I searched all over the world for a salt and mineral water chlorinator manufacturer good enough to be associated with our brand but found it right here in Australia. The decision to go with AIS was really quite simple; it was based on giving our clients the best available products on the market.”

Distribution

Pool Ranger gains MineralChlor Meanwhile, leading Australian pool and spa wholesaler, Pool Ranger has secured an exclusive distribution deal for AIS’s MineralChlor mineral water pool chlorinator for the New South Wales and Victorian markets.

Pool Ranger’s general manager, Derek Cahill says that the deal is extremely timely as Pool Ranger wants to meet the growing appetite of customers keen to secure mineral water pool systems at competitive prices, backed by a well organised warranty, delivery and support network.

“Mineral pools are increasing in popularity as families want an alternative to the traditional saltwater pool,” he says. “AIS’s MineralChlor system ticks all the boxes in that it offers indoor or outdoor recreational pool users crystal clear, odourless,

sanitised water using advanced technology and a blend of minerals such as magnesium chloride amongst others.

“Better still, the quality of water can be achieved using approximately half the TDS (total dissolved solids) of a standard swimming pool or around 2500ppm,” he says.

“Other benefits of MineralChlor include saving approximately 25 per cent in electricity consumption when compared with like systems, along with decreased wear and tear on pool filters, pumps and pool surrounds due to increases in operational efficiency and decreased use of chlorine and other chemicals. Some people also say that there are therapeutic benefits to swimming in mineral pools.”

Contact: Freecall 1300 731 905

IQ.

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Contact your local IQ distributor NOW and place your order.

NSW – Head Office International Quadratics Pty Ltd T: (02) 9774 5550 F: (02) 9774 5552 E: sales@interquad.com.au

QLD Aquatic Elements Pty Ltd T: (07) 5534 3136 F: (07) 3259 8519 E: sales@aquaticelements.com.au

WA Austral Pool Solutions Pty Ltd T: (08) 9240 5600 F: (08) 9240 4333 E: sales@australpool.com.au

VIC Aquachem Pty Ltd T: (03) 9792 0088 F: (03) 9792 9442 E: admin@aquachem.com.au

SA Aquatune T: (08) 8224 0344 F: (08) 6234 5508 E: aquatune@ace.net.au

thesmartchoice www.interquad.com.au

International Quadratics, 12 Gatwood Close Padstow, NSW 2211

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email: sales@linc.com.au

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news

Industry moves

New Daisy rep Brett Cubit is Daisy’s new sales representative for the Southern sections of Sydney, southern New South Wales and Victoria. Although this is quite an extensive area, Daisy MD Derek Prince says that Cubit has the capacity as well as the experience for the job.

Daisy reps are unlike other reps, because they don’t actually have anything to sell, but are a direct contact to assist business-to-business partners with marketing. Part of Cubit’s service includes a training program to help provide positive customer satisfaction and further sales.

Prince says that customers are well aware of the benefits of internet enquiry and look to their local Daisy expert to follow through their high expectations.

“Your Daisy man is the key to having this expert advice through ongoing training that can be organised before his visits,” he says. “While Brett will be in the South, Lee will provide the same service in the North of Sydney and beyond the border into Queensland.”

Contact: brett@daisypoolcovers.com.au; 0419 099 032

Industry Moves

New CEO for VBA

Joe Dimasi

Joe Dimasi has been appointed chief executive officer of the Victorian Building Authority (VBA).

Chairman Bill Kusznirczuk says the appointment will provide further support to the Board in delivering robust industry regulation and stronger consumer protection.

“The experience that Mr Dimasi brings with him from his Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and other Government roles will ensure the

Authority builds strong regulatory foundations and maintains a consumer focus,” he says.

Kusznirczuk says Dimasi’s significant years of experience with the ACCC included senior roles setting up regulatory functions in areas including telecommunications, energy, transport and water.

Dimasi has also been a senior economist in Victorian Government departments including Treasury, and Premier and Cabinet.

Industry Moves

New people and places for Newline Chris Hall has moved from Pool Systems to Newline Pool Products.

He started in the pool industry in 2007 as the national logistics executive for PoolWerx and moved to Pool Systems as their purchasing manager in 2011. He has more than 10 years’ experience in procurement.

He says he is enjoying working with Newline on new projects as the business continues to expand and prosper.

Stu McCarthy also recently moved from Pool Systems to Newline Pool Products. He started with Pool Systems as their NSW representative in

September 2010 and felt the time was right to move to Newline to be part of their expansion into the southern NSW region.

Newline Pool Products has now settled into their new location at 136 Bluestone Circuit, Seventeen Mile Rocks, Queensland.

Hall says the new location has been well received by the industry as it provides a fast and efficient service with excellent supply levels, and a trade counter with friendly knowledgeable staff to fulfil orders quickly, as well as a specialist call centre team.

Contact: 1300 677 100

Chris Hall

Stu McCarthy

Industry moves Bioniser has appointed customer service and sales professional Dean Aitken as their pool builder client specialist.

Bioniser says he’s highly motivated, passionate about health and wellbeing, and excited about selling an eco-friendly freshwater solution as an alternative to chlorine.

Aitken has four years’ experience in the pool industry from a total of 23 years in the corporate world and defence forces.

Contact dean@bioniser. com; 0409 012 688.

SPASA Qld Past President, Rodney Webb, has been appointed to the position of Chairman of the Queensland Pool Safety Council. The 12-month appointment commenced in September. He is an inaugural member of the Pool Safety Council and also a licensed Pool Safety Inspector. Webb was SPASA Qld President from 2001 to 2013 and still maintains an active role in the association as Past President.

Brian Jamieson has joined the Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance board. He holds a Bachelor of Business from Monash University and has been a CPA in excess of 25 years. His extensive corporate career has been mostly in senior roles relating to change management (Bridgestone Australia/ GUD Holdings). He is the current Managing Director of Escape Corporation which trades under Lifestyle Spas and Leisure.

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

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news

Training

Poolwise NZ conference In Brief BioLab has centralised the Western Australian distribution of its products, including the BioGuard, ProGuard, OMNI and Soft Swim ranges. They will now be managed centrally by the company rather than an appointed agent.

BioLab commercial director Lindsay McGrath says BioLab will now be able to provide better support to independent retailers in Western Australia with this new distribution model and ensure they can maintain high service levels.

In late August, PoolWise ran a two-day training conference in Auckland, drawing a wide range of customers including technicians and pool and spa shop owners from all over New Zealand, and council pool managers from regional towns.

Chris Smith from International Quadratics (Australia) led the training, starting with Basic Water Balancing and Product Knowledge through to Advanced Pool Care including Pool Water Sanitation and ORP, Saturation Index, Stabilisation

and the effects on ORP. He completed the training with SPASA units of Competency 3 & 4 (Chemically Treat Swimming Pools and Spas, Monitor and Maintain Pool and Spa Quality, Assess and Treat Water Problems in Pools and Spas). This certificate is recognised in both New Zealand and Australia.

This is the first time a training conference has taken place within New Zealand which includes the completion of SPASA certification. This is presently being rolled out in Australia by International Quadratics.

WA retailers will be supported by experienced BioLab business development manager Evan den Hartog.

Contact: 0429 899 233.

SPASA Australia has launched a new website, taking the domain www. spasa.com.au which was formerly used by SPASA Qld. The Queensland organisations says it has relinquished its domain name for the benefit of the national association and to show unity with the other states. Queensland will eventually use www. spasaqld.com.au but until the new site is set up they will be using www.spasa. com.au/queensland.

Enabling legislation has passed for the Queensland Building & Construction Commission (QBCC) to replace the Building Services Authority (BSA). As well as handling licensing and dispute resolution, the QBCC will handle the Home Warranty Scheme, which is proposed to include new swimming pools and spas - however a final decision will not be made until November.

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October-November 2013

Training

It’s academic with Swimart Swimart has significantly improved its training system with the introduction of the Swimart Academy system for all new and existing franchisees.

New franchisees are being offered the 23-day training system as part of their business induction training, with ongoing courses available for owners and team members.

Chris Fitzmaurice, Swimart Australasian manager, says ongoing professional development is essential for Swimart franchisees and staff to be able to offer their customers the best possible advice.

“Owning a pool or spa entails a level of knowledge that takes time to learn,” says Fitzmaurice. “The better educated our franchisees are, the better they can serve their customers and anticipate their needs.”

The Swimart Academy courses can be completed online or in tandem with in-house one-on-one training. The eLearning component is comprised of four levels: 1. Basics courses: For individuals new to the industry (or those who want to refresh their knowledge), this course covers the different types of pools, spas, materials and construction. The water chemistry basics component provides knowledge in water chemistry, water balancing, water testing, basic calculations and chemical dosing.

2. Professional courses: Designed for franchisees, pool technicians and senior team members who

need more advanced knowledge and skills. The Certified Technician Qualification includes modules about contamination, water problems and disinfection, water chemistry, water circulation and filtration and maintenance issues. The Master Technician Qualification imparts expert knowledge about how to prevent serious water borne illnesses such as gastrointestinal disorders, skin, ear, eye and respiratory illnesses and wounds.

3. Industry related courses: Produced by Waterco (franchisor of Swimart) exclusively for Swimart.

Current courses include: Water balance and chemical treatment.

4. Product related courses: Provides in-depth training about specific products Contact: www.swimart.com.au

www.pentair.com.au

National customer service: 1300 137 344

news

Expos

Perth consumers vote for pools For the second time in two shows, the Western Australian consumer pool and spa expo has been held on Election Day. In March this year the WA State election was held on the first day of the expo; this September it was the Federal election.

While that would normally have been enough of a distraction, on the Friday evening before the show thunderstorms

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October-November 2013

raged across Perth, and on the Saturday Fremantle played in an AFL semi-final.

The effect of this was that Saturday was slightly quieter than usual, but all the people who had put off attending came out in force on Sunday for a big day. The weather turned sunny, westerners were smiling after the Dockers victory and the crowds poured in.

“Everyone was very happy,” says show organiser Roger Lefort. “The Sunday in particular was exceptionally busy.”

Lefort, who is also the manager of SPASA Western Australia, says this is an indication of the strong western market.

“Looking at the guarantee completions from swimming pool builder members, the numbers are up seven per cent on the

year-to-August figures,” he says.

“There’s still money over here and the price of pools is dropping compared to the relative value of homes.

“The September show traditionally isn’t as big as the one in March, but it still has potential to grow a lot more.”

The next consumer show in Perth will be in March 2014.

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news

Safety

Usher child entrapment sparks renewed safety concerns The son of R&B performer Usher Raymond IV, better known as just Usher, was caught in a swimming pool drain in his Atlanta home in August while under the care of his aunt. The five-year old, Usher Raymond V, was rushed to hospital and fortunately recovered fully.

According to a police report, the child fell to the bottom of the pool and became stuck in a drain. A housekeeper tried unsuccessfully to free him but at the time a contractor was doing work on the home and came to the rescue, pulling the boy from the pool and performing CPR. In an emotional court hearing after the incident, the boy’s mother (Usher’s ex-wife, Tameka Foster Raymond) sought temporary custody of both their sons.

The case was dismissed.

The incident again highlighted the issue of entrapment in the United States, with some commentators saying it has brought more attention than even the tragic 2002 entrapment drowning of Virginia Graeme Baker, former Secretary of State James Baker’s grand-daughter. The Virginia Graeme Baker (VGB) pool safety legislation is named after her.

One of the industry players sought for comment was Paul McKain, CEO of PSD Industries and the inventor of the Play Safe SVRS who has been involved in developing pool safety standards in the US. As a retired fire-fighter and paramedic, he also knows firsthand the agony that can be caused by these types of accidents.

McKain commented on the incident for SPLASH!, and also highlighted his new ProteKtor product which is an extra layer of protection against entrapment incidents.

“The Usher entrapment has brought back to light the still relatively unknown problem of pool/spa entrapment,” he says.

“This is not making a bigger impact than the Virginia Baker entrapment as that entrapment led to US Congressional legisla28

SPLASH!

October-November 2013

Usher

The ProteKtor safety drain cover

tion, but it is more widely talked about for a number of reasons.

“The first reason is that Usher is an internationally known celebrity and is known in sectors of the population that have never been exposed to vacuum entrapment education, because there is very little education outside of professional circles.

“Second, there are other aspects of the Usher story that let the media keep it going apart from the entrapment, such as the usual high profile celebrity drama.

“Third and most importantly, the child survived. I do not believe many people outside of the industry know how impossible it was for that child to have come away from his entrapment with little more than a bad memory. This allows the entrapment to be openly talked about and may be the catalyst for some very real progress in entrapment abatement.”

McKain says that education on a global scale is what is necessary to expose this global problem.

“Unfortunately, attempts at education during the SVRS years were more directed towards blame and shock which did little more than create hostility and give a ‘black eye’ to the whole pool and spa industry,” he says.

“What is needed is an educational program that exposes the problem but in a way that simply shows how easy and inexpensively entrapment can be abated. Do that and there is no reason why any informed person would allow the problem to exist in their pool or spa.”

That was one of the reasons why he and his partners developed the ProteKtor.

It is an additional level of protection, sitting inside the drain underneath the existing safety cover. Therefore, if the cover fails to operate properly or becomes dislodged, there is an extra safeguard.

The ProteKtor protects against limb, mechanical and hair entrapment and will mitigate an evisceration. It also diverts the intense vacuum from a single

point of pull to a 360 degree pull, eliminating the vortex creating forces. If the ProteKtor is covered with both hands, the vacuum simply diverts a fraction of an inch to another opening allowing the flow to continue and no vacuum increase is even felt.

McKain says covers can come loose for a number of reasons, including the action of manual or automatic cleaners, corrosion of screws, covers being installed with automatic screwdrivers that strip the female receivers or simply weakening of the covers due to the hostile aquatic environment.

“The ProteKtor is the least expensive piece of liability insurance that can be purchased.

Most importantly, you eliminate the needless tragedy of an entrapment and the possibility of court action.”

McKain and his partner Tony Sirriani are looking for distributors or suppliers in Australasia.

Contacts: www.psdindustries. com; paulmckain@gmail.com Meanwhile, an off-duty policeman had to cut a young girl’s hair to save her from drowning in an entrapment incident in Croatia (see page 67).

Newline Pool Products Robotic Pool Cleaners

Cleaning Equipment

Filtration & Chlorination

Toys & Leisure Products

Newline Pool Products, an Australian business that has been trading successfully for over 21 years.

Newline imports and distributes a huge range of genuine spares, generic spares and whole equipment. Due to their strong position in the market and investment in tooling, Newline can offer over 4000 products, competitive pricing, and fast delivery. If you require private label products Newline also has the capacity to fulfil your requirements including and not limited to whole equipment, pool cleaners, cleaning equipment and accessories.

Newline services Qld, NT, NSW and Victoria and has distributors in WA and SA. There are 3 full time reps on the road to assist with order planning, product information and in store retail

planograms. With key trade partners including Spa Electrics/ Pentair - Onga/Magnum Filters/Astralpool/Zodiac and Pool Controls you know that you’re dealing with an industry leader.

NEW LOCATION: Newline completed their new purpose built premises at 136 Bluestone Circuit, Seventeen Mile Rocks Qld in 2012. The new location has been well received by Newline’s valued customers, providing a fast and efficient service, with supply levels

envied by many. Their trade counter is available with friendly knowledgeable staff to fulfil your orders and quickly get you back on the road and their specialist call centre team are ready to handle your enquiries and process your orders.

ADDITION TO THE NEWLINE RANGE: In exciting news, Newline recently announced the addition of CSN Accessories, Spares and Equipment to the already

extensive Newline product range. Initially Newline are stocking key lines for CSN, ready for delivery with your regular orders from their Seventeen Mile Rocks warehouse.

If you want to experience what it’s like to deal with a business built on fast delivery, quality products, a large range and competitive pricing Ph. 1300 677 100 or email: orders@newlineproducts.com.au

feature

Clean ideas with cartridge filters

By Cal Stanley

There are many different brands of cartridge filter on the market. This one is from AstralPool

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SPLASH!

I

n April 2001, I went to a little place on the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco called Moro Bay, where in a seaside resort hotel I became the first person from Australia to do a Genesis 3 training course.

The “three” in the Genesis 3 stands for the Three Pigs (as they call themselves) who set up and commenced a very successful training organisation in the US for the swimming pool industry. By our standards, every course they offer is very expensive and in 2001 our dollar was only worth about 50 US cents. It was the beginning of a 12-year relationship I still have with Brian Van Bower, Skip Phillips and David Tisherman.

At the time, for me, the sand filter was king. Nobody could convince me otherwise. After all, I had a cartridge filter on my own pool in 1981 and it was a hell of a job to clean it.

On the last day when I was talking to all three them, I asked: “What type of filters do you guys sell for your pools?”

They all looked at me like that was a pretty dumb question, then Skip said “Cartridge filters of course.”

I said “Cartridge filters!!” rather incredulously. “I wouldn’t wish those on my customers. Have you ever tried to clean one of them?”

The answer came back in an equally incredulous tone: “Are you kidding? Our customers don’t clean their own filters. They don’t even clean their own pools!”

I already knew that a cartridge filter could provide better filtration than sand and on my return to Perth I thought about the Three Pigs statement for quite some time. I thought about the trouble I saved my clients with the easy backwash clean of their sand filters. I then thought about the additional problems I was giving myself by having to buy the filtering sand, cart it to site, open every bag and tip the sand in, take the empties away and dispose of them.

I thought of the difficulties I was having connecting a backwash line to the sewer and when that was stopped by the authorities, the soak wells we had to install, etc.

Finally, I realised that since almost all of my clients were wealthy up-market

October-November 2013

The handy hose adapter called the Filter Flosser.

Distributed by Australian Spa Parts, it enables the cleaning of a full size cartridge in only five minutes as it can clean multiple pleats at once

people, none of them ever cleaned their filters either.

I decided I would start installing the large 400 sq ft to 600 sq ft units on all my pools. They came as a complete package, were simple to install, nothing extra to worry about at all.

So what about the cleaning issue anyway?

Nearly four years ago I purchased a 600 sq ft unit for my own pool that holds about 48,000 litres of water.

With it, I installed the larger version of the Waterco MultiCyclone pre-filter.

After 20 months, when the gauge pressure had not moved at all, I took the filters out and washed them using those neat little finger tools not available to me in 1981. It took less time to clean the four cartridges than it took to clean a single one in 1981.

Since then, the filter has been used for just over two years and again, no pressure build-up in the filter along the way.

I’ve heard talk that one should replace cartridges in pool filters every two years or so. Not anymore and certainly not for me. At the rate I am going I will get 10 years out of these cartridges at least.

One reason for the long filter cycle of my pool is the low filtration rate compared to the filter’s capacity. Now that I have also installed a variable speed pump and cut the flow in half, that 10-year life will likely be well exceeded. I’ll let you know some time in the future unless I fall off the perch before the cartridges do.

I concede that I do have a relatively clean pool compared with some of those I built for others, but I am a convert to this method of filtration and one day a supplier may come up with a larger pre-filter that can be used on bigger pools.

Of course someone may invent an even better filter too.

I know that some modern filter media placed in sand filters can now filter as low as 2-3 microns, and that is great for the industry but can your clients really see the difference in the pool? I doubt it somehow.

I am not knocking other filtration systems at all but I do love the install simplicity of the cartridge filter. n

Putting the “aahhh”

back in spas

By Kim Ball

Floating in total relaxation.

The Floating Lounge from Uwe Jetstream

32

SPLASH!

October-November 2013

T

HE increasing focus on work/life balance brings with it the expectation and demand for products and services that save time, energy and effort.

When it comes to spas this translates to increased comfort, quieter blowers, improved jetting, products that clean more quickly and easily as well as energy saving options.

Then there are the luxury items and additions such as aromatherapy, sensitive-skin sanitisers and even WiFi access so you can warm your spa up before you get home.

And there is also the issue of what spas are really about: comfort.

This especially applies to backyard concrete spas, often built as an adjunct to a swimming pool. With overflows, lighting and even glass walls, these spas are rightly considered a stunning visual addition to the garden or poolscape.

But what about comfort?

Senator Pools has been specialising in concrete pool and spa design and building in the Sydney metro and regional areas since 2003.

According to Senator Pool’s owner Mirco Lepagier, the expectation for comfortable spas is increasing. He believes the trend is due to a number of factors.

“In days gone by everyone wanted the biggest pool they could get in their backyard,” he says.

“The focus these days is smaller pools and spas – something more functional. It could be the combination of a couple of things. Land developments offer much smaller backyards these days and people are more focused on entertaining at home. Thus there has been the evolution of the outdoor living area, the outdoor kitchen and incorporating some sort of water feature, spa or pool and spa.

“I think spas are going through a revival. The trend for smaller pools can be seen through the evolution of plunge pools in courtyards and larger and more comfortable spas or stand-alone spas in backyards.”

Senator Pools recently received gold awards for an innovative and comfort-focused concrete design featuring twin day beds.

Lepagier had teamed up with a builder in New Homeworld Display Village in Sydney’s north-western suburbs, and built a swimming pool in the backyard as his display pool. He says the idea for the day bed design came from the builder and himself sitting at the local pub, drawing on the backs of coasters.

“It evolved from there,” he says. “The design adjoins an outdoor swimming area and originally I wanted to depress the whole pool to a level low enough to create a ‘swim up-bar’ type arrangement. Issues with fencing and practicality meant the design wouldn’t work so I reversed the thinking and created a sculptured lounge so people could lay back and look toward the outdoor living area and the outdoor TV screen,” he says.

“Then the day bed profile in our display pool attracted a client’s attention and he decided he wanted that feature incorporated in his spa.

“People love it. They like the uniqueness of it, it is a bit of a talking point and they love showing it off to family and guests.”

Freedom to float

Spa Industries operations manager Rob Kruber agrees the designs of both inbuilt and portable spas are chang-

feature

ing with people’s expectations of what can fit into small backyard areas.

As the largest manufacturer of spas in the southern hemisphere, Spa Industries is known for its manufacture of and partnership with leading brands including Signature Spas, Cyclone Spas, Designer Spas, Bullfrog Spas, Leisurerite Spas and Infinity Swim Spas.

According to Kruber, there is a trend toward the simpler designs of the past where seats have a more open bench style.

“They are still very comfortable and ergonomic but not quite as shaped and hugging as the contoured spas of the past 10 years,” he says.

“People want to sit in the water and be a bit freer.

As such, designs for both inbuilt and portable spas are moving from being contoured to what we call a ‘barrier free’ spa design where people can actually float around, move around and try different seats instead of being encapsulated in the seat.

“In fact, 12 months ago we released a design very much like the old round hot tub with a standard bench seat, which has been around for more than 40 years. It has proven very, very popular.”

Kruber is excited about Spa Industries’ new therapeutic JetPak Therapy System, made available in Australia in February 2013 thanks to their partnership with Bullfrog Technology.

In particular, the Jetpak technology enables inter-

changeable seating arrangements.

“In a typical spa there are usually six different seating locations and thus six different jetting options. However, with the Bullfrog spa it’s possible to have up to 15 different jetting options for each seat.

“The old system used to be changed through a barrel union style fitting at the top with a clip whereas the new system simply slides straight out. Plus it is now fully moulded which means there are no plumbing pipes behind the Jetpak plate anymore. Even the

The award winning Senator Pools spa design incorporating twin day beds

October-November 2013 SPLASH! 33

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feature

plumbing behind the spa only involves one pipe that goes directly into each one of the jet pods.

“So, there is 90 per cent less plumbing in the spa, there is a lot better pressure plus there is the interchangeable feature,” he says.

Jetpaks on inbuilt spas

Another distributor of the Bullfrog Jetpaks for custom concrete spas is Victoria-based Pool-Water Products. Business development manager Caroline Gleeson believes the Jetpak system, distributed by Paramount, is the answer concrete spa owners have been waiting for.

“JetPaks are essentially removable jetted seat backs engineered to deliver therapy options and comfort for concrete spas,” Gleeson says.

“The interchangeable JetPaks deliver some of the most advanced spa fittings that until now were only available in portable spas. Benefits of this cutting-edge technology include hydrotherapy, increased power and versatility, and easily interchangeable panels that are super comfortable and fully upgradeable.

“In the past, concrete spas were made with seating against the spa wall at a 90-degree angle from the seat.

However, the Jetpaks are designed with contoured shape that supports your back as the jets massage away.”

There are three jet options available. The Oscillator is the original JetPak that oscillates in an up-and-down pattern to create an experience that mimics the sensation of four hands delivering a deep-tissue massage.

The ClusterSpray features an arrangement of jets for an intense, deep-tissue massage and the Spinal’ssage is designed for complete wellness of the spinal region with adjustable jets providing a broad range of intensity to offer targeted therapy to the delicate spinal muscles and surrounding tissues.

The comfort of peace and quiet

An innovative product recently launched by Brisbane-based company Air Supply International takes the noise out of spa use – literally. Known as the Peacemaker this new product took Air Supply International managing director Peter King eight years to perfect in response to feedback about the noise created by spa air blowers.

Viewing the day beds through the glass wall

Below: This Senator Pools display pool was the inspiration for the spa design with day beds Left: The comfort of an indoor/outdoor swimspa. Spa Industries

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

35

feature

Under tropical cover for even greater relaxation.

Spa Industries

“I am in the business of only making spa blowers for the pool industry,” King says. “We know there have been approximately 20,000 pools built every year in Australia for the past 15 years and perhaps one in 10 of these pools have a spa attached to it. Each of those spas has an air blower.

“Presumably the equipment on these pools and spas is fairly old and therefore the noise factor is quite high.

With all the new local government rules and regulations regarding noise there has been a need for a new

type of blower that is quiet and uses less energy so homeowners can utilise an asset of their home, their spa, without fear of reprisal,” he says.

“That is what we set out to do and it took eight years to get the technology right.”

The blower that King manufactures has been refined over the past 30 years and is produced and distributed around Australia, Greece, Italy, Malta and the United States. Now, thanks to changes in plastics, motors, materials and the unique assembly process, a massive difference to the sound factor is possible by adding the Peacemaker.

After a pleasing initial response to his product, King officially launched the Peacemaker in September in time for the new season. The intention of the Peacemaker is for spa owners to attach the unit to the existing air delivery pipe and benefit from being able to use their spa whenever they like.

“I believe this is the best spa blower in the world,” he says. “It is certainly the quietest spa blower in the world and has a low energy requirement for excellent performance.

“For those that have an inbuilt spa with an existing air blower they can simply fit this new blower to the system. Installation is straightforward.

“My design is a unique combination of materials, plastics and motor, put together with care and attention to detail. It is the detail that makes this a quality product.”

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Convenience is king

Spas can also be made more convenient by the addition of WiFi features that can be in-built or added to spa control systems.

Spa Industries distributes the iSpa WiFi Global app and Australian Spa Parts has the Gecko Electronics’ Aeware spa control system.

Australian Spa Parts owner Adrian Lacy says these types of products are becoming more popular.

“They are an aftermarket product in Australia with only a couple of brands being sold,” says Lacy. “We’re selling them to people who are looking for new technology and the latest, greatest products that are out there. Our Aeware Wi-Fi remote control system allows owners to dial in to their spa from the other side of the world to check in on it and make sure it’s behaving itself.”

Spa Industries’ Rob Kruber concurs with Lacy about the increasing popularity of WiFi systems. The group’s iSpa WiFi Global App allows owners to sync with their home routers or other wireless smart devices to control or manage their spa from anywhere.

“The convenience this product provides is priceless,” says Kruber. “As you head home from work thinking ‘I wouldn’t mind a spa’ you can adjust the temperature before leaving the office. People could be heading to their holiday house and have the spa ready before they get there.

sales@spaparts.com.au

“It has the capability to change filtration cycles or just check on the spa temperature to make sure it is still functioning correctly, making it a great maintenance and convenience product.

“The fact is that most spa heating systems heat up quite slowly, which means having to maintain a warmer temperature so it’s ready to use at short notice – because people generally only plan an hour before wanting to jump into the spa.

“This system allows you to plan ahead the day before,

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October-November 2013 SPLASH!

37

feature

“This system means there is no need for CDs or docking systems on the spa anymore,” says Kruber.

“It simply talks via Bluetooth with your smart device which is becoming quite popular because it means there is less stuff that can end up rolling into the spa.

“Our high end stereo system – the Aquasound Stereo System iPod & CD – includes an in-built CD player or docking station that clicks into the system. We have now introduced a way for each of these devices to be controlled via an AV module through the touch pad of the spa. This means volume or tracks can be adjusted via the touch pad without actually touching the stereo unit.”

Easy cleaning

Reclining on the deck or in the swimspa.

Spa Industries

38

Heliocol SPLASH half pg.indd 1

SPLASH!

or four or five hours before. By planning a bit earlier you don’t need to have the spa warm all the time, which converts to saving energy in the long term. This makes the iSpa an energy saving feature as well.”

Other wireless products for spa user comfort, distributed by Spa Industries, are the Bluetooth wireless and iPhone docking station stereo systems. The Bluetooth system allows a Smart device to transmit within 10 metres of the spa so music can be played directly through the device via the touch panel on the spa.

October-November 2013

Ease of filter cleaning is another way to make a spa more enjoyable, by reducing chore-time. Australian Spa Parts has a new hand-held hose adapter on the market, known as the Filter Flosser.

It makes it a lot easier to clean spa filters says Adrian Lacy.

“We recently became a distributor for the Pleatco Filtration product in Australia,” he says. “It’s a curved hose adapter that attaches to the end of a hose and because of its shape, sprays water in an arc into the pleats of the filter cartridge. It makes light work of cleaning spa filters – taking five minutes to clean a full size cartridge because it is cleaning multiple pleats at a time.

8/8/13 10:04 AM

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Chlorine-free spa experience

Lo-Chlor Chemicals has spent the past 30 years looking at ways to make the spa experience more enjoyable from a therapeutic aspect and a maintenance perspective. LoChlor’s contribution is Aquaspa, a sanitiser made from chlorine-free compounds known as Biguanide.

Lo-Chlor Chemicals managing director Paul Simons says the sanitiser is gentle to humans and the environment, and uses include treatment of pool water; medical and food industry disinfectant; preservatives in cosmetics; and sanitisers for contact lenses.

“In 2008, I started working on developing a range for spas and it was released in 2010,” says Simons.

“Little did I know this would take off the way it did, and we quickly discovered spa owners were desperate to move away from chlorine and bromine compounds.

“Since then, sales have more than doubled year-onyear and it is now regarded as one of the most successful and largest selling chlorine-free systems for spas in the Southern Hemisphere,” he says.

• Saves you time keep your pool clean • Make your life easier to • Save Water, chemicals and energy Using your Dolphin will:

citsemoD

“The product increases the ease of cleaning thus saving owners time and energy which they could otherwise be enjoying in their spa.”

Australian Spa Parts is the largest supplier and stockist of spa parts outside North America, bringing stock from around Australia, USA, Canada, Hungary and New Zealand to their Queensland warehouse in Yeppoon.

clear pool. with hours of enjoyment in a clean, pure and crystal Maytronics designed the Dolphin to provide you

INTRODUCING THE Dolphin Supreme Robot Cleaner your Cleaner Clean One trend is for bathers “Feedback about the product has been sensational.

• let yourtoSkiMMer SkiMwhere & be able to float It’s so pleasing to hear stories where children who have they will.

Majestic Pool • eaSy to uSe never been able to use a spa due to their reactions to won a SPASA Qld gold For MaxiMuM Coverage bromine and chlorine are now enjoying the spa with award recently for this teChnology their siblings and parents. We’ve received numerous design, which also • robotiC SCanning calls of this nature and it’s so rewarding when you hear highlights the benefits you have made a difference.”

• CleanS, of SCrubS & FilterS a great location Simons says that the ease of application, the fact that BENEFITS the product doesn’t smell, doesn’t dry skin and doesn’t bleach swimwear are some of the positive feedback he’s

BENEFITS BENEFITS • CleanS, SCrubS & FilterS •• robotiC CleanS, SCrubS & FilterS SCanning • teChnology robotiC SCanning teChnology For MaxiMuM Coverage • For eaSyMaxiMuM to uSe Coverage •• eaSy to uSe let your SkiMMer SkiM & • your let your SkiMMer SkiM & Cleaner Clean your Cleaner Clean

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Exceptional Pool Experience Pool Exceptional Experience

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

39

feature

Pool Water Products is also distributing JetPaks.

This is the Cluster Spray version which provides an intense, deep-tissue massage

The Floating Lounge has many selective programs – from whole body massage to sophisticated sports exercises and physiotherapy work-outs

The Oscillator Jetpak rotates in an up-anddown pattern to create an experience that mimics the sensation of four hands delivering a deep-tissue massage

The Spinalssage Jetpak is designed for complete wellness of the spinal region with adjustable jets providing a broad range of intensity to offer targeted therapy to the delicate spinal muscles and surrounding tissues

received from end-users and spa dealers.

“There is certainly more of a push now for alternatives to chlorine and to make the spa experience as pleasing as possible. With this in mind, the Aquaspa range continues to grow and we’ll be releasing new products in 2014 to enhance the bathing experience.”

While on the topic of water-feel, one luxury item causing a stir is Microsilk. Invented by an American company, it is being fitted to Spa Industries’ products.

Through pumps and mixing chambers, micro-bubbles are created turning the water from clear to milky-looking. Rob Kruber says that because the bubbles are so small they penetrate, re-oxygenate and hydrate the skin.

“It plumps up the skin so it feels clean, moisturised and reduces signs of wrinkles,” he says.

He says it also benefits people with psoriasis and eczema. They find that it rehydrates the skin, reducing redness and itchiness.

“A beauty therapist in Adelaide has installed the system and is having great results with clients,” he says.

The floating lounge

Mark Nussbächer from German company Uwe Jetstream says that “aquatraining” is becoming more popular as the average age of the population increases.

“It is the answer to the very wide span of individual 40 SPLASH! October-November 2013

The addition of the Peacemaker to the original Spa King Blower makes a considerable difference to the sound factor

Lo-Chlor’s AquaSpa range

Right: Using the Filter Flosser means less work and more time for relaxing

daily needs and wishes: for some, floating as contemplative relaxation, for others the need for energising massages or dynamic sports work-out,” he says. “Such a multitude of training aspects could only be found, up to now, in different locations – spas, fitness centres, massage and medical institutes.”

JetStream’s innovative FloatingLounge offers all these aspects at the push of a button and with an easy to use touch-screen display.

FloatingLounge has many selective programs – from whole body massage to sophisticated sports exercises and physiotherapy work-outs. Its design can be integrated into any pool or spa architecture.

Nussbächer says that serious training is possible thanks to a powerful pump.

“Floating, intensive massage on the back, legs and feet, aqua-walking and much more,” he says.

“The FloatingLounge is a valuable addition to recreational swimming pools, thermal baths, hotel spas, upscale sports clubs, but also to clinics and therapy facilities looking to help their patients get back on their feet gently as well as efficiently,” he says.

It has 11 massage nozzles, one counter-current nozzle and a five-hole floor massage nozzle.

Uwe Jetstream is looking for Australasian distributors and suppliers. Contact Nussbächer at Mark.

Nussbaecher@uwe.de for more information. n

Contacts: Spa Industries: www.spaindustries.com.au Pool Water Products: www.poolwaterproducts.com.au Spa King: www.airsupplyinternational.com Australian Spa Parts: www.spaparts.com.au Lo-Chlor Chemicals: www.lo-chlor.com.au Uwe Jetstream: http://en.uwe.de

速

S TA RV E R

X

COMING SOON

www.lochlor.com.au 1800 64 76 65

feature

Remember the three Rs: Repair, Replace, Refund

T

he ACCC is conducting a campaign to ensure business owners are aware of their obligations under the Australia Consumer Law (ACL).

As a business owner, you must by law, guarantee the products or services you sell; and your customers have the right to ask for a repair, replacement or refund if the products are faulty, unsafe or don’t work as intended.

“While the customer is free to seek a remedy from the manufacturer, you can’t demand that they deal directly with the manufacturer.”

Major problems that can’t be fixed in a reasonable time might require a refund

It’s important that you understand your obligations and subsequently aid consumers with their understanding. But it’s more than just an obligation. Australian businesses experience significant costs every year to deal with problems where they are legally obliged to provide a remedy for consumers. The spin-off effects can include declining sales, a drop in return business and damage to your company’s reputation.

So it’s in your interests to understand and comply with the provisions, and to have in place a reliable system to manage complaints about faulty or unsatisfactory goods.

Broadly, consumer guarantees state that all goods sold in Australia must be of acceptable quality, be fit for the purpose they are intended and match the description given.

Repair facilities and spare parts must be available for a reasonable time, and suppliers and manufacturers must comply with any warranty covering the product.

Services must be delivered with due care and skill, and completed within a reasonable time if no set timeframe is agreed.

The key part of the provisions requires businesses that sell, lease, make or import most household, personal, automotive products and services to provide appropriate remedies for anything

42 SPLASH! October-November 2013

that does not meet the consumer guarantees. That includes repairing or replacing the product, providing a refund or fixing the problem with the service.

Consumers have this right whether or not the product or service comes with a voluntary manufacturer’s warranty or an extended warranty. It’s also important to note that manufacturers’ warranties and extended warranties apply in addition to, but do not replace, consumer guarantees.

If the goods or services don’t meet the consumer guarantees, the most appropriate way to resolve it will depend on how serious the problem is.

If it is major or cannot be fixed in a reasonable time, the consumer is entitled to choose a refund or a replacement product (or receive compensation in the case of services).

A major problem with a product is when it: • has a problem that would have stopped the consumer from buying it if they had known about it • is unsafe • is significantly different from the sample or description • doesn’t do what you said it would or what the consumer asked for.

The consumer may also be able to claim compensation for any drop in value from the price they paid, or other loss or damage caused by the faulty product.

If it is not a major problem you can choose whether you will repair, replace or refund the product or fix the problem with the service.

In some cases the manufacturer or supplier may be in a better position than you to determine what is wrong with the goods. While the customer is free to seek a remedy from the manufacturer, you can’t demand that they deal directly with the manufacturer.

Also, you must provide a remedy within a reasonable time, so if you have sent goods away for diagnosis or repair, you should have a process in place to follow it up.

If it is a problem that can’t be easily fixed, you should advise the customer and let them choose the preferred remedy.

Consumer rights are not unlimited though. For example, you are not required to provide a remedy if the consumer has changed their mind about the product or misused or damaged it.

You can’t limit or refuse a consumer guarantee, nor can you tell your customers they have to pay for the rights under consumer guarantees or do anything that leads them to believe their rights do not apply.

An example is displaying “no refunds” signs. Signs such as “No refund on sale items” and “No refunds after 30 days” imply it is impossible to get a refund under any circumstance – even when there is a major problem with the good or service. This is not the case.

The ACCC has produced an online education module for businesses to help them understand consumer guarantees and train their staff. Visit the website for more.

Contact: www.accc.gov.au/consumerguarantees

“You want it, we’ve got it”

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Shipping in October/November this year, and available in 15/20 gm, 25/30 gm and 35/40 gm models.

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feature

Are retailers delivering what customers expect?

By Larry Bloom

A

n owner of a substantial chain of specialty pool retail stores in the US told me, “If an under-informed employee gives poor advice to a customer, that customer may never spend another dime in that store – even if he or she was a loyal customer for years.”

It’s not hard to debate the merits of a well-trained knowledgeable staff. A comprehensive survey of pool owners in the US found that knowledgeable staff is the clear number-one reason why pool owners shop specialty retail. Surprisingly, superior service and strong personal relationships ranked much lower and do not seem to be as important to pool owners as retailers may think, yet to some degree they are intertwined with knowledgeable staff and play a role in delivering value.

Once we understand why pool owners shop in our stores, the question becomes, are we delivering the criteria that matters most to our customers? And can we potentially deliver more value, which will ultimately grow our loyal customer base?

Knowledgeable staff

Nearly 80 per cent of loyal pool retail customers (we call them “Loyalists”) said the single most important reason they shop at a specialty retailer is more knowledgeable staff. Most retailers believe they do well in delivering the advantages of a more knowledgeable staff – but that’s not what we discovered with our customer research.

While approximately 80 per cent of Loyalists see a more knowledgeable staff as an advantage for specialty retailers, 20 per cent don’t even recognise the knowledge advantage. That means that whatever retailers are doing to provide a more knowledgeable staff, it is not perceived as an advantage by 20 per cent of their most loyal customers.

This is likely a source of potential customer defection.

Moreover, of the almost 80 per cent of Loyalists who do see the advantage of a more knowledgeable staff, more than half are not sufficiently satisfied with the overall value they receive from their pool retail store.

Why aren’t 100 per cent of these loyal customers extremely satisfied?

Pool stores that keep their customers, build loyalty through an informed staff that can consistently communicate valued knowledge to the consumer. If retailers

give up this perceived knowledge advantage, they lose their most valuable differentiator. It just takes one instance from an insufficiently-trained new employee or a well-meaning existing employee to destroy the advantage. But how can retailers know whether this knowledge advantage is being delivered successfully?

Here is one way to find out. Hire a professional

“20 per cent of Loyalists don’t even recognise the knowledge advantage.” shopping consultant, a temp agency, or even a relative (if he or she can be honest with you) to shop at your store. Prepare a list of questions to ask and some observations he or she should make during the visit.

Have him or her carry a voice-activated pocket recorder to capture the sales presentation. Then, listen to the results, both on tape as well as from the perspective of the hired “customer.”

“Why aren’t 100 per cent of these loyal customers extremely satisfied?”

Retailers may find that their employees are not performing as expected. Just because an employee training program is in place doesn’t mean it is having the desired results. But once retailers know how their staff members are performing, they can take any steps needed to improve the delivery of the knowledge advantage.

October-November 2013 SPLASH! 45

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Superior service

Although superior service ranked lower among Loyalists than several other criteria, service is still an important key to value. Loyalists who perceive service as an advantage are 2.5 times more satisfied with overall value from their specialty retailer than those who don’t. More than 70 per cent are extremely satisfied. This implies that the service advantage is important based on the high satisfaction with overall value by those who get it.

But overall dealer performance in this area is not much different than other outlets because not

enough customers experience the advantage. This is a significant opportunity for improvement that could lead to more Loyalists and more revenue for specialty pool retailers.

Why don’t more Loyalists see superior service as an advantage? Since 38 per cent do see the advantage we might infer that the problem lies in one of these three areas: • Whatever service retailers deliver, it doesn’t have the same appeal to all Loyalists. In other words, one size does not fit all.

• Even if the service offered is appealing, the retailer is inconsistent in delivering it. Some Loyalists receive it; others don’t.

• The quality of the service is erratic. Even the best service intentions will be wasted if the quality of delivery is poor.

The right services delivered well can make a big difference in customer satisfaction with value and the strength of retailer/customer relationships.

Strong personalised relationships

Surprisingly, strong personalised relationships are not a significant advantage today. Only 28 per cent of all Loyalists see an advantage in strong, personalised relationships with their pool retailer versus outlets like mass merchants, other specialty retailers and the internet.

Because the filtration performance in your pool is critical The performance of your pool filtration system is critical to maintain a healthy environment for your family and friends.

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If consumers don’t see the advantage of strong personalised relationships, how can it be a basis for satisfaction with overall retailer value? Obviously, it can’t.

However those who do see the advantage are clearly more satisfied with the overall value from their retailer than those who don’t.

“It is extremely important that employees are well trained in the critical areas.”

Perhaps the reason for only 28 per cent recognition is that strong personalised relationships are likely more common when store owners or engaged managers are involved.

And, as owners retreat from relationship-building activity due to the pressures of running the business, strong personal relationships with customers inherently suffer. Seasonal and shorter-term employees just can’t deliver in this area the way the store owner or a seasoned manager can.

Because of that, it is extremely important that employees are well trained in the critical areas that do make a difference to Loyalists, namely, knowledgeable staff.

These insights point to an important consideration

for retailers. Understanding and acting on this data could mean the difference between long-term success and failure. We believe those who take these results seriously will have greater likelihood of prosperity in the future. n Larry Bloom is a co-founder of Xmente Swimming Pool Retail Academy and former CEO of BioLab, Inc. His company provides consulting and online education tools for the pool industry.

Contact: larry@swimmingpoolacademy.com

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Keeping an eye on the kids in the most impressive way possible

Peek-a-boo

S

ee-through panels have been around for quite a while in swimming pool construction, but now viewing panels and pool windows are becoming very popular on high-end residential pools.

There are two materials that can be used to create the panels: glass and acrylic. There are advantages to both. Basically, glass is cheaper, thinner and more easily available; whereas acrylic is clearer and can be used in much greater spans.

One company with experience in this area is Wirrawonga Consulting, established 10 years ago in Melbourne and now expanding into interstate markets.

They have particular expertise in deflection analysis of pool windows made from glass or acrylic and installed into some of Australia’s leading swimming pools by builders such as Aloha Pools and Out from

48 SPLASH! October-November 2013

the Blue – both consistent performers in high-end award categories.

Stuart Rooke is general manager at Wirrawonga.

He has 12 engineers and draftspeople on staff, making Wirrawonga one of the leading companies dealing with residential glazing.

“We have invested heavily in our staff and software to do the appropriate finite element analysis work to safely certify hundreds of jobs in Australia already,” says Rooke.

“It has to be certified if it needs to have a laminate.

That’s a layer of plastic in-between two sheets of glass acting as a strengthening mechanism. Sometimes in aquatic installations, it can de-laminate. But if all sides are sealed against water ingress, there is no chance of delamination.”

Benefits of Glass • Lower price • Ready-made product • Manufactured in Australia • Readily availability • Local glaziers can deliver on site • More installers • Stronger product and more impact-proof • Can be made scratch-proof

Benefits of Acrylic • Superior optical clarity • High impact resistance • UV-resistant for long term exposure • Thermal insulating properties • Light weight • Invisible welding of sheets into compound shapes • Surface scratches can be polished out • Can be coloured • Easily routed, shaped, moulded and cut after casting

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

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This multi-award winning Aloha Pools design features a stunning full length curved R-Cast single-piece acrylic panel measuring 1.2m x 2m. The curved wet-edge wall was custom ordered from America. The installation was difficult, with extreme care taken to crane the piece onto the rooftop. The wet-edge wall has the overflow running over the Perspex to the concealed guttering and into a balance tank in the basement car park three storeys below. The Perspex gives the illusion of a single block of colour and ensures it is not a visual barrier, which is important in a small courtyard area. Extra design and research was required to obtain the Perspex, to ensure it could retain the water and take the temperatures of the water varying between cool and warm

He says the main reason for choosing glass over acrylic is price. But there are other benefits, such as the fact that it is a ready-made product manufactured widely across Australia.

“Acrylic has to come from overseas,” he says. “The nearest location is Thailand. And it takes 12 different processes to manufacture structural aquarium-grade acrylic. This can take between three and six months.

With glass you can talk to your local glazier and have it delivered on site. Also, there are many companies that install glass, but only a few that do acrylic.”

He says the properties of glass are well known: it is a stronger product and lot more impact-proof.

50

SPLASH!

October-November 2013

Senator Pools used glass walls to show off the reclining lounge area in this swimming pool. This pool was also the inspiration for their award winning reclining spa shown on page 32

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“By adding a ceramic coating, glass becomes much less likely to scratch than acrylic. In fact, it becomes almost impossible to scratch. However, acrylic does have a slightly higher degree of deflection.”

Longer spans

Acrylic has many advantages as well – clarity is one. Glass is actually green, so the thicker it gets, the greener it appears with a consequent reduction in light transmission.

Critically, acrylic can span much further.

“We’ve done up to 12 metre spans in acrylic,” says Rooke. “But theoretically you can do any length. With glass I believe it can go up to a six-metre maximum – at least that’s the longest I’ve heard of.”

To withstand the same amount of pressure as glass, acrylic has to be thicker, and that brings with it other issues.

“Generally is has to be twice as thick as glass,” he says. “As an engineer we might specify two pieces of 19mm laminated together for example. To do the same job, it’s likely the same thickness of acrylic would be 80mm to 90mm.”

Then you get the associated issues with wider rebates and concrete and steel construction methods due to the greater thicknesses.

“Generally when people approach us, we tend to say acrylic is better. It’s clearer because you don’t get the delamination. But we tell them to do their sums and they often choose glass, often because of price. Adding many laminates can make it more expensive, but it’s still cheaper “With negative-edge pools with spill-over weirs, modern conventional wisdom is that double-glazed laminate is better than monolithic glass in case one sheet does break, there’s a second one there. On the balance of probabilities, from an engineering viewpoint, we’d say acrylic is probably the best option though.”

Pool windows that are completely submerged have extra water pressure on them, so they need to be thicker.

“Acrylic would be equally suitable but more expensive. Whatever you choose for the pool window or pool wall, ensure you get structurally engineered certification for it,” says Rooke.

Aloha’s award winning lap pool with viewing panel

Some of the other benefits of acrylic include:

Versatility: acrylic panel can be thermoformed into any curve or shape. Fabricated sheet can be machined and welded to produce monolithic compound shapes and features. Sheet can be altered after fabrication, and drilled or trimmed on site with conventional tools when required.

Sheet or block: acrylic can come in a variety of different shapes, sizes, colours, textures and finishes.

Invisible joins: when creating very large acrylic panels, the sheets are molecularly welded, creating a permanent

This Aloha pool has to squeeze into a small space between the boundary and the home.

To create a special effect and also to allow light into the home, four toughened glass viewing panels were put into the structure: one measuring 1.8m x 0.5m, and three 1.35m x 0.6m

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

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Contacts: www.alohapools.com.au www.australianglassgroup.com.au www.clearwateracrylic.com.au www.senatorpools.com.au www.wirrawonga.com.au

Blue light comes into the subterranean living area through the pool water. The use of glass required a high level of care to ensure that the windows were not damaged before, during or after the installation was complete.

and invisible join. Panels up to 12m long can be readily provided, with longer panels available on request.

Optical clarity: acrylic provides a clear optical view for any viewer with minimal colouring or distortion.

Acrylic has a transparency rating of 92 per cent, making it one of the clearest materials available.

Thermal conductivity: heat transfer in acrylic is approximately eight times less than glass. This allows acrylic to better conserve heat in retained fluids.

Surface maintenance: surface scratches may be This Aloha project in Hawthorn includes an R-Cast acrylic L-shaped panel measuring 2.55m x 0.8m one side and 2.62m along the other. A stand out feature is the front corner where the acrylic panels have been specially engineered to ensure they would not buckle under the extreme weight of the water. Made from Reynolds R-Cast aquarium grade acrylic and specially shipped from the USA, this single L-shaped piece was installed on the front corner of the pool so that a “window” into the pool could be viewed both from within the house and from the adjacent landscaped gardens.

54 SPLASH! October-November 2013

polished out. Notches may also be filled where damage has occurred.

Thermoforming: acrylic can be shaped and curved to any required shape. Acrylic can be cut, sawn, routed, drilled, sanded and polished after it has been fabricated.

Long-term performance: high quality cast acrylic is highly resistant to weathering, and optical and mechanical degradation under long term exposure. There are no laminates to break down, which can be an issue with laminated glass sheet. n

This stylish Aloha job in Toorak features a glass spillover wall, whereby the water flows over the side and under the step into a concealed gutter. This, in turn, overflows into a balance tank that is located in the basement – three storeys below. The use of the glass wall gives the appearance of a single block of colour and stops the pool from becoming a visual barrier

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Pool builders will love recommending TWIST & DOSE as the perfect pool maintenance kit to new pool owners, whilst for pool shops TWIST & DOSE is a great opportunity to boost chemicals sales and increase store traffic with all the opportunities that this brings.

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2013 Remco Pool of the Year winner, Aloha Pools

The 2013 Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner is the industry event of the year for SPASA Victoria.

This Gala Event is also supported by our category sponsors:

Held on the 24th August at the iconic National Gallery of Victoria, 440 industry participants enjoyed sumptuous food and wonderful entertainment.

Olympian & SPASA Ambassador, Nicole Livingstone, continues to MC the industry night-of-nights. The Awards of Excellence was again hotly contested - a record number of members entered what proved to be a simply amazing array of pools, spas, stores and products.

PMS 660C

Support from our record number, and greatly-appreciated sponsors enables SPASA Victoria to continue its work promoting the industry and pool and spa use in the state.

For full details & images, go to: www.spasavic.com.au/awards-of-excellence SPASA wishes to express our gratitude to the following leading industry players Major Sponsors

POOL+SPA

DESIGN | CONSTRUCTION | OUTDOOR | MAINTENANCE | EQUIPMENT

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POOL+SPA

DESIGN | CONSTRUCTION | OUTDOOR | MAINTENANCE | EQUIPMENT

Well done to all 2013 Awards of Excellence entrants and winners.

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For more Gold Award winners see www.spasavic.com.au

2013 Sustainability winner TPEC

Best Indoor Pool - Out from theTPEC Blue 2013 Sustainability winner

Best In Situ Portable Spa - Endless Spas Poolside Product Innovation Award - Pentair Water Australia

Best Pre-engineered, Vinyl-Lined In-Ground Pool - Albatross Swimming Pools

Best Residential Fibreglass, Acrylic or Vinyl lined Pool & Spa Combination- Compass Pools

Winners of the SPASA Awards of Excellence 2013 Best Retail Outlet (Shop) Rainwise Coburg

Best Commercial Pool - Under $250,000 Commercial Aquatics Australia

Best Pool and Landscape Combination Out from the Blue

Best Spa Retailer Endless Spas

Best Commercial Pool - Over $250,000 Commercial Aquatics Australia and Aquarius Pools

Best Renovation Aloha Pools

Best Residential Concrete Pool - Under $50,000 Enkipools Best Residential Fibreglass Pool Under $40,000 Gordon Avenue Pools & Spas Best Residential Fibreglass Pool $40,000 - $60,000 Compass Pools Victoria Best Residential Fibreglass Pool Over $60,000 Compass Pools Victoria Best Residential Traditional Styled Pool Aloha Pools Best Residential Natural Pool Natural Pools Best Residential Courtyard Pool Out From the Blue

Best Residential Concrete Spa Out from the Blue

Best Innovative Pool or Spa Out from the Blue and Aloha Pools

Best In Situ Portable Spa Endless Spas

Best Fibreglass, Acrylic or Vinyl-Lined Pool by a Country Member Gordon Avenue Pools & Spas

Best Residential Pre-engineered, Vinyl-Lined In-Ground Pool Albatross Swimming Pools

Best Residential Concrete Pool by a Country Member Naughtons Pools & Spas

Best Residential Concrete Lap Pool Aloha Pools

Best Residential Indoor Pool Out from the Blue

Best Residential Fibreglass, Acrylic or Vinyl-Lined Lap Pool Compass Pools Victoria

Best Water Feature Tassie Pools & Spas

Best Residential Concrete Pool and Spa Combination Aloha Pools Best Residential Fibreglass, Acrylic or Vinyl-Lined Pool & Spa Combination Compass Pools Victoria

Best Residential Concrete Pool Under $100,000 Out from the Blue Best Residential Concrete Pool Over $100,000 Aloha Pools Salesperson of the Year Daina White from Poolside Frankston Best Control, Water Quality or Convenience Product Pentair Water Australia Water Neutral Pool Award Rainwise Coburg 2013 savewater! Alliance Sustainability Award The Pool Enclosure Company

Best Safety Barrier Frameless impressions

2013 POOLSIDE Magazine PRODUCT INNOVATION AWARD Pentair Water Australia

Best In Situ Paving or Stone Product SAI Sandstone

2013 Remco POOL OF THE YEAR AWARD Aloha Pools

Best Pool Display Centre Albatross Pools

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Swimming Pool & Spa Alliance

2013 State Award Winners Residential Concrete Pools Traditional or Geometric up to $50,000 Gold: Jade Pools; Silver: Azure Pools Traditional or Geometric $50,000 to $100,000 Gold: Senator Pools Traditional or Geometric over $100,000 Gold: Sunset Pools; Silver: Vision Pools Freeform or Natural $50,000 to $100,000 Gold: Azure Pools; Silver: Jade Pools Freeform or Natural over $100,000 Gold: Vision Pools; Silver: Splish Splash Pools

Residential Fibreglass Pools Up to $40,000 Gold: Essential Pools; Silver: Local Pools & Spas Over $40,000

Gold: Narellan Pools; Silver: Capital Fibreglass Pools

Other categories Spas and Hot Tubs Gold: Senator Pools Display Pools Gold: Award Pools Group Renovations over $25,000 Gold: Aquastone Pools & Landscapes; Silver: Vision Pools Innovative Gold: Sunset Pools Water Features Gold: Award Pools Group; Silver: Polar Pools Lap Pools Gold: Polar Pools; Silver: Sunrise Pools Sustainable Pools Gold: Sunset Pools Pool Shop of the Year 2013 Sapphire Wetwork Pool & Spa Innovative New Product 2013 Zodiac Aqualink TRI – Zodiac Group

Australia Sustainability Award – Energy 2013 SoftSwim – BioLab Australia Sustainability Award – Water 2013 SoftSwim – BioLab Australia Commitment to Education & Training 2013 International Quadratics

People Pool Builder of the Year 2013 Narellan Pools Riverina & ACT Pool & Spa Technician of the Year 2013 Tomas Hintze, Mr Pool Man Retail Sales Representative of the Year 2013 Lee Salisbury, Sapphire Wetwork Pool & Spa Wholesale Sales Representative of the Year 2013 Leon Coleman, Sunbather Pool Technologies Lifetime Achievement Award Cal Stanley Azure came top in the Residential Freeform $50k to $100k category

60 SPLASH! October-November 2013

Awards Pools won the Water Features award

Sunset Pools won both the Innovative and Sustainable awards

Narellan gained the Fibreglass over $50k award

Vision won the Freeform over $100k award

October-November 2013  SPLASH!  61

The Swimming Pool and Spa Alliance would like to extend thanks and appreciation to all our sponsors Major Sponsors

Gold Awards Sponsor Waterco

Silver Awards Sponsor SoftSwim

Category & Industry Award Sponsors

Universal Magazines Poolside/Pool+Spa Magazine

Davey Water Products

Zodiac Group Australia

Sunbather Pool Technologies

Aqua Quip

Toll Free: 1800 802 482 • Ph: (02) 9630 6300 • Mob: 0449 065 841 • Fax: (02) 9630 6355 email: info@spasa.org.au • Web: www.spasa.org.au

feature

Enterprise planning helps Waterco grow

W

aterco has implemented a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, which is designed to integrate and enhance processes across the group’s global operations and to support growth across multiple regions.

To provide the solution, Waterco chose Epicor Software Corporation, a global leader in business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organisations.

“We required an ERP system which could provide visibility over inventory and stock levels across multiple sites,” says Bryan Goh, Waterco’s group marketing director.

“We felt Epicor could better support a manufacturer with a vertical structure like our own and because of its strengths in this area, we believed it was the best fit for us. The Epicor program will allow us to become more agile and responsive and to streamline our business.”

Waterco will use Epicor to run sales, accounts receivable, accounts payable, light manufacturing, purchasing, distribution, finance and customer relationship management.

“Epicor will improve the overall efficiency of the company,” says Goh. “We will be able to better manage our inventory to ensure we have sufficient stock to meet our customer’s requirements and to also ensure we are not overstocked with the wrong mix of goods.

In addition, we will be better equipped to provide our customers with more information on back orders and the status of their current orders.”

The Epicor package also includes sales force automation and a customer relationship management module, which will provide all the required information to Waterco’s external and internal sales team to better serve its customers.

“In addition, we now have the ability to begin building reports and dashboards to extract meaningful information that will allow our guys to make business decisions,” he says.

Waterco was assisted during the ERP implementation process by IT consultancy, Biscit (Business Information Systems Consulting - IT). And with the first phase of the project complete – the solution has been rolled out in Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand – Waterco has built a base for further growth and continued improvement of internal processes.

Epicor will subsequently be rolled out in China, the US, Canada and the UK. Shane Goh, Waterco’s manager for special projects IT, says they have successfully completed the project on time, thanks to planning by the Biscit team.

“The implementation was broken down into several stages, of which the main stages were installation of hardware, analysis and design of the system, data migration, system implementation, user training, pilot system and execution for Go Live,” he says.

“We could see Epicor’s strength in manufacturing and especially liked the resource planning and ‘what-if ’ scenarios it could provide for our manufacturing team.

For sales, we could see the benefit in the dashboards and business intelligence and also appreciated how we could use this solution as a platform to build a future information portal for our customers.”

Craig Charlton, senior vice president and general manager for Epicor in Asia Pacific, says, “We congratulate Waterco and the Biscit team on a successful implementation, delivered on time and on budget.

“Epicor’s strength across multiple verticals and combined knowledge across manufacturing and distribution was a key factor in Waterco’s selection of Epicor next-generation ERP. We look forward to continuing our partnership and supporting Waterco’s multi-site, multi-national operations.” n

Top. An example of the Epicor rolebased dashboard Bottom. An example of the orders dashboard showing product analysis

October-November 2013 SPLASH!

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commercial news

Energy efficiency

Fremantle Pool goes geothermal Commercial

news Bobby save girls from entrapment. . . . . . . . . . 66 Global News. . . . . . . . . 66 Green square design competition. . . . . . . . . . 66 Belgravia picks up more pools. . . . . . . . . . 68 Siemens celebrates century. . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Tenders. . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Turning aquatic centres into waterparks . . . . . . 70 Turtle Beach hatches new idea. . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Councils across Australia might be looking to the sun to offset the rising costs of municipal pool heating, but in the historic Western Australian City of Fremantle they’re digging for fire to keep bathers warm.

The innovative council has confirmed that a test-bore it has sunk to tap into underground heat source is hotter than expected and will be able to sustainably heat water at the Fremantle Leisure Centre for “decades to come” thanks to heat pumps that extract warmth from under the ground via a thermal loop.

The move to tap underground heat is part of an ambitious bid to reduce both long-term energy costs and carbon emissions that are estimated to be around 260 tonnes per year.

“We’re very pleased with the results of the bore, which surpassed our expectations in terms of water temperature and therefore in the amount of geothermal heat energy recoverable,” says City of Fremantle Technical Services Director, Peter Pikor.

“The project is progressing on schedule and the completion of the bore now means we can move into more detailed design work and construction of other aspects of the cogeneration system.”

Freemantle’s deployment of a cogeneration facility means that underground thermal energy will be used to both heat the pool and generate electricity.

According to the council the facility uses “shallow geothermal” cogeneration because this was the most sustainable method.

Once the geothermal and cogeneration system is fully operational, heated water from the bore will be pumped through the leisure centre’s heat pumps to warm the centre’s two larger pools, with the cool water then re-injected back into the aquifer via a separate injection bore.

The installation of the geothermal system is part of a wider $5 million upgrade, scheduled for completion in early 2014.

SPLASH! will publish more information on this project in the near future.

Seaworld hosts Aquafutures The Aquafutures Conference was held at Sea World on the Gold Coast in August, organised

by Les Mole, Lee Carter and Michael Darben and supported by the Royal Life Saving Society Queensland. Sea World provided an excellent venue where the attendees enjoyed a robust

64 SPLASH! October-November 2013

three-day schedule. Les Mole says that he had never seen the numbers at a conference swell for the final session before. But on the Sunday afternoon attendee numbers actually increased for the crisis management session entitled “What happens when someone drowns in your facility?”

Energy efficiency

Biomass boiler heats Mount Gambier pool A new state-of-the-art biomass boiler has been installed at the Mount Gambier Aquatic Centre – the only public pool in Australia currently utilising the revolutionary environment-friendly approach .

The new 650kW biomass boiler can be run on a variety of woody biomass feedstock; with the Mount Gambier Aquatic Centre system to be run predominantly on biomass from local plantations, which are continually regrown, meaning the heat source for the centre will essentially be carbon neutral .

Operational services director Daryl Sexton says that not only will the new system be more cost effective compared to running a gas system, it will support the local forestry industry through the sourcing of the biomass feedstock .

“The new boiler will supply all of the heat for the three pools, in a more efficient and automated manner; with the new system able to be monitored remotely from anywhere in the world,” he says .

“The new system replaces the previous boiler which heated the pools for 25 years but had become unreliable .”

The boiler will run on wood chip and sawdust from a local mill during the setup period .

Our business is to deliver good quality healthy water for

BACKYARD POOLS COMMERCIAL POOLS SPRAY PARKS WATER TREATMENT PLANTS across Australia and in many countries around the world.

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The boiler arriving at the Mount Gambier Aquatic Centre

mined in Australia and is NOT a recycled product such as glass and has a far smaller carbon footprint.

This unique filter media has received accreditation from Savewater W.A.Water Corp Waterwise & Smart Approved Water Mark

In Brief At an emotionally charged September 18 council meeting, the decision was made to permanently close and demolish the Victorian town of Ararat’s outdoor Olympic swimming pool . The Ararat Advertiser reports that many members of the attending public were outraged at the decision and within days thousands of white ribbons adorned the pool fence in protest . Repairs for the 55 year old pool were costed at $2 .5m .

Blacktown Council is split over the issue of the Mount Druitt pool, which seems likely to close despite a public outcry .

Blacktown Council Mayor Len Robinson used his casting vote to close the pool, saying it was losing $3m per year and a further $17m was needed for repairs .

However, some councillors including Deputy Mayor Russ Dickens want to know where the estimate for costs has come from seeing as there has been no report .

The refurbishment cost of Queensland’s Hervey Bay Aquatic Centre has reportedly grown to $1m after it was discovered the existing shell was unsuitable for pebblecrete resurfacing, and a new concrete shell will need to be poured, adding more than $200,000 to the cost . The pool is now planned to be ready in November .

Swimming clubs in the NSW town of Mudgee have provided submissions opposing the suggested restructure of one of three pools from a 50m outdoor pool to a 25m indoor pool . The aim of the draft recreation strategy proposal is to provide year-round swimming via one indoor pool .

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commercial news

Global news North Korea is reportedly showing off to the Chinese by building the country’s first water park in Sinuiju, just across the border from Dandong where cruise ships sail down the Yalu River within 30m of the “hermit kingdom” . Radio Free Asia reports the water park is being purposefully built in a position highly visible from the other side of the border, intended to impress the tourists .

Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark in Texas has been fined more than $100,000 for several worker safety violations following the death of a lifeguard in March . The 20-year-old lifeguard was pinned inside a wave generator when it was inadvertently activated, killing him and injuring a supervisor .

Meanwhile, the family of a woman who drowned in the Lazy River pool at Hurricane Harbor in 2011 is suing the park for negligence and for the emotional trauma of witnessing the accident .

Tokyo has been awarded the right to host the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020 . The Japanese capital was chosen over Istanbul and Madrid after two rounds of voting during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires .

Tokyo received 60 votes to Istanbul’s 36 in the final round, with Madrid having been eliminated in the first round after losing a tie-breaker with Istanbul .

Tokyo, which also bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, previously hosted the Games in 1964 .

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Developments

Green Square design competition The transformation of Sydney’s newest town centre is fast taking shape with approval of a major recreation project boasting a state-of-the-art indoor aquatic centre with four separate pools.

City of Sydney Councillors have approved a plan to build the Green Square Aquatic Centre along with a full-size, synthetic multi-purpose playing field at the new Gunyama Park at Zetland, near to the Green Square Town Centre.

The council will hold an architecture competition similar to one held for the Green Square Library and plaza that selected an innovative below-ground design by two young Sydney architects as the winner from 167 entries.

Architects will be asked to design an aquatic centre with a 50-metre pool, a 25-metre pool, a hydrotherapy pool and indoor water play area for children. On the same site will be a new 1.6 hectare park called Gunyama Park which will

include a children’s playground and outdoor circuit training site as well as the multi-purpose playing field.

Located just four kilometres south of the city centre, Green Square is one of the fastest growing urban redevelopment areas in the country with 53,000 people expected to be living there by 2030.

The new aquatic centre will be built on vacant land on Joynton Avenue in Zetland which was once an industrial site and will be easily accessible from the Green Square Town Centre, the city centre and the airport.

It will be connected to walking, cycling and main public transport routes, and will have underground parking for up to 100 cars.

Once the design is finalised, a development application will be lodged. Construction is expected to take at least two years, allowing the centre and park to open in 2018.

Safety

Bobby saves girl from entrapment An off-duty English police officer saved a young Norwegian girl from an entrapment incident in Croatia .

Fifty-six-year-old South London bobby, Sergeant Dave Sutton, was on holidays in Dubrovnik when his wife noticed eight-yearold Delfina Alberdi had been under the water for a long time .

Sutton dived in and realising the girl was trapped, called for scissors which he used to cut her hair free from the suction at the bottom of the pool . He dived under several times and fought against natural buoyancy to remain under the water and free the girl .

When he finally lifted her to the surface,

she had turned blue and had no pulse . Sutton carried her to the side of the pool and a staff member performed CPR .

After 10 minutes Alberdi was taken to hospital and later airlifted to another hospital in Split where she was put in an induced coma . She has since recovered .

Sutton didn’t believe she would have survived if they had waited for an ambulance before commencing CPR . When paramedics arrived, Alberdi had begun shallow breathing . He said the fact she made a full recovery is amazing and he was thrilled when he later heard from her and her family, who emailed him their effusive thanks .

commercial news

Management

Belgravia picks up more centres Belgravia Leisure has been appointed to manage the new Devonport Aquatic Leisure Centre in Tasmania and the Moss Vale Aquatic Centre in NSW, as well as being re-appointed under a new contract to manage the Annette Kellerman and Fanny Durack aquatic centres on behalf of Marrickville Council.

On the back of recently taking over the management of Victorian centres at the Lake Mountain Alpine Resort and WaterMarc Leisure Centre, Belgravia Leisure has gone through a significant period of growth.

Devonport Aquatic Leisure Centre

Anniversary

Siemens celebrates a century of water treatment Exactly 100 years ago, the first commercial gas chlorinator was produced, creating a breakthrough in the fight against waterborne disease.

It was installed in a Jersey City public drinking water system in 1913 by Wallace & Tiernan, now a Siemens Water Technologies company, revolutionising the way the world fought water-borne diseases which had killed nearly 30,000 people per year in the 1900s in the US alone.

The technology soon expanded globally and the Siemens Water Technologies Wallace

68 SPLASH! October-November 2013

& Tiernan brand of chlorinators continues to lead the market with a range of advancements to meet the needs of municipal, industrial and aquatics customers today.

Chlorination is used throughout a range of operations, including swimming pools, waterworks, power generation, sewage treatment, food processing and industrial applications.

In addition to chlorination solutions by chlorine gas, hypochlorite or chlorine dioxide, Siemens also provides membrane treatment, high-rate clarification, disinfection by-product (DBP) treatment and control

technologies as well as technical expertise to help consulting engineers, municipalities and industries clean and purify water.

Siemens Ltd commenced operations in Australia in 1872 and in New Zealand in 1876. At the end of fiscal 2012 (September 2012), Siemens interests in Australia and New Zealand achieved $AU3bn in sales with more than 3200 employees. Globally at the end of fiscal year 2012, revenue from the Environment Portfolio totalled EUR 33 billion, making Siemens the world’s largest supplier of ecofriendly technologies.

National aquatic tenders

Tenders of the month Cabonne Council

QLD

Management of Molong Swimming Pool Request for Tender Contract No . 499768 Duration: 3 years Documents are available from www .cabonne .nsw .gov .au Contact: Denis O’Brien, Urban Assets Coordinator Ph: (02) 6390 7100 Closing: Wed, 16/10/2013 at 12pm

NSW/ACT VIC/TAS WA SA/NT 0

5

10

15

20

New construction, management and maintenance tenders and EOIs for aquatic centres and commercial swimming pools for July and August 2013. Data: Cordell 1800 674 120

Ungarie Swim Centre Expressions of interest are sought to help operate the Ungarie Swim Centre in conjunction with the Leisure & Recreation Group .

Contact: Angus Westaway, General Manager Mob: 0438 406 232 Email:anguswestaway@gmail .com; www .lrgroup .com .au

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commercial feature

The big attraction: using theme park secrets to turn aquatic centres into destinations

By Jennifer Harbottle

The highly visible flumes of Watermarc’s slides alert streettraffic to the fun waiting inside

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50-metre lap pool is not the centrepiece of an aquatic centre anymore. These days, end-users expect more than five lanes and a spa pool. Unless it feels like a waterpark, visitors think it’s out-dated.

What lessons can the aquatic industry learn from the attractions market in terms of engaging end users and encouraging more secondary spend?

According to a survey by IBISWorld, Australians have around 78 hours of leisure time each week in 2013, up from 76 in 2000. While this is good news for leisure operators, the bad news is that the study also reveals what we mainly do with that spare time: cruise the internet.

Research confirms Australians spend up to 20 leisure hours each week on the internet, up 10 per cent in just two years – with social media and shop-

ping taking up most of that time. It would appear that when it comes to surfing these days, Aussies are choosing to do it in their lounge room, rather than the water.

The implications for aquatic operators is that they had better up their game if they want to tear people away from computers and compete for their leisure time. So what can aquatic operators do to entice more visitors to spend time and money with them?

“For an aquatic centre to be successful there needs to be a reason for the visitor to make the effort to go,” says Martin Sheppard, managing director of leisure consultancy, Smart Connection Company.

“Aquatic centres need to classify their target audience by market and then identify what each of those groups would like to do in their leisure time, so they can put together some smart ideas to entice them.”

Think big

According to Sheppard, aquatic operators need to start thinking big in order to compete for people’s time and money. “You’ve got to start thinking of your facility in terms of a destination rather than a short recreational activity,” he says. “Imagine if your visitors spent the whole day with you, rather than a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon? Think of the opportunities for secondary spend!”

Sheppard says the attractions industry is a good business model to get tips for running a leisure business, because it understands how to attract guests for long periods of time and generates lots of income from secondary spend.

“In order to be successful, aquatic operators need to copy theme and water parks and differentiate their product from their competitors,” he says.

“They need to build an immersive environment in the way a theme park does, creating a distance from everyday life – one that incorporates complementary activities within the centre to help drive length of stay as well as secondary spend.”

Sheppard says some aquatic facilities are already exploring the secrets of theme parks to encourage more people to frequent centres, stay longer and purchase more. He says the concept of linking the primary experience (having fun in water) to the secondary spend is all based on how long you can get a visitor to spend in your leisure facility.

In Melbourne, the new $50m Watermarc aquatic and fitness centre has invested in rides and attractions to encourage visitors to stay longer. Its

tipping bucket, water play park and Tantrum Alley waterslide rotation are all timed so that every eight to 10 minutes there is something different for visitors to do.

“Once people start viewing leisure centre pools as a day out and for celebrating milestone moments such as birthdays, rather than a venue for a quick in-and-out swim, aquatic operators will see their business becoming much more financially sustainable,” says Sheppard.

The atmposphere inside Watermarc is more like a theme park than a swimming pool

“Imagine if your visitors spent the whole day with you, rather than a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon?”

What’s in a theme?

One of the reasons attractions like theme parks and waterparks manage to engage their guests for so long is they spend money on creating a consistent theme throughout the park.

“An aquatic centre needs to capitalise on every touch-point of the visitor experience in order to be a success,” advises Sheppard.

“If you pick a theme for your centre, make sure it begins in the car park – your themed interior will work much better if your car park staff are dressed in the same theme, to engage families as soon as they arrive.”

If your members have to queue to pay, Sheppard says you’d better make sure the experience is a good October-November 2013 SPLASH! 71

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Merlin are masters at keeping the brand strong, as seen at their Legoland parks

one. “Employ a staff member to walk up and down the line entertaining the children or place coin slot games for children to play while they wait.”

Having a theme is all very well, but like theme parks and waterparks, it needs to be well executed to really immerse your guests.

“Branding is an excellent way to engage the local community in your centre, but it needs to

be more than just a costume character,” Sheppard warns. “It needs to be integrated into the design: the attractions and the program as well as the secondary spend.”

Sally Ann Wilkinson is head of corporate affairs at Merlin Entertainments, which runs four waterparks and theme parks worldwide. She says theming plays a major part in their company’s overall visitor experience.

When Merlin’s newest park opens in Malaysia at the end of this year, it will be heavily themed and branded similar to US waterparks, immersing children in the creative world of Lego.

“We’ve done that by using more than 20 Lego models including giant Lego friends who splash or spray water on guests; a centrepiece 15m Lego tower, as well as places that children can build their own Lego rafts, play in the Duplo Safari with their favourite Lego animals and also build bricks and dams out of Lego.”

Of course, theming is a big business these days – one that seems beyond the budget of many aquatic centres. But there are alternatives.

“Theming hire is an option for smaller venues if year-round theming isn’t possible,” says Sheppard, who advises running school holiday programs or one-off events targeted at specific markets to increase business during slower times.

Protect Pool, Protect Your Your Pool, Protect Kids Protect Your Your Kids View our online video showing common pool fencing faults and how to spot them at View our online video showing common pool fencing faults and how to spot them at www.kidshealth.chw.edu.au/projects/drowning-prevention/swimming-pool-fencing www.kidshealth.chw.edu.au/projects/drowning-prevention/swimming-pool-fencing

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“Build an immersive environment in the way a theme park does, creating a distance from everyday life.”

“Hire a theme for pool discos, pool film nights, fashion shows, inflatable parties or things like product launches,” he suggests.

At Legoland, Wilkinson says they regularly organise one-off events to get a spike in visitor numbers. “We often offer live entertainment, including music, jugglers and dancers, as well as running special events and parties as part of our corporate and private event offer.”

In for the ride

A new ride or attraction in your aquatic centre can also provide guests with an added reason to choose your facility. When Queensland-based Zagame’s Paradise Resort realised their guests were choosing to go elsewhere for their leisure rather than hanging out by their in-house swimming pools, they decided to take action. The Zagame family transformed

their basic aquatic area into a massive water play zone, featuring a lagoon pool, large heated spa and two waterpark attractions.

The new refurbishment made an instant impact on the business. “The new waterpark immediately gave us more space to increase our entertainment and outdoor dining experience and brought life to the area,” says sales and marketing manager Alicia

A wide variety of activity – and new activities each season – helps attract guests and keep them coming back

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Szerszyn. “Where guests would normally head out during the day, it gave them a reason to stay onsite.”

As well as seeing an increase in overall visitor numbers, special events organised poolside such as pool noodle races, footy toss, giant game boards and live character shows also encourage people to stay and eat at the resort.

Sheppard says it’s important to update rides and invest profits into a major attraction upgrade such as a new walkway to the waterslides or new water playground equipment every few years. He warns that too many leisure centres fail to plan for upgrades, whereas theme parks understand that to bring visitors back time and again, they need to see new attractions. He says the museum sector has been excellent in learning from theme parks.

Above: Every eight to 10 minutes there is something different for visitors to do at Watermarc Right: Malaysia’s Legoland is due to open later this year Top right: The Captain Quack mascot at Sunway Lagoon in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photos of guests with the mascot quickly appear on Facebook, providing free promotion

74 SPLASH! October-November 2013

Stay informed

Bringing a smile to their faces

Following a recent visit to an aquatic centre, Amanda Sutherland, marketing manager of Playscape, offered an anecdote providing insight into the benefits of waterplay areas.

It’s mid-morning . Aquarobics is on in the main pool and a dozen or so children are splashing in the wading area – enjoying the coolness of the water on an already warm day .

Then the bucket activates .

Water triggers in all directions, smiles and faces light up – and the area comes alive with the sheer joy of imagination running wild . It offers a sense of wonderment, while cultivating laughter and encouraging friendship . Waterplay areas adds colour, excitement, engagement and continuous enjoyment .

These kids will certainly want to stay longer than if it was just a wading area .

“Museums have become very good at creating major attractions that generate a repeat visit by rotating their programs every two to three months with temporary displays. Larger leisure centres could do the same, built around their busy holiday periods.”

Food and water

When it comes to getting the most out of secondary spend, theme parks and waterparks are masters at creating packages for guests that include a dining experience. By comparison, leisure centres have a reputation for delivering greasy foods over a counter, with little thought put into creating a themed or relaxing ambience.

Fraser Keegan, Manager at Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle (OPAL), says this may be because centres align themselves with a cultural expectation from the community that “chips and sauce” are a “normal” part of visiting recreation venues.

Keegan believes that with greater planning and a healthier and more nutritious menu, operators of swimming pools can see a greater dividend. “Providing a welcoming and friendly backdrop to the food service through music, lighting, furnishings, art selections and staff demeanour can encourage guests to stay longer,” he says.

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nutritious. Including a soft play area next to a café is also a good way to get parents to stay longer and spend more.

Snap to it

Retail another way to bring in important secondary spend

Having fun is the key

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“Where guests would normally head out during the day, it gave them a reason to stay onsite.”

“With a varied menu on offer, visitors will have more choice to enjoy anything from a small healthy snack to a larger nutritious main meal while they are there.”

When Whitewater World on the Gold Coast opened its park, it did a deal with the Wiggles to become the brand of its kiddie waterplay area, as well as to endorse its kids’ café, featuring healthy children’s food. While children may not always choose an apple over a burger, aligning a café with a character that promotes healthy eating is a good way to encourage little ones to eat something more

Just because your facility isn’t a theme park, doesn’t mean you can’t employ the technology used in theme parks.

According to Sheppard, digital souvenir photographs are becoming more popular in aquatic centres. “Operators now have the technology to provide almost instant prints for swimmers,” he says. “Imagine how nice it is for parents to have their children photographed at their first ever swim lesson then displayed on a screen for them to buy as they exit?”

This practice is becoming more common in swim schools in the larger aquatic centres such as at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre and also Blacktown Stanhope Leisure Centre in NSW. At Sunway Lagoon Theme Park in Malaysia, consultant director Bill Holman, says they set up “free” photo opportunities around the park, at venues like their Koi pond, their street parades and with their park mascots.

“We find these photographs appear almost instantaneously on Facebook and are a great marketing tool for the park,” he says.

Sunway Lagoon gains additional in-park revenue from guests by selling pictures taken of visitors on its rides and attractions. In addition to this, Holman says they also generate secondary spend through locker hire, tube rental, ice cream kiosks and from their in-park souvenir stores and at their two exit gift shops.

Sheppard recommends larger leisure centres should build their retail outlet as the precursor to leaving the facility, as is customary in the attractions industry.

In smaller centres however, he says retail outlets are better designed around the reception so that the food, retail and reception can be integrated, saving the expense of staff managing three separate areas.

Australia two biggest private operators, the YMCA and Belgravia Leisure, have been successful in developing integrated catering-reception-retail strategies for medium-sized centres. The YMCA also has its own brand of retail, including swimming trunks and shorts which it has integrated into mainstream retail through shops like Target. Belgravia Leisure on the other hand, has a dedicated secondary spend manager to develop strategies that maximise spend from visitors. Both organisations use these strategies to offset the cost of entrance to the pools and centres.

And if you feel like you can’t compete with people’s obsession with the internet, jump on board.

Better to have people at your centre surfing over a latte and a piece of cake in your café while their kids take a swimming lesson, than miss out on their business altogether.

Just like theme parks, set up wifi in your café and poolside, take your ticketing online and allow guests to buy your retail items from your website.

With any luck, you’ll convince even the most dry of guests to dip their toes in the water. ■

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commercial feature

The children’s pool which features the trial of Hydroxypure

Turtle Beach

hatches new concept

A

Queensland holiday resort has been trialling Waterco’s Hydroxypure chlorine-free system, and Waterco says the results have been tangible and rapid.

The award-winning Turtle Beach Resort on Queensland’s Gold Coast has four separate swimming areas including a children’s wading pool, an adult’s only pool, a lagoon pool and a lap pool as well as four spas.

With such large volumes of water, the resort’s maintenance team was faced with a number of challenges trying to maintain the pools and spas.

“The pools would often be cloudy, and the time taken up by the maintenance team to keep these pools running was very high,” says Nick Briscoe, inventor of the Hydroxypure system. “The chlorine levels had to be run very high in order to achieve clear water.”

Additionally, all the water areas were running salt chlorinators, which required regular maintenance.

A particular issue was the children’s pool, which consists of three separate bodies of water – the mushroom waterfall pool, plunge pool with waterslide and spa, and the entry water feature.

“The chorine odour from the kid’s pool was always very strong – even from the road outside,” says Briscoe. “Plus the entry water feature was always very unclean and also had a very strong chlorine odour.

“The reception area is located between the kid’s pool and the water feature, so the first thing you would notice on checking into the resort was the strong smell of chlorine.

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The Hydroxypure installation

“Manager Stephen West could see the benefit of having a chlorine-free system running in the children’s pool, and he was particularly interested in the fact Hydroxypure has the Sensitive Choice endorsement,” says Briscoe.

“He was also interested in the fact the commercial system is remotely monitored and automated.”

However, the resort was initially sceptical that it would work and that it would be approved for use by the Gold Coast Council.

Council was briefed on the Hydroxypure system prior to it being installed and it approved a six month trial with a strict testing regime. The Hydroxypure system was subsequently retrofitted to the existing pool plumbing system, but first the resort wanted to completely drain the pool and water feature and start again with fresh water in order to remove the salt. Additionally, the media filters were all changed to Waterco Glass Pearls in order to improve filtration quality.

“It really highlights the versatility of the Hydroxypure system to be retrofitted to older commercial pools,” says Briscoe. “There are many such pools which will face the same challenges, so it is important to know that the Hydroxypure system can be adapted to work on just about any hydraulic situation.”

For the six-month trial, Waterco’s Hydroxypure system was installed to the front pool area, which contains the waterslide and is the most popular pool area in the resort.

“And there is enough residential hydrogen peroxide to maintain clean water with constant filtration on the water feature,” says Briscoe.

“In addition, the waste water from the backwash cycle on the filters is now being used in the resort, and the trees and bushes are growing much faster with the use of the highly oxygenated water.”

The result has been no chlorine odour on entry to the resort, and as part of the process a large amount of water has been saved due to the installation of four Waterco MultiCyclones, which are key components of the Hydroxypure system. Backwashing frequency and duration has also been reduced.

According to the resort, the children’s pool now has a lot more traffic than previously, it’s consistently clean and the time spent maintaining the pool is significantly reduced.

“Some of the comments relate to the positive effect on children with asthma and sensitive skin,” he says. “Plus the maintenance staff have noticed most of the kids using the pool have ditched their goggles.”

Contacts: www.waterco.com.au ■

Visit the all new SPLASH! website splashmagazine.com.au

SPLASH! has reinvigorated its digital communication with a new website, redesigned newsletter and a targeted social media program.

The website has a more visual focus and includes more videos, a dedicated Asian section and is fully integrated with social media including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.

Archived editions of the magazine are downloadable (apart from the current edition) in a new interactive format, making them easier to peruse.

Go to splashmagazine.com.au and have a look.

Always stay in touch with SPLASH!

new products

Euro pool of the year is the stuff of steel

Since 2011, Flolux has been impressing pool owners and designers with its Australian designed stainless steel underwater fittings . Now, they have been featured in Europe’s and the UK’s Pool of the Year as well as on super yachts, Singaporean, Spanish and Caribbean hotels and a growing list of award-winning Australian, European, New Zealand and American residential concrete pools and spas .

The range includes the FloJet, FloSafe, FloAir, FloAirControl, FloFloor and the Flolux Dress Ring .

Now the FloJet is also available with threaded backings to complement any fiberglass pool, making it the only stainless steel return-jet/eyeball for fiberglass pools in Australia .

Contact: www .flolux .com; 1300 FLOLUX

Wall mounted barbie

Australia’s first wall-mounted electric barbecue has become a big hit for Arisit Appliances .

The all-weather Smart Wall-Mount electric barbecue was recently featured on Channel 9’s popular renovating show, The Block Sky High .

Encased in a marine-grade stainless steel housing, the Wall-Mount has twin elements which you can grill straight onto . It comes with a cover, is easy to keep clean and folds away when not in use Contact: www .arisit .com

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The Zen of rock

This elliptical, Zen-like planter would be a stylish, understated addition to any poolside garden . At 1400mm wide, it can hold its own in a formal landscape as well as fitting into a more relaxed garden setting . It is particularly effective as a home for clean-shaped plants without too much heavy foliage, as shown here .

It is hand-crafted, charcoal textured and complementary with either light or dark paving, as well as mulch or lawn .

Contact: www .waterfeaturesdirect .com .au

Look like timber, but it’s actually tile

Amber’s innovative Atelier collection combines the unrivalled reliability of porcelain with the aesthetic appeal of timber . Purpose-designed for use both inside and outside the home, the Atelier collection brings the style and character of Italy to any home environment .

“In a nutshell, it provides the best of both worlds,” says Amber’s tile specialist Kate Lane . “The Atelier collection has perfectly reproduced the visual characteristics of timber in a tile that is affordable and suitable for all areas of the family home .”

Contact: ambertiles .com .au

Carefree swimming with Narellan

Narellan Pools through its new partnerships (see p20) has harnessed the healing powers of magnesium to release the Mineral Pool, a water option designed to improve swimmers health and wellbeing .

Narellan is now also offering AquaHydraulics: the “engine” of the pool consisting of the sanitation unit, pump and filter .

Narellan is offering the complete pool package as they know clients prefer to focus on their dream pool without being overwhelmed by equipment choices .

Narellan is so confident in its water options that it has done more than just put its name to them: Narellan is now the only swimming pool manufacturer offering an exclusive replacement guarantee for the life of the warranty . There will be no repairs or re-repairs, Narellan will simply replace the item with a new one .

Contact: www .narellanpools .com .au

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new products

Three’s never a crowd

The Trinity hammock won the innovation award at the 2013 Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas, with judges saying its triple-hammock concept rethinks the traditional use of hammocks, making it a social activity .

The Trinity concept is composed of a stainless steel tubular structure on which three hammocks are suspended, along with a small suspended teak table . It’s a weatherproof piece of furniture that goes just as well on the beach as in the backyard or at poolside . Its shape, materials, and sense of lightness are inspired by the sea and sailboats . Both its size and design make it just as well suited to the hospitality industry as to residential uses .

Contact: www .trinityhammocks .com

Sunbather joins the app age

Sunbather has released an iPad app to show customers the true cost of heating their pools . The app was developed over an 18 month period, with Sunbather saying the concept was initiated to dispel misinformation about heating pool costs .

Sunbather are happy to provide demonstrations of the app, which is capable of clearly explaining the benefits of solar to clients – backed up by facts and calculations supported and cross-referenced by the UNSW .

Using the app you can: • Compare the real running costs of solar, gas and heat pumps • Calculate how much you will save on your heating bills, and how much warmer your pool will be by adding a pool cover • Accurately size systems to suit a client’s particular pool and desired swimming temperature • Enter pool location, shading, wind, roof types, desired swim temperatures etc to achieve accurate results • Quote multiple solar systems, pool covers, gas heaters and heat pumps

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• Calculate correct pump sizes based on site conditions, pipe sizes etc • Accept quotes on the spot, take credit card deposits, signatures, and email accepted contracts to clients along with warranty information Contact: www .sunbather .com .au; 1800 228 437 .

Pool Builders

Looking for a way to differentiate your business & gain a competitive advantage?

Stanley enters the Aussie pool market

One of the world’s most recognisable brands – iconic tool maker Stanley – has released a range of pool accessories into the Australian market .

Stop spending your energy converting a customer from what they really want to a standard mass-produced off-the-shelf pool.

Break free of the mould and consider a pre-engineered stainless steel Albatross pool today!

Stanley been making tools since 1843 and provides high quality products to professionals and consumers . The brand is synonymous with quality and reliability .

An Albatross pool provides you with the flexibility to cater for any client!

The PoolTec range of pool and spa maintenance tools has been available in the US for many years, and is now available in Australia exclusively from Lincoln Pool Equipment .

For well over 40 years Albatross Pools have been producing award winning swimming pools, which can be built to almost any shape, size and depth.

The products are made to the highest standards to ensure long life and the packaging is first class to support the quality of the range . As an example, the brush range has cast aluminium handles to ensure maximum strength and long life .

The range covers all items in the category including brushes, leaf skimmers and rakes, vacuums and hoses, water treatment tools and accessories . All products have been designed to include Australian style female pole fittings . Contact Lincoln for a brochure .

Contact: www .linc .com .au; (03) 9580 9016 .

The new innovative heavy-gauge stainless steel construction is a completely self supporting structure making an Albatross pool ideal for difficult and sloping sites - all backed with an extensive 20 year warranty!

From lap pools to unique freeform shapes, an Albatross pool is easy to build, has extremely low transport costs and comes with a guaranteed order turnaround time of 7 days.

For further details on how Albatross Pools can help you differentiate your business and gain a competitive advantage with a pre-engineered stainless steel pool, contact Head Office on (03) 9870 3011, email pools@albatrosspools.com.au or visit www.pools.com.au.

Accurate temperature control

ThermoPlus says their pool heat pumps are economical and the components provide an excellent cost-to-quality ratio . They also have high level resistance to corrosion thanks to the UV-protected ABS housing and the titanium tube heat exchanger .

The specially designed controller provides better temperature control, being able to measure the pool temperature to a tenth of a degree .

There are seven models from 5kW to 26kW with other capacities available on request .

A L BAT R O S S P O O L S Family Pool Builders Since 1969

www.pools.com.au

21 Summer Lane Ringwood, VIC 3134 T. (03) 9870 3011

Contact: www .heatpumpsystems .com .au; 0438 424 997 October-November 2013 SPLASH!

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new products

Easy dosing with just a twist

Zodiac has launched an innovative new pool chemical dosing system called Twist & Dose .

Designed to make pool health easy, this new customer-friendly system is intended to boost sales in chemicals, increase store traffic and improve customer satisfaction .

A revolutionary new idea in measuring and dosing, the Twist & Dose encourages pool owners to increase water testing at home, in between pool shop visits, creating the need for test strip refills and more regular chemical dosing .

Twist & Dose tests three key parameters of pool water: Total Alkalinity, pH level and Free Chlorine . Just twist each of the three yellow rings starting from the top to match the colour of the Twist & Dose 3-in-1 test strip pad with the colour for Total Alkalinity, pH and Free Chlorine .

Then turn around the Twist and simply read the dosages of Zodiac Twist & Dose chemicals to add to the water for a healthy pool .

When one or more of the three key parameters are a long way out of normal range, the Twist recommends the end-user get professional advice at their local Zodiac pool shop – yet another customer touch-point for dealers .

Contact: www .zodiac .com .au; 1800 688 552

IN-GROUND POOL COVER STORAGE

The Cleardeck advantage: • Quick and easy single person operation • Blanket extends and retracts in one minute • Blanket is totally invisible when not in use and stores out of sight • Reduces evaporation • Easily installed in any new and most existing pools of any size or shape • Can be installed in any type of deck material • No motors, tracks, cables or pulleys Tel: 08 9408 0955 Fax: 08 9408 0944 Web: www.cleardecksystems.com.au E-mail: sales@waterblade.com.au

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2013 • 2014

1-21 Monash Drive, Dandenong South, Vic 3175 Australia National Customer

Service:

New Zealand National Customer

Service:

National Dealer Locator: Email: Web: International Australia/N

Phone: 0800 654 112 Fax: 0800 806 642 Phone: 0800 664 269 nz.sales@pentair.com www.pentairpool.co.au

ew Zealand Phone: +61 3 9709 5800 Fax: +61 3 9709 5888 au.globalsales@pentair .com

Email:

AUSTRALIA

L300228 A0813

Phone: 1300 137 344 Fax: 1800 006 688 Phone: 1800 664 266 au.sales@pentair.com www.pentairpool.com. au

PRODUCT CATALOGUE

National Dealer Locator: Email: Web:

© Information contained publication, modification here-in remains the property of Pentair Pty Ltd. or distribution Pentair Pty Ltd. Any reproduction,d is strictly prohibited isplay, without the prior written permission Disclaimer: Pentair of All product images reserves the right to change product specifications are for reference product. purposes only and products details. and may not represent actual and/or current

Pentair_PPG_20

13_AU_cover.in

2013 ∙ 2014

PRODUCT

CATALOGUE A U S T R A L I A

PENTAIR AQUATIC SYSTEMS

dd 1

Copyright © Pentair

Australia Pty Ltd

2013

16/08/2013 9:50:50 AM

Bricks of steel

PGH’s stunning new Urban Metal collection features bricks with fully glazed metallic finishes that literally shimmer with sophistication . The finishes give beautiful variations in colour as the light hits the surface in different ways and at different times .

These ultra-modern bricks are available to use internally or externally and can brave the elements without losing their metallic colour or shine . The Urban Metal collection includes four fully glazed metallic finishes: Bronze Sheen, Copper Lustre, Silver Spark and Zinc Shimmer .

Contact: www .pghbricks .com .au; 131 579

First Aussie catalogue for Pentair

For the first time, Pentair has introduced a complete and comprehensive Aquatics Pool Products catalogue for Australia/New Zealand . It is similar in layout and design to the Pentair US catalogue but is specific to the Australian/NZ Market .

Also for the first time, the catalogue has separate section for spare parts with exploded views of each product, including part numbers .

There will be a new edition every year with new products included as they are released .

Go to splashmagazine .com .au for a link to a digital version of the catalogue .

Contact: www .pentairwater .com .au

Premium Australian Pebble WHEN QUALITY AND COLOUR MATTER…….

Master Pebble manufacture a range of pebble and sand products suitable for a wide range of industries.

All pebbles and sand are washed & dried, bacteria free and environmentally friendly.

Various sizes of 1, 2, 3 ,4, 5, 7 and 10mm.

Product is carefully sorted by colour and graded in size, and is available in a choice of 8 and 20 kg bags, Bulka bags and in bulk.

Able to transport anywhere in Australia with non-returnable pallets.

AVAILABLE IN ■ Bush Honey ■ Desert Rose ■ Ghost Gum White ■ Sunset Gold

Master Pebble Pty Ltd 2, 3 & 4 Wills Road, Emerald QLD 4720 | Phone: 07 4987 5178 | Fax: 07 4982 2758 Email info@masterpebble.com.au

October-November 2013 SPLASH! master pebble_final.indd 1

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1

new products

Your new best mate

Lovibond has released AquaMATE, a software tool for pool operators to measure pool parameters, analyse the results and propose the recommended treatments . It is also suitable for domestic and public pools .

Customisable for up to 9999 customers and 99 pools per customer, AquaMATE is designed to enhance the functionality of the Lovibond PM 600/620 photometers, analysing all the essential pool parameters required for balanced water . Once the analysis has been made, the software then automatically tries to “restore” the water’s balance; recommending the required chemical dosing to bring the water as close as possible to zero on the Langelier Saturation Index .

Contact: www .lovibond .com

Low maintenance chlorinator

Salt water chlorination eliminates the need to manually add chlorine on a daily basis, making it the most popular method of pool sanitation in Australia today .

The Puraflo premium salt water chlorinator is manufactured in Australia to high-end design specifications using top quality components and premium electrodes . The smart technology used in Puraflo’s in-built micro-computer delivers an intelligent and responsive system that’s efficient, reliable and easy to operate . The Puraflo maintains the required chlorine output levels by dynamically tracking your settings .

Built for Australian conditions with a compact and robust design, it comes with a self-cleaning cell as standard .

Contact: 1300 677 100; www .newlineproducts .com .au

Over 80 Artisan Water Features Available

Premier Designer & Manufacturer of Artisan Water Features & Specialty Fountain Accessories

www.FountainsUnique.com Connect with us

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New outdoor textiles

Innova’s new textile collections from France’s Serge Ferrari and Spain’s Sauleda have arrived in Australia to satisfy heightened demand for higher performance outdoor fabrics with superior aesthetic appeal .

These new collections incorporate attractive single-toned, striped and diverse textured effects . They can be colour-coordinated or contrasted across different fabric constructions for specific outdoor applications .

Soft, elegant neutral colours with eye-catching textures and patterns predominate .

Strong accent and quirky colour and pattern combinations also feature .

The Outdoor Shade Collection provides exceptional solar protection, value for money and includes 100 per cent Texyloop recyclable ranges .

Contact: www .innova .com .au; (03) 9551 8722

Safety

Telecomms

Environmental

EMC/Wireless

• • •

PRODUCT TESTING AND APPROVAL

• • • • •

ACCRE DITE D

• •

Alarms

MEPS

Approvals

Electrical Safety testing of household, commercial, IT and industrial products Telecommunications testing of 3G and 4G devices Environmental Testing including UV, Corrosion, Vibration, Temp and Humidity Wireless Device testing to ACMA, FCC and European requirements Alarm system testing to AS/NZS 2201 and AS 4607 Energy Efciency (MEPS) testing of swimming pool pumps, power supplies etc RCM approval certicates in accordance with ERAC and EESS requirements Safety testing to AS/NZS 60335.2.109 for UV radiation water treatment LED Lighting Testing and Approvals for IPART and VEET On and Off Grid Inverter testing for Clean Energy Council requirements

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new products

Bavarian relaxation

Domo has introduced the exclusive Solpuri furniture range to Australian shores .

Solpuri has emerged as a leader in innovative outdoor furniture in Europe, featuring a selection of timeless, ergonomically designed tables, daybeds, chairs and accessories that provide an extension of indoor living spaces .

Through collaborations with renowned German designers including Klaus Nolting, Karsten Weigel and Dutch creative Hugo de Ruiter, Solpuri has created iconic pieces including the prized Lagoon daybed .

Solpuri combines German design sensibility with quality craftsmanship, delivering unique pieces built to withstand the extreme Australian weather conditions .

Contact: www .domo .com .au

Clean decks in a jiffy

Poolside decks and paving need to be kept clean of grime and slippery mould . This new pressure cleaner from Karcher is priced for the consumer, small enough for anyone to handle, yet powerful enough to do a variety of jobs, keeping decks and paving in tip top shape to washing the car .

The K2 .180 is a lightweight, high-pressure device pumping out a whopping maximum pressure of 1595 PSI . Weighing in at just 4 .7kgs, pressure cleaning jobs are no longer reserved for the body-builder of the household .

The K2 .180 comes complete with an integrated fine mesh water filter, dirt blaster and four-metre high-pressure hose for all those far away, hard to reach spots around the home . It also features an ergonomically designed handle for effortless transport, and large wheels to help manoeuvre with ease .

There is a wide range of various accessories available to accompany the K2 .180, leaving no job too daunting to tackle . With the four-metre extension lance, power scrubber, under-body cleaner, and a variety of brushes, this is the all-in-one pressure cleaner for the spring cleaning season .

Of particular interest is the double-wide spray nozzle for cleaning paving twice as fast .

Contact: www .karcher .com .au

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GOOGLE SWIMSPOTS APP.

INTRODUCING THE SWIMSPOTS APP! FIND & COMPARE POOLS NEARBY….

Want to quickly locate rehabilitation, lap swimming or just a pool to relax?

SWIMSPOTS MAKES IT EASY!

This app is perfect for the busy executive, athlete, working professional or anyone looking to locate swimming facilities quickly to maximise every opportunity.

Rock solid substrate

Permarock is a solid, engineered wall-lining made from inorganic aggregated cement embedded with coated glass fibre mesh that is 100 per cent water resistant, making it an ideal tile substrate .

It is also impact resistant and has good sound insulation, important considerations for indoor swimming pool areas . Minimising the risk of the ceiling lining being affected by moisture, causing movement and cracked joints is another advantage .

http://swimspots.com.au/

Seen here is a tiling sample laid over the plasterboard in a bathroom environment .

Contact: 1300 724 505; knaufplasterboard .com .au

Accurate pool shop water testing in just 60 seconds LaMotte’s breakthrough WaterLink Spin® will revolutionise how you do your pool shop water testing.

No longer do you have to sacrifice accuracy for speed.

The laboratory-grade photometer allows you to analyse a sample of pool water in just 60 seconds.

•

Going for the soft touch

The City of Sydney has made a long-term investment in PolySoft surfacing, recognising its strong safety record, low maintenance and minimised environmental impact – with particles being 100 per cent recyclable and 100 per cent Australian-made .

The latest location to utilise PolySoft is the recently refurbished Prince Alfred Park Pool in the inner city .

As part of the commitment to best practice and sustainability, PolySoft’s innovative softfall surfacing and strong properties in versatility, durability, safety and design, prompted its application in the pool facelift, for a lively splash pad and embankment slide .

Contact: 1300 308 037

• • •

Spend less time testing water and more time talking to customers.

Print reports with results and recommendations using your chemicals.

Do a more comprehensive analysis with 10 different dif parameters instead of the usual six.

Three simple tests, no messy preparation means less operator error, with very little training required.

Contact us now for more information on (02) 9450 0466 or info@vendart.com.au for more information.

Distributed exclusively by Vendart Pty Ltd PO Box 451 Pymble NSW 2073 Ph 02 9450 0466 Fax 02 9450 0755 www.vendart.com.au October-November 2013 SPLASH!

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Evolution Water & Lighting Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Focus Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .OBC Fountains Unique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Hayward Pool Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC

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Heliocol Solar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 International Quadratics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 36 Lincoln Pool Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 43

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Lo-Chlor Chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Master Pebble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Maytronics Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 69 Newline Pool Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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Remco Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Rheem Australia/Raypak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 SPASA (Alliance) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 SPASA Victoria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Sunbather Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Supreme Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Swimart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Swimspots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Vendart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 WaterBlade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Waterco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 67 Westmead Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Zeolite Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Zodiac Group Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 55

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AUSTRALIA’S LEADING POOL BUILDERS CHOOSE PARAMOUNT IN-FLOOR CLEANING SYSTEMS

Image courtesy of Coastal Pools & Spas

Paramount In-Floor Cleaning Systems offer you and your customers the perfect cleaning solution when working together to create the perfect outdoor oasis. Astonish your clients with the incredible effectiveness of an in-floor cleaning and circulation system.

Create a vanishing edge, add bar stools, benches, swim-outs and spas to your favourite pool design. Our systems will clean any pool you design every day.

Pool-Water Products | P: 03 9873 5055 F: 03 9873 4746 | Email: info@poolwaterproducts.com.au Web: www.poolwaterproducts.com.au