Buying a swimming pool can be a really exciting experience, but if you want to be sure that you remain happy with your choices for years to come, it pays to put yourself in the shoes of a pool owner rather than a pool buyer.

What to consider when buying a swimming pool

When buying a swimming pool there are natural and obvious things to think about. Careful consideration should go into important aspects like:

• Shape
• Size
• Colour
• Location in backyard
• Salt vs Chlorine
• Lighting
• Price

Although these seem like the most important considerations, truth be told, these factors become less important to you once the pool is in the ground and the novelty has worn off.

Ask any pool owner who has an inkling of dissatisfaction with and they usually say things like:

• “We don’t use it as much as we would have liked”
• “The kids never clean it so it’s just another job for me”
• “It costs more than I thought it would to run”
• “We’ve had to do a bit more pool maintenance than we’d like”
• “It doesn’t look as good as it used to”

In other words; what matters to you most once the pool is in the ground, is often different to what matters to you most when you are choosing which pool to buy.

With that said, here’s a few things you might like to think about when weighing up your options:

What does life look like for you as a pool owner?

Most of the people we talk to, tell us that their dream of having a pool looks like enjoying fun and relaxing times with friends and family. In fact, the picture people most often describe is resort style living at home. Before making your choice, it’s a good idea to get an understanding of what time,effort and cost might be required from you from a pool maintenance point of view.

If you find yourself having to regularly clean your pool, or prepare it for swimming before jumping in each time, will you end up using it less than you envisaged?

This is where a self-cleaning system like Vantage can come in handy. The pool is always clean. There is almost no need to manually vacuum. There’s no mucking about with pool cleaners and you never have to do any work before you swim!

What will you really be using the pool for?

Spend some time considering what you’ll use the pool for. Is it exercise, casual relaxing swims, or fun and games? Knowing how you’ll spend your time in the pool will help you chose the right shape and will go a long way to ensuring you use the pool more!

How important is it that running costs and pool maintenance costs are kept low?

The ongoing costs associated with running your pool can become a bug-bear for some people – the good news is that if you think about it during the process of buying a swimming pool you can make choices that keep your pool maintenance and running costs to an absolute minimum.

There tend to be three cost centres when it comes to swimming pool ownership:

1. Electricity to run your pumps/filtration equipment (and heating systems if applicable)
2. Chemicals to keep your pool water balanced and safe to swim in
3. Maintenance to keep your pool looking like new

Arguably, the most important factor that influences the above cost centres is pool filtration. Put simply, the better your circulation system, the less it costs to run your pool.

When a pool is fully circulated from top to bottom, you do not experience stratification of the water (this is where you get a layer of warm water at the top and colder water beneath). Instead, all water is properly mixed meaning the warmer surface water is mixed with the colder deep water and bug cleaning agents are thoroughly mixed throughout the pool. Highly circulated pools have a more even water temperature, use less chemicals and lose less heat. The Compass Vantage system, for example, reduces chemical consumption by approximately half of what you would expect to use on a standard eyeball and skimmer (traditional) pool filtration system.

Another good way to reduce ongoing pool running costs is to consider the equipment you use on your pool. These days pool management equipment is more advanced than ever.

Energy efficient pumps can dramatically cut electricity consumption, but it is important that you remember these pumps run at lower speeds and can compromise circulation. If you opt for an energy efficient pump you should always couple it with an enhanced circulation and pool filtration system. This will help to ensure that you keep costs low without compromising water quality.

Smart chemical dosing systems also help to reduce the time and cost involved with looking after a pool. Salt chlorinators, pH monitoring systems and automated chlorine feeders can take away the leg work and ensure your pool maintains the right chemical balance.

Another thing to consider in this regard, is the quality of your equipment. If you end up with under-spec’d gear, then everything becomes harder to manage. If your pumps are too small or your filter is inadequate, then your pool will be at higher risk of going green which will cost you more in the long run. Similarly, cheap gear might save you money now, but if you are constantly repairing or replacing equipment you will have regrets!

And on the topic of long-term maintenance; make sure you do your homework. Concrete and Vinyl liner pools tend to require regular maintenance like re-surfacing and re-lining. Most fibreglass pools require very little maintenance other than simple cleaning and water balance management.

What will your pool be like 2, 5 even 10 years from now?

One thing we like to remind people of, is that we actually spend more time looking at our pools than we do swimming in them! Your pool will become a major visual feature of your home and it should be enjoyed year-round.

All pools look great at the beginning of their lifetime, but not all will stand the test of time. It pays to do some research so that you can satisfy yourself that what you buy today will still look great well into the future.

Ask about cosmetic and structural warranties and then look for product reviews to ensure you are buying a quality product. Did you know that every single Compass Pool is made with strict quality control conditions to ensure we can offer a pool that lasts a lifetime?

Each and every pool is allocated a unique number tracked throughout the build process right down to the tiniest detail. This helps us ensure that every pool that leaves the factory will perform as we promise!

Will your pool be attractive to the next owners when you sell your home?

It always pays to consider how your pool will impact on the sale of your home when the time comes to move on. The more a potential buyer sees the pool as an asset (and not a liability) the better the chances of your pool contributing to a higher sale price.

Here’s some tips to ensure your pool is attractive to the next people:

1. Consider how they will use it – choose a size and shape that appeals to the masses.
2. Keep running costs low – the cheaper a pool is to run the more people like it.
3. Take the hard work away – the less time and energy the pool requires the happier people feel about owning it.
4. Remove the risk – look for a pool with solid warranties that can be passed on to the new owners!

Summary

To sum up I’ll leave you with this thought:

The average pool buyer ends up having their pool for 10 years (120 months). The process of buying and installing a swimming pool takes up only a few of those months. Yes, you have to get the basic obvious stuff right. But if you really want to maximise the value of your pool and be totally satisfied that you have made the right choice you need to think about the factors that will impact your enjoyment for the remaining  months after you buy the pool!

If you would like some guidance through the decision-making process, then get in touch with your local Compass Pools dealer. Our pool consultants can take a look at your backyard and then sit with you and discuss what is really important to you. They will then make recommendations so that you end up with a setup that is right for you. The best part is that it is free and there is absolutely no obligation or expectation for you to buy a pool…so why wouldn’t you?

Introducing Salt Chlorinators

Salt chlorination is the most popular form of pool sanitation today. When you install a salt water pool, you are getting a chlorinated pool without the hassle of having to lug home drums of chlorine or using commercial chlorine which contains other products which can cause problems. A salt water pool makes owning a clean pool easy. When the system is also automated, you can be sure the chlorine needs are matched to the pool needs and that the pH levels are kept in balance as well. To find out more, phone us at Compass Pools on 1300 667 445.

Video transcription: 

Anthony Cross: I’d like to introduce Gary Walters. Garry works as a contractor for Compass Pools retail business in New South Wales. Gary is a specialist pool technician. His specialty is water chemistry. Gary also has a job with a WA based equipment company called Pool Controls. Pool Controls specializes in providing a form of sanitising system that is very popular around the country servicing pool builders and the pool industry in general. Gary is here to talk to us today about his favourite subject. That is right, isn’t it?

Gary Walters: That’s right.

Anthony Cross: So on the subject of chlorination or pool sanitation, it’s my understanding that the majority of pools built today and sold today are set up as salt water pools. Would you agree with that?

Gary Walters: Yes, that’s right, probably around the 80% to 90% mark I suppose would be using salt chlorination.

Anthony Cross: Sure, that’s obviously very effective, a tried and tested system. What would you say that the main benefits of the salt water system are compared to other forms of sanitation?

Gary Walters: It’s probably ease of use. You’re not lugging big drums of chemicals home. It’s fairly easy to look after. As you said, the system has been around a long while and is tried and proven.

Anthony Cross: I actually think it’s an Australian invention, the salt water chlorinator, isn’t it?

Gary Walters: I’m not sure on that. You’ve got me on that one.

Traditional Pool Chlorinators

Anthony Cross: Yes it is. It was commercialised by a company called Monarch in Perth quite a few years ago. It’s taken over the world. An interesting part of the story with salt water chlorination is that not ever customer realises what they’re getting when they ask for a salt water pool. What are they getting?

Gary Walters: Basically, you’re getting a chlorinated pool. It’s just an easier system of producing the chlorine without having to lug home drums of chlorine or a lot of commercial chlorine or dry chlorine products which contain other components which can cause a problem. This can be a problem with an increase of hardness or high stabiliser levels. With a salt chlorinated system you don’t have those issues.

Anthony Cross: Effectively the salt water which is what you’re aware of when you’re swimming in the pool, the salt is there to allow a chemical reaction to occur inside the saltwater chlorinator itself, if I understand it correctly. That is making chlorine. So that is making the sanitizing agent that is responsible for keeping your pool water clean.

Gary Walters: That is correct. You have a very low salt water residual in the pool. It’s a very low level, nothing like seawater. The salt is used in a process of electrolysis to produce the chlorine from the chlorinator cell. It’s a regenerative process so the salt doesn’t get used up in the process. It’s returned to the pool at the end of the process.

Chlorination of Public Pools

Anthony Cross: I guess one of the reasons some customers, pool owners, future pool owners are worried about having a chlorine pool and therefore they ask for a salt pool, is they have experiences at the local public pool. There can often be a strong chlorine smell; it’s quite obvious what product is being used in those commercial environments. What would you say is essentially the difference between that situation in the commercial pool versus how a salt water chlorinator works in a residential pool?

Gary Walters: There’s probably not a lot of difference in the end product going into the pool. A lot of the time the problem with the smell you get in a lot of those pools is due to incorrect chlorination, or insufficient chlorination. It’s not necessarily caused by the chlorine, it’s caused by chloramines or the by products of the process.

Anthony Cross: So we’re not necessarily smelling chlorine. We might think we’re smelling chlorine but we’re smelling a by-product.

Gary Walters: That’s right. You’re smelling the gases or the by-products that come off the pool via the chlorination process. A correctly chlorinated pool will have very little odour. You shouldn’t be able to smell much chlorine at all or a very low level. It’s a bit like chlorine that is in your tap water. If you taste it, it’s probably at an incorrect level. So it brings you down to controlling the correct amount or adding the correct amount of chlorine to the pool.

Anthony Cross: Gary, I said earlier that you work for company called Pool Controls in WA which make a range of pool equipment. One of that company’s main items is a saltwater chlorinator. But it is not your everyday saltwater chlorinator, is it? What can you say about it?

Gary Walters: Pool Controls’ background is more in automated pool control equipment. Initially it started with chemical control, automated systems that dose the pool according to the chlorine demand. We’ve taken that one step further and incorporated it with a saltwater chlorination system.

The problem with a lot of conventional saltwater systems is you turn the dial and you put a set amount of chlorine in the pool everyday. The pool’s chlorine demand will change from day to day depending on whether it is a hot day, a rainy day or whether you’ve got ten people swimming in the pool or no one swimming in the pool.

The problem with a conventional saltwater chlorinator is you set the output and it will dose the same every day, regardless of the usage in the pool.

Anthony Cross: That is what is commonly called an unregulated system.

Gary Walters: It’s not an automated system. It’s regulated but it’s regulated by you adjusting the output on the system. It’s not regulated by the demand on the pool.

Anthony Cross: So it’s manual versus automatic.

Gary Walters: That’s right. We’ve taken that one step further and incorporated it into a fully automated system. The system while it’s running tests the pool continuously and doses chlorine according to the demand on the pool. So on a hot day with heavy use, you’ll need more chlorine and the system will produce that via the salt chlorinator. On a cloudy day or in the middle of winter, your chlorine demand will be greatly reduced and the system will adjust to cope with that.

Anthony Cross: I guess that makes the whole job of the pool owner a lot easier. At the end of the day, the water is always at that right level.

Gary Waters: That’s right, it is easier and a lot more accurate. So you’ve got better control of the water chemistry. It’s safer for the pool users because you do have the correct amount of sanitizer in there to keep the water healthy. It also protects and extends the life of your pool shell and your pool equipment.

Anthony Cross: So there are a lot of advantages in having and maintaining that correct chlorine level which I think is referred to as a residual.

Gary Walters: That’s right definitely. It extends the life of the equipment and also saves money. The better you can maintain your pool, the fewer chemicals, the cheaper or the less expensive it is to run in the long term.

Anthony Cross: Sure, so over the years the saltwater chlorinator has become a dominant force in swimming pool sanitation. Then I guess in more recent years, companies like Pool Controls have come along and worked out ways to automate the system so that you’re matching the chlorine needs to the pool needs.

Gary Walters: That’s correct.

Factors Affecting Chlorine Demand

Anthony Cross: It is affected by more factors, isn’t it?

Gary Walters: There are a lot of factors that affect the chlorine demand on the pool. As I said, it will change greatly from day to day. It’s not really something where you can set a dial and hope for the best. The trouble with the conventional system is most of the time you’re guessing how much chlorine you need for the pool and probably eighty percent of the time you’re guessing wrong. You’re either over chlorinating or under chlorinating. The automated system that we’re using takes the guesswork out of that and the system does all that work for you.

Anthony Cross: Some of the other recent trends are things like energy efficient pumps. These days, for the last few years at least, there has been a big push for pools to be set up with energy efficient filter pumps and so forth. Obviously that’s about saving money, running the pump at a lower speed.

That can cause problems though, can’t it? At the end of the day, if you’re running a lower speed pump and you’re running it potentially for more hours of the day, if you don’t have an automatic type controller type system, you’re having to manually adjust the output of the controller.

Gary Walters: That’s right. If you’re extending the run times, your conventional chlorinator is adding so much per hour regardless of where you’re running the pool.

Anthony Cross: So the pump might be slower with these energy efficient pumps but the chlorine generator, saltwater generator is still making the same amount of chlorine per hour.

Gary Walters: That’s right, unless you physically turn the output down, it’s still putting out the same amount of chlorine. So you can end up with issues of over-chlorination in the pool, bleaching of pool shell equipment, toys, clothing, all those sorts of things.

Anthony Cross: The other factor I guess is an increased use of pool covers or pool blankets particularly during winter. A pool is generally not used in Australia in winter, so in a lot of cases a pool blanket is used to cover that over. Saltwater chlorinators will continue to make chlorine if they’re not an automatic system.

Gary Walters: That’s right. You’ll see a lot of covers will start to bleach fairly quickly, go white, separate, flake away. That is usually a sign on over -chlorination. Again, with the automated system that we’re using, it will take account of that and automatically reduce the chlorine output so you don’t end up with over –chlorination in a pool where you’ve put a cover on for winter.

Anthony Cross: So it really is about making the job of the home owner a lot easier, protecting the equipment and reducing your overall costs.

Gary Cross: That’s right. As you said, it prolongs the life of the pool. A pool is a fairly long term investment, so you want to maximise its life and get the best value out of it. By having an automated controller, that is going to greatly help.

Anthony Cross: There is a second half to the automated controller that Pool Controls provide and that Compass Pools are a principal user of. I know that we use your product on all of our pools in Newcastle and I know a lot of our other dealers around the country also find it’s a great product to include with our pools. The other side is the pH control side, isn’t it?

Gary Walters: That’s right. pH control is very important to optimise the effectiveness of the chlorine. As your pH changes, the effectiveness of the chlorine will either be reduced or enhanced. Most times it will be reduced because as you add chlorine you get a gradual pH rise. So unless you’re controlling that pH in the pool, you can get to the point where you can have quite a high chlorine level, but if your pH is also high, that chlorine isn’t doing anything for you. So again, automating the pH control to keep the pH neutral in the pool maximises the efficiency of the chlorine. Again it comes back to cost savings, effective use of the pool and effective use of the chemicals.

Anthony Cross: As you said, the pH control requires the addition of acid. Acid is a regularly used part of the chemical treatment of a swimming pool. This is really just taking one more thing away from the management of the home owner, the pool owner or the service technician.

Gary Walters: That’s right. It’s correctly dosing a bit more regularly. Your typical owner would probably only get their water checked maybe once a month. If they’re lucky, they might look at the pool once a week and add a bit of acid. But with an automated system it’s adding the acid as required. So if you need it every second day, third day, fourth day, the system will automatically dose that.

Anthony Cross: That’s all going to again, just like the chlorine demand, depend on the environmental conditions. If it’s been raining, if there is a lot of sun, if there has been a lot of use of the pool, a high bather load, all those factors will affect both the chlorine and the pH, won’t they?

Gary Walters: Yes. Rain can have a big effect on the pH of pool water. The chlorinator is probably the main thing that causes the pH change, chlorine naturally being a fairly high pH. So in summer when you’re adding a lot of chlorine, you’re getting more pH, or more potential for pH rise. So you need to add acid a bit more regularly than you would in winter. So again the automated system takes care of that. A manual addition of acid isn’t a very accurate way to control the pool.

Less Chemicals in Your Swimming Pool

Anthony Cross: I understand that the automated system that we’re talking about here will actually result in less chemical usage, including less acid, by these regular daily adjustments

Gary Walters: That’s right. You’re keeping a more constant controlled level in the pool, both of your chlorine and your pH. So water chemistry being all linked together, the more stable your pH can be, the fewer additional chemicals you need. If you’re getting massive rises and troughs in the chlorine and pH, you’ll have more trouble maintaining the pool and there will be more additional chemicals needed to control it.

Anthony Cross: So it really looks after the two main factors in having a good quality healthy water environment, looking after the sanitiser,chlorine, and it’s looking after the acid side of things which controls pH.

Gary Walters: That’s right. They’re the two things that rapidly change in the pool from day to day or even hour to hour. So an automated system is the best way to control those. A manual test once a week really isn’t sufficient to try and control the pool and adjust chlorine and pH levels with a conventional system.

Anthony Cross: There is still a little bit of input required from either the pool owner or the pool service technician.

Gary Walters: Yes, there are a couple of other factors that will change gradually over time, like the salt levels and stabiliser levels and so on. These are mainly affected by dilution of pool water through rain and they’re a long- term change. They’re not a day-to-day change. So if the pool owner keeps an eye on these once a week or they have a pool service guy come once a month, they can certainly keep an eye on those other factors. But pH and chlorine are the two main factors that we’re interested in controlling automatically.

Anthony Cross: So obviously it is still a requirement to get the water tested at the local pool shop every month or so?

Gary Walters: Yes, definitely. A month is probably a good time.

Anthony Cross: Particularly in summer.

Gary Walters: Yes, definitely in summer. Keep an eye on any other issues that may occur. It’s a bit like checking the oil in your car. Just keep an eye on it, don’t wait for any red lights to come on and you’ll have a lot fewer problems.

Anthony Cross: Saltwater chlorinators are a massive factor in today’s management of swimming pools. You would obviously highly recommend that the automated version of those systems with the pH control is the way for all customers to go.

Gary Walters: The reliability of saltwater chlorinators these days is far above what it would have been say ten or twenty years ago. They’re very energy efficient, have very long life spans, are very effective with digital control in most of them now, so they’re a very effective system, combined with the automation in controlling pool sanitation. They are a great solution for salt water pools.

Anthony Cross: If I can just throw this little bit in at the end, Compass Pools has worked closely with Pool Controls. I think it is fair to say there is a system that we make available to our dealer network and our customers which we call the Gemini Twin System. There is a degree of exclusivity in that arrangement, isn’t there?

Gary Walters: That’s right and it’s exclusively set up for Compass with the correct parameters for running Compass Pools.

Anthony Cross: We’ve had those systems now running on hundreds of customers’ pools for a number of years. We tend to run those systems obviously in all of our display pools, so it’s been put through the ropes.

Gary Walters: Definitely. We’ve made a couple of little modifications here or there to suit the requirements of Compass, so it is really the perfect system to add on to a Compass pool.

Anthony Cross: We appreciate all your efforts. I know you’ve got a day job and you work with us on the side. It’s been a good collaboration so I thank you for that. Thanks for having a chat with me today. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.

The requirements and responsibilities for a first-time swimming pool owner can be quite daunting. To get an understanding of all that you will be expected to do to keep your pool in tip top shape, our Pool Owner’s Guide will benefit you greatly. Compass Pools has gone to considerable effort to produce this detailed and comprehensive guide which covers everything a pool owner would ever want or need to know. You can get your free copy by calling Compass Pools today.

Video transcription: 

Anthony Cross: I’m sitting here with Gary Walters from Pool Controls. He also helps locally in Newcastle with our retail sales efforts. Gary has also been working with our handover team. I know locally with Kelly and her staff, Gary is one of the handover guys. He turns up at the customer’s home at the end of the installation process and runs through the system of how the pool works and what the procedures are.

There is a lot to be learnt in that timeframe. One of the things that we at Compass Pools Australia have been looking at recently is how can we make that process a better process and provide more value to the customer. What we’ve done is created ourselves a guide. Here it is – it’s called the Compass Pools Pool Owner’s Guide. This guide also contains the customer’s individual warranty certificate, the manufacturer’s warranty certificate.

This guide pretty much covers everything that the pool owner would ever want to know about how to care for, look after and safely use their Compass pool. This information has been available in a number of different locations in the past but it has never really been brought together in one consolidated document. There is also a website, a private website, that hosts the same information. That website is kept fully up to date.

Gary has helped to create some little how- to videos that customers at Compass Pools can log in and access at any time they like to get some refresher information.

How have you found the application and rollout of the Pool Owner’s Guide in your work in doing the handovers, Gary?

Gary Walters: Very good. I think there are not too many questions that we get asked that wouldn’t be covered in the guide. In a lot of the video clips, we tried to address a lot of the commonly asked questions. But it is certainly a great resource or it should be a first go-to if anyone has any questions or concerns on maintaining their pool or their pool water chemistry.

Anthony Cross: There are quite a few subjects when you think about it. There is a whole chapter on pool water chemistry which you’ve been instrumental in helping write and edit and pull together in a way that customers can easily understand.

Gary Walters: That’s right. It can be a little bit daunting especially for a new pool user who has never had a pool before. There are probably a lot of things to try to get your head around. But certainly we’ve tried to cover that fairly well. I think personally a lot of the questions I get asked would definitely be covered in the guide or in the video clips. So again, it’s a great resource or a great go-to for any questions you may have on the operation of your pool.

Anthony Cross: There are requirements and responsibilities I guess for the pool owner to care for the pool. The pool shell is a fibreglass structure and it is exposed to the effects of the chemically treated water. It’s a pretty aggressive environment. It’s also subject to sunlight, UV, all sorts of things. So over the course of years, there is a requirement for some regular maintenance. It’s pretty simple work that the home owner can do and that is explained in here.

Gary Waters: That’s right. The requirements for the home owner are covered in the manual. There are also a few little tips on things like keeping your waterline clear of rust marks that might occur from bobby pins or hair clips (that’s for all the girls out there.) There are some little tips about how to clean those off the pool shell. Generally it’s a great resource.

Anthony Cross: There is practical advice. It is written for a pool owner, written in straightforward language but covering all the essential things that you need to know.

Gary Walters: That’s right. We try not to get too technical in it as you said. It’s just common, everyday material and we try to make it nice and easy for you.

Anthony Cross: Well I appreciate the efforts you’ve contributed to bringing this together. Your experience of being onsite and being in the handover process and talking to the customers has been very influential to the approach we’ve taken in writing this in a way that customers can understand. Certainly the concept of having these little short how- to guides or videos that customers can log on to and watch on the private website is a great benefit. It keeps this document up to date.

Gary Walters: That’s right. It’s a great resource and as you said, it’s something we’re continually working on, so it will be up to date and relevant.

Anthony Cross:  Sure. There’s also, I mentioned at the beginning, the personal warranty certificate that is kept in this document. So as a new Compass pool owner, it’s important that you retain your warranty certificate. If there is ever a problem in the future and you need to talk to us as the manufacturer and potentially make a claim, then the warranty certificate terms and conditions on how to make a claim are all spelled out in this document.

That’s been a big effort to bring all of our paperwork up to the current rules and regulations. In 2012, the Australian Consumer Law was modified and it placed a greater onus on putting together a document like this in plain English, with clear information about what is covered, what the exclusions are and importantly, how you can make the claim.

Compass Pools have spent a lot of time embracing the spirit of that change, not just to comply legally but more importantly to treat it as an opportunity to provide you, the pool owner of a Compass pool, with a valuable resource. At the end of the day you can care for your pool, you can maintain it in a way that is important and you can obviously use it in a way that is safe.

So I encourage you all to ask for this document, to use it and to use the website that we’ve put together specifically for Compass pool owners and I’m sure you’ll find it a great tool. Most importantly, enjoy your Compass pool. Give one of the team a call today on 1300 667 445.