For around 50 years, swimming pools have been built using the same traditional operating system.

We call this the ‘eyeball and skimmer’ system. Experts say that a healthy pool should have its entire water contents circulated at least once (preferably twice) over a 24 hour period – this helps to ensure chemicals are adequately mixed and that bacteria find it hard to thrive.

The problem with the traditional ‘eyeball and skimmer’ system is that it pushes water across the top of your pool into a skimmer. This skimmer then feeds that water through a filter and into a pump which pushes it back into your pool through eyeball return jets. Sure it circulates the volume of a standard pool in about 8 hours, but does it really circulate the whole pool, or just the top third over and over again? The Vantage operating system is a revolutionary new way to operate your pool. In-floor nozzles work to push water around your pool in a circular fashion which ensures that all water is constantly moving. Water at the top of the pool is circulated to the bottom and the benefits of this include: warmer water from the top being spread throughout the pool, and an even spread of bacteria-killing chemicals everywhere in the pool.

Arguably the best benefit of the Vantage system is that the pool cleans itself. All you have to do is empty your leaf baskets – no separate cleaning equipment required!

Traditional pool design uses old-fashioned methods of returning filtered water back to the pool through eyeball returns near the surface. This does not put the heated and chemically treated water on the bottom of the pool where it is needed. Heat and chemicals near the surface are quickly dissipated by the wind and by sun ‘burn-off’. Tests show that conventionally heated pools consume up to 50% more chemicals and 40% more energy than heated pools with in-floor systems.

Suction cleaners and robotic cleaners are best described as semi-automatic cleaning systems. Once YOU have unpacked them from their hiding place, they need to be positioned in the pool and either connected to a suction point (suction cleaners) or connected to a power point (robotic cleaners). To unpack, install, and then remove your semi-automatic cleaning system will take at least 20 minutes of your precious TIME on each occasion. During summer, when you’re using your pool the most, this can be a daily task.

In-floor cleaning systems are the only truly automatic cleaning systems because they are permanently installed and operate automatically on a daily basis. You can order Vantage infloor cleaning system with any of our fibreglass pools including the Plunge pool, however, the X-Trainer and Vogue pool represent the two most popular choices.

Pool running costs include electricity to run the various pumps, and chemicals to balance and sanitise the water. So it only makes sense to consider both costs when comparing the 3 types of cleaning systems. As each cleaning system operates differently, we have based electricity costs on achieving a standard turnover rate of pool water. It is generally accepted that pool water should be turned over twice a day to achieve good filtration.

Having worked out the electricity costs, we then need to consider the chemical costs, once again this varies with each type of cleaning system. Only the in-floor cleaning system sucks water from both the surface (skimmer box) and the floor (main drain) and returns freshly sanitised water to the floor (in-floor nozzles) to achieve top-to-bottom circulation. This results in more effective sanitisation of the pool water with up to 50% less chemical costs.

Reduce chemical usage by up to 50%. Save up to $600 in running costs a year*. No unsightly robots or suction cleaners. Safer, cleaner healthier water. No more cold spots of water.

*Estimate of annual electricity costs based on 8m x 4m pool with minimum 2x turnover of pool water and energy efficient filter pumps. Calculated at 30c per kWhr, and annual chemical costs of $400 (less for in-floor system)

With more than 10,000 Compass Vantage self-cleaning pools in the ground, we know the Compass Vantage operating system works. It works extremely well. Vantage offers you more than superior cleaning. It delivers the total package in the care of your pool water. In fact, most of the Compass Pools sold and installed over the past decade were and continue to be self-cleaning pools.