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SPLASH! | 3

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INDUSTRY NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Whats happening in the pool and spa industry

INDUSTRY MOVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Pool people changing places

INDUSTRY CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Key dates to keep in mind

INDUSTRY EDUCATION UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Skilling up and gaining credit

WAR OVER WATER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22The tussle over our valuable resource

THE CASE FOR RECYCLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Water expert Greg Leslie explains why it make sense

INDUSTRY REVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Products and books, including freebies

FALLING IN LOVE WITH SPAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Australasian trends and markets

SPLASH! NEW ZEALAND EXPO GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . .43Everything you need to know about the big show

SOAKING UP THE SPA MARKET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54International developments in spa technology

PLAN TO SURVIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Sue Hirst offers budgeting and planning tips

SPLASH! COMMERCIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67News and features from the commercial sector

INTO THE BIGGER POND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74AstralPool Australias commercial launch

GLASS TREES TOP A MAGIC SPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77An amazing spa in the Swiss Alps

PRODUCT RELEASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78The latest equipment, materials and technology

SUBSCRIPTION FORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

ADVERTISERS INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90


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For further information phone Pentair Water Australia toll free on 1800 664 266,

View our full range of Onga products on our website www.pentairwater.com.au

The Quiet and Efficient

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Lower electricity bills and happier neighbours

The leading edge in hydraulic design

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Available now


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SPLASH! | 7

industry news

THE Australian Pesticides and Vet-erinary Medicines Authority (APVM A)held a seminar in Canberra at the end of March discussing, amongst other things,revisions to the Efcacy Guideline.

One of the topics of interest was label-ling, including the some commentsabout the unnecessary technicality of terms used on labels and the need forsimpler procedures for the approvalof minor label changes such as colourchanges. The APVMA agreed to take

these concerns on board and refer labelcontent issues to the labelling reformworking group.

There were also questions about theextended period required for approvingmarketed product labels (M PLs) com-pared with the previously approved text

labels, with the APMVA saying that thequality of labels had improved markedlysince the implementation of MPLs andthat it expected the full implementation of E-labels should improve turn-round time.

The APVM A invited nomination of representatives from the pool industry to

join the labell ing reform group.The afternoon was taken up with dis-

cussion on the revisions to the EfcacyGuideline. Dave Loschke began pro-ceedings by explaining the background

to the Guideline, including the need forefcacy standards and the use of chlo-rine as the reference standard, as in theUS, Canada, the EU and the UK.

There followed a series of discussionsabout a variety of areas to do with theEfcacy Guideline, including testing

methods, equivalence, the inclusionof various organisms and the exclu-sion of others. While the need for peerreviewed benchmark tests and meth-ods was supported, the need for bothlaboratory and eld testing was queriedby some, but defended by Loschke,who said it would be irresponsible toput humans in a pool without doing thepreliminary studies. There was also ageneral discussion of submissions anddata generally, and the need for trials to

cover periods of high challenge.Loschke said the issues wil l be taken on

board and an amended guideline versionwill be available within 2 months.

The seminar seemed to be successful andthe APVM A agreed to have more of theseseminars with users as well as registrants.

APVMAmeets with industryThe APVMA recently held a pool and spa industry seminar

Barcabeckons

Excellent prospects for exhibitors in the next Piscina BarcelonaPREPARATIONS for the big Euro-pean show of the year are heating up.With four months to go, Piscina Barce-lona (the International Swimming PoolShow) has already received bookingsfrom more than 488 companies from29 countri es. M ore than half of theseexhibitors are from outside Spain.

Piscina Barcelona wil l have ve inter-national pavilions: Australia, France, theUnited Kingdom and, for the rst time,China and the USA.

The Australian Pavilion has the fullsupport of Austrade, who will assistexhibitors in developing partnerships helping to reduce the time, risk andcost of nding European partners.

For the rst time the SPLASH! teamwill be working alongside SPASAQueensland to promote companiesexhibiting in the Australian Pavilion inpre- and post- show event coverage.

The event will take place from 17-20 October 2007 in Barcelona and isexpected to attract more than 19,000buyers. The exhibitor package includesfreight and travel arrangements as well asadditional marketing support.

Interested companies should contact

Dave McLeod on (02) 8586 6135 asspace is limited.Alongside France, Spain is Europes larg-

est market for swimming pools and Pis-cina Barcelona is this years leading eventfor the pool and spa sector in Europe.

The Expo is renowned for its airas well as its business opportunities

Piscina Barcelona is expected toattract more than 19,000 visitors


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8 | SPLASH!

industry news

RECENT media reports have questioned the importance of rescue breathing in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) butRoyal Life Saving is alerting Australians that rescue breathingis a vital part of CPR.

A Japanese study recently reported that heart massage alonegave cardiac arrest patients a higher chance of survival. Whilethis may be the case in cardiac arrests, Royal Life Saving isreminding Australians that i n drowning cases it i s important toget oxygen to the vital organs as soon as possible. The best wayto ensure adequate breathing in a victim is to undertake CPRincluding the initial rescue breaths.

Drowning victims have often been without oxygen to thevital organs for some minutes and it is imperative that oxygenow is resumed as soon as possible to the victim to lessen the

chance of death or brain damage, says Rob Bradley, CEO,Royal Life Saving Australia.

Last year the Australian Resuscitation Council updated itsguidelines and now recommends 30 chest compressions fol-lowed by two mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths as the most effec-

tive way to deliver CPR. This information is based on the bestevidence available and brings Australia in line with Americanand European CPR standards.

Royal Life Saving encourages all adults to participate in aCPR course and says the prompt application of resuscitationto someone in danger can mean the difference between lifeand death. Rescue breaths are an important part of CPR.

In most cases, a family member is the rst on the scene in anemergency and having the skills to react is vital, says Bradley.

Last year, 265 people drowned in Australia and without thenumerous successful resuscitation actions by the public andlifesavers, this number would have been far higher. Organisa-tions such as Royal Life Saving regularly conduct resuscitationand rst aid training courses across Australia and encourage all

Australians to ensure their CPR skills are up to date by partici-pating in a course.

Royal Life Saving drowning statistics are primarily collectedfrom the National Coroners Information System (NCIS).For further information please visit www.royallifesaving.com.au.

Breathssave lives

Escape from double disasterCPR,including mouth-t o-mouth breaths, recently saved a pair of tw in boys whonearly drown ed in their grandm others backyard pool in Singleton, NSW.Braith and Seth Hedley were found blue and oating unconscious in the pool by

their mother, Belinda and their father Shaun. Together the parents performed CPRincluding mouth- to-m outh and saved the boys.They had previously undertaken rst-aid training courses.The ambulance of cer w ho attended the scene w as clear in his opinion that theparents had saved the boys lives, and said that if theyd waited for an ambulanceit w ould have been too late.While the pool was fenced, the near-fatal mistake w as that the gate w as unlatchedRoyal Life Saving recommends resuscitations skills be updated every 12 months tremain current.A different type of near-drowning incident in M elbourne brings home the fact thaparents need to be alert around all water, not just swimm ing pools. An 11-month-old girl fell head- rst into a large bucket of nappies. The infant w as resuscitated,but still had to be treated in intensive care.

Promotion makes big noise w ith PioneerTHROUGHOUT the summer season,Kreepy Krauly operated a competitionfor pool owners who purchase any of theKreepy Krauly range of automatic pool

cleaners. Up for grabs was a full Pio-neer Home Theatre System includinga huge 51 Pioneer plasma screen andfull Pioneer surround sound acoustics,including full installation by a group of Pioneer technicians.

Royal Life Saving Australia saysthat CPR rescue breaths should be

used, especially in drowning incidents

Heather Ringland from Dubbo, NSW,purchased her Kreepy Krauly from ThePoolside Dubbo Pool Store and wasover the moon when informed of her

win. I never win anything ! were theonly words she could manage.Promotions of this kind are great for

the industry as well as the consumer, es-pecially when they involve an associationwith an industry leader such as Pioneer.

Poolside Dubbo staff w iththe competition winner


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SPLASH! | 11

industry news

ANDY & Sons Pool Shop won theSpecialised Business category in Canter-bury Local Business Awards, presentedin M ay.

Proprietors Karri Nadazdy and Ni-cholas Virtue accepted the award fromCanterbury Mayor, Robert Furolo.

Karris father, Andy Nadazdy, foundedthe business in 1972 in Campsie, and in

2005, Karri and her partner Nick tookover ownership, relocated the shop tolarger premises and increased the rangeof products and services while continu-ing to maintain competitive pricing.

Located on Canterbury Road, Andy &Sons offer a large range of equipment,chemicals and accessories as well as ateam of mobile technicians.

Canterbury pool shopwinsbusiness award

THE Gold Coast City Council has

unveiled three new online initiatives tomake planning and development infor-mation instantly available.

Development Application (DA) Track-ing On-Line, Planning Scheme On-Lineand RiskSmart, all funded jointly byCouncil and the Federal Governmentthrough AusIndustry, are the newest

initiatives to be introduced on the Gold

Coast through the $50 million nationalRegulation Reduction Incentive Fund(RRIF).

While planning can be a complex is-sue for many residents and small busi-ness operators, D A Tracking On-Linewill dispel much of the mystery andgive everyone easy access to a range of

property information, both current and

historic.Anyone with access to the Internet will

be able to source information on valu-ations, property constraints, easements,development applications and approvals,simply by keying in a street address.For further information, visit the councilswebsite: www.goldcoastcity.com.au/pdonline

OnlineDAs for GC

THE SPASA/Action Tanks Seminar Pro-gram is coming up on Thursday July 12,8am 5:10pm. It will be held at RosehillGardens, James Ruse Drive Rosehill.Cost is $250 (including GST) per personfor SPASA members; and $285 (includingGST) for non-members.

The keynote speakers include: Phil Lee, Sandler International: pre-

senting a sales and marketing workshopwith a difference. In an entertaining90 minutes, attendees will be left withsome ideas that should improve con-version rates.

Dr Peter Seebacher, consultant to theAustrali an Greenhouse Ofce. He willbe talking about Energy Efciencyin Equipment Program in relation toswimming pools and spa equipment,and how electronic equipment will besubjected to star ratings, just as house-hold whitegoods currently are.

Laurie Lawrence will be the lunch-time speaker: a motivational speechfrom former Australian rugby unionrepresentative and Olympic and worldchampion swim coach.

Paul Laurence, Special Projects and

Technical Services from the MasterBuilders Association of NSW: Paulwill talk about why training is the keyto the industrys future. He will give anoverview of the Certicate Level IV inPool Building, due to come online thisyear through the TAFE network.

Panel session on water conservation: apanel of industry members will discussone of the countrys hottest topics. Thepanel will include David Lloyd fromInternational Quadratics, Paul Daw-son from Sealed Air, Brendan Scotterfrom Action Tanks, and Theo Haaimafrom ABGAL Liners and Covers.Following the seminars will be the

2007 SPASA NSW Trade Expo. Theexpo wil l be open from 4pm 8pm onThursday July 12th, and from 10am 5pm on Friday July 13th.

It will feature 75 display spaces,with the most up-to-date products and

services available to the swimmingpool and spa industry at the time of writing the Expo had nearly reachedexhibitor capacity. On Thursday there wil l be a compli -

mentary Happy Hour from 6pm;

Complimentary BBQ lunch fromnoon 4pm Friday;

A complimentary educational work-shop wil l be held on Thursday eveningon retail insurance packaging;

Complimentary educational work-shops on the hour from 10am Friday:*Action Tanks (earns 1 CPD point)*Riversands interior applications

(1 CPD point)*Zodiac Group Australia (1 CPD point)*Poolrite Equipment (1 CPD point)

Attendance at the seminars earns 14CPD points, while expo attendanceearns 5 CPD points.

Following the Expo will be the 2007SPASA Annual Swimmi ng Pool & SpaAwards, held at a gala presentation din-ner on Saturday July 14th at RosehillGardens. T hi s is a SPASA members-only function. There will be awards forthe four regional chapters; metropoli-

tan nominations; industry awards; andstate awards. The evening will includea four-course dinner with beverages, inaddition to entertainment.To book for the awards dinner or semi-nars, contact SPASA on (02) 9747 6644.

NSWhappeningsThere are a number of SPASA NSW events coming up

Karri Nadazdy and Nicholas Virtue acceptingthe aw ard from Canterbury Mayor, Robert Furolo


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SPLASH! | 13

NEW FOCUS WAREHOUSE ANDMANAGER FOR NSW

Focus Products has continue its growthwith the opening of a new company-owned warehouse in Sydney. The moveoffers the New South Wales marketaccess to the same quality products,delivery service, marketing and techni-cal support as Focus customers aroundthe country.

The range includes everything to ensurecustomers swimming pools are safe andcrystal clear, including sodium hypochlo-rite, hydrochloric acid, accessories andeven PVC pipe and ttings.

The sales operation in NSW will beoverseen by M s Michell e Norris, a spaspecialist wi th a proven track record inthe pool and spa industry, who takes thereins as NSW State Sales Manager.

Norris has been brought up i n thepool and spa industry. Her initial train-ing was in South Australia, where herparents owned a pool and spa shop for30 years. She has worked in the indus-try for more than 16 years in a varietyof roles including business develop-

ment, sales and management. For thepast two years she has been working inthe Queensland industry as sales andbusiness development manager for anational company.

She is excited about the opportunity

to bring Focus Products into NSWfrom the Sydney warehouse and says:I cant wait to continue our com-mitment to the pool and spa industryby taking the lead in NSW. With thefull technical support and service thatFocus provides it creates fantastic busi-ness opportunities.M ichelle Norris can be contacted on

mobile number 0406 040 379 or throughthe head ofce at 1300 1 FOCUS.

SAD LOSS OF WATER EXPERTAspi Baria, Technical Specialist atACTEW, the ACT water corporation,

has died in a boating accident. Bariaoriginally came from Kenya beforebeing educated in England and movingto Australia.

He became well know in recentyears, as he was heavily involved inmanaging the water restri ctions inthe ACT and planning the terri torysfuture water supply.

PERKINS BUYS HALF OF AVPPerkins, a WA commercial building,

engineering and property group, hasbought a 50 per cent stake in com-mercial swimming pool contractor AVPConstructions. AVP is the largest com-mercial pool builder in the west.

The building division of Perkins, Per-kins Builders, is WAs leading construc-tion company in the area of sporting,leisure and aquatic facil ities.

ZODIAC COMBINES WITHWATER PIKThe Zodiac Group has entered intoexclusive discussions with Carlyle tocombine Zodiac Marine with Water Pik,already jointly owned by Carlyle and theZodiac Group.

Carlyle would own 72 per cent of thecombined entity and Zodiac wouldretain a 28 per cent stake. Jean-MarcDail lance, CEO of Zodiac M arine, wil lbe CEO of the combined company.

Zodiac Marine, the M arine Segmentof Zodiac, is a worldwide supplierin marine and pool products, and

above-ground pools. It is a leader ininatable boats, lifesaving equipment,commercial marine sanitation systems,and certain pool cleaners, pool heatersand other pool care products, withwell-known brands Zodiac and Polaris,

as well as Avon, Bombard and Evac.It includes six business sectors: Pool

Care, Pools, M arine RecreationalBoats, M arine M ilitary/Professionalboats and two commercial marineequipment sectors: Solas and Environ-mental Solutions.

Zodiac M arine has strong internationalpresence built on continuous internalgrowth as well as a regular acquisitionprocess in key regions in the pool andmarine industries: North America, Eu-rope and Australia.

The major opportunity for Zodiac M a-rine is to ensure that each sector would

continue to have the resources necessaryfor their individual growth, to reinforcetheir market presence through acquisi-tions, and to participate with Carlyle inthe global development of the MarineSegment businesses.

Water Pik is a leading developer,manufacturer and marketer of innova-tive pool products sold under the Jandybrand name. A highly innovative andexpanding range of products, alongwith the strong equity of the Jandy

brand, and superior sales, marketingand customer support, has generatedsignicant momentum with both poolbuilders and consumers, mainly inNorth America.

It is contemplated that Jandy, WaterPiks pool equipment operations, al-ready jointly owned by Carlyle (80%)and Zodiac (20%), be combined withthe new group, thereby creating aleading supplier of pool equipmentwith global operations. Water PiksPool Products business is comple-mentary to the existing activities of Zodiacs Pool Care Sector, which isalready represented in Australia byZodiac Group Australi a.

PERSONNEL SHUFFLEJohn Harding has moved into a positionat PQ, while Trevor Coakley has movedfrom PQ back to Niagara. Natasha Bald-cock has moved from Niagara to Pentair.

PENTAIR VICE CHAIRMAN

RETIRESRichard J Cathcart will retire as ViceChairman and director of Pentair inSeptember. He joined Pentair in 1995and recently led the companys globalgrowth efforts in the Water Group.

Industrymoves

industry news


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14 | SPLASH!

OFFICIALS UNAWARE OF POOLSIN CHILD CARE CENTRESState ofcials in Maine, USA, have started an investigation intoswimming pools in child care centres, following the drowningof a three-year-old boy in M arch. Previously, the ofcials hadnot been aware there were any swimming pools in child carecentres even though they are supposed to be registered withthe state. The boy was one of ve swimming in a 10m long,one-metre deep pool. The drowning is still being investigated.

TRAINING HELPS ELIMINATEPREVENTABLE DROWNINGThe International Swimming Hall of Fame of Fort Lauderdale,FL (ISHOF) and the Transpersonal Swimming Institute of Sara-

sota, FL (TSI) have teamed up to promote water safety in the US.ISHOF and TSI believe that the learn-to-swim program for

adults, expanded to include children, is essential to improveaquatic safety for all. According to a 1998 Gallup poll, 46 percent of American adults are afraid in deep water in pools. 64 percent are afraid in open water. Afraid swimmers are at the great-est risk in water accidents. TSI created a signicant, effectivemethod to teach scared swimmers and since 1983 has helpedthousands of adults overcome their fear and be safer in water.

Whereas the ability to do strokes and tread water has alwaysbeen thought to equate to safety in water, it is actually theknowledge of how the water works and how to remain in

control which makes learning strokes the next step, and whichgives the greatest level of safety possible, says TSI.Most drowning is caused by panic and a lack of knowledge

about how the water works, says M. Ellen Dash of TSI. Aperson must feel safe in water before learning to swim. A largepercentage of adults and children dont feel safe in deep water;therefore they havent been able to learn.

SPA ALARM LAW TO CHANGEThe state of New York, USA, is considering a change to itsrecently introduced pool alarm legislation, which in its currentform requires an audible pool alarm on all bodies of waterover 600mm deep including swimming pools and spas. Theproblem is that spas cannot function properly with currenttechnology alarms, according to the Northeast Spa and PoolAssociation (NESPA). While NESPA was happy for the inclu-sion of alarms in pools, it wants the reference to spas removedwhen they have locking covers.

AQUA DOES DEAL WITH GENESIS 3Aqua 2007 has announced a partnership agreement with theGenesis 3 Design Group the international resource for higherexpectations in waterscape design. The 2007 Aqua Show Confer-ence will be held November 12-16, 2007 at the Mandalay BayConvention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. As a key element to the

overall educational line-up, Genesis 3 will offer seven 20-hourcourses as part of their Design School a full-day Basic Perspec-tive Drawing Seminar, along with on-oor presence featuringtheir Design/Build Pavilion and Educational Studio. Additionally,Genesis 3 will again host the popular Family Reunion & Win-emaker Dinner and the annual Pig Run Motorcycle Ride.

Around theGlobe


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16 | SPLASH!

SPASA NSW is in consultation with the MBA andthe Federal Government, developing a CerticateLevel IV Course in Pool Construction.

In 2001, the Ofce of Fair Trading grantedmoney to SPASA NSW to undertake a review of the industry to try to reduce the number of con-sumer complaints by encouraging builders to lifttheir standards.

The information drawn from this review has beenshared with the MBA, who have a deed of agree-ment with SPASA, with the aim of delivering the

Certicate IV course through TAFE. SPASA hopes to have a comprehensive teach-ing guide completed by July this year.

Newdevelopmentsin industry training

A reference group has been set up by the NSW Ofce of Fair Trading (OFT) todiscuss the concept and management of the Compulsory Professional Development(CPD) program. At the moment, the requirement is for NSW builders to accumulate100 CPD points over a 3-year period, in an attempt to encourage them to participatein an educational experience.

There are a number of ways to accumulate points, such as attending the SPLASH!Expo on the Gold Coast (2 points per seminar plus 5 points for attending the expo),

SPASA trade days (the upcoming SPASA NSW seminars attract 2 points per hour of educational presentation, plus 5 points for attending the expo), or even by readingSPLASH! magazine (subscribers accumulate 5 points per year).

At the rst meeting, terms of reference were discussed. Attendees came from a fairlybroad range of interests including the MBA, WorkCover, the CFM EU, CITAB,TAFE, Back to Basics, HOBAAS, the Insurance Council of Australia and a numberof people from the OFT.

The next meeting will be in early June where theyll look closely at the progress of the existing program.

Analysing the success of the CPD progra

FOCUS Products has established an online training scheme toensure businesses can gain the benets of training, without havingthe worry of covering staff, deciding who should attend and work-ing out which sessions they can afford to miss. Thats because allstaff can attend the courses in-store.

Each session wi ll be relevant to pool businesses, covering topicsfrom product application through to legislative changes. To ensurethat participants know whats coming up, a schedule will be sent toall Focus customers advising the topic and broadcast times. FocusProducts do not want this, however, to be a one way event and

realise that many of their customers have valuable and accurate in-formation to share. With this is mind a real time message systemwill be in place to the Technical and Training team allowing them

to answer questions or impart information for the benet of the entire Focus network.To register your interest in this revolutionary training scheme, contact Focus on 1800425 566 or email [email protected].

Focussing on online training


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SPLASH! | 17

IF youre considering purchasing the worlds fastest growinglandscape design program, this will be the ideal time to getsome formal training.

There are two-day introductory training courses for LAND-WorksCAD v5 around Australia for the rest of the year. Thiscourse is for people who are new to LANDWorksCAD or whohave been using LANDWorksCAD for a while, but want someformal training to make sure they havent missed anything.

Day One assumes no knowledge of LANDWorksCAD. Allthe basics are explained with plenty of time to practice and askquestions while utilising a series of fun and informative, discreteexercises leading on to a domestic project in landscape design.

Day Two reinforces Day One, and widely extends the attend-ees knowledge of LANDWorksCAD. The emphasis for this day

is on making sure attendees really understand how LAND-WorksCAD functions. Plenty of time is devoted to drawing, buttime is also spent behind the scenes working with the plantdatabase, creating customised plants, working with scannedimages and other CAD formats.

Although both days are designed to be held together, attend-ees may elect to only attend Day One of the course and attendDay Two of a future course. Attendees who already have areasonable working knowledge of LANDWorksCAD may electto only attend Day Two.

Please contact Bill M urch on (02) 4322 2919 if you think thismight apply to you. To reserve a place call Celine Ross on

(02) 9973 4499.The cost per person for training is $495+ GST per day.The workshops will be held in Sydney on August 1 and 2,

and November 21 and 22; Adelaide on November 14 and 15;Melbourne on July 18 and 19, and November 7 and 8; Perthon June 27 and 28, and November 28 and 29; and Brisbane onJune 20 and 21, and D ecember 5 and 6.

Learning to landscape digitally

SPASA Victori a has opened registrations for its 2007 train-ing program.

SPASA offers a range of electives to the development, implemen-tation and improvement of skills and services within the pool andspa industry, and says that participation in one of their training pro-grams can produce an immediate positive impact on a business.

New this year is the Accredited Safety Course. This courseincludes: Counter Terrori sm Awareness and the Role for Pool Shops; Dangerous Goods, Risk Assessment; and Occupational Health & Safety.

The venue is at Holmesglen Conference Centre, at theChadstone Campus of Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, cornerof Warrigal and Batesford Roads, Holmesglen.

The safety course is on Friday July 20, 2007. For ful l detailsof electives, course dates, catering, parking and nearby accom-modation call SPASA Victoria on (03) 9872 4502 or [email protected].

Registration forms are available for download at www.spasavic.com.au.

Victorians train for safety

industry education


18/31


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SPLASH! | 19

industry news

MARK Spilsbury was skiing down amountain in north Japan in terribleweather, when he came across a shock-ing sight.

The weather had built into a white-out and 24 people had been caught inan avalanche.

We came across the skiers within5 minutes of the avalanche, saysSpilsbury, the owner of Swimart NorthStratheld. We found people buried in

the snow with just a hand or leg stickingout. Using our rescue equipment, wedug them out and commenced a searchfor one missing person who was foundalive an hour l ater.

It took two hours for the rst help toarrive and while we were waiting, we didwhat we could to manage the injured ski-ers. Unfortunately we were unable to helptwo of them who died from their injuries.

Spilsbury had worked in the ski indus-

try since the early 1980s, was on his thirdski tri p to Northern Japan with a groupof seven skiers, ve of whom are highlyqualied ski patrollers at T hredbo andone of whom is an American with fteenyears experience in the Japanese moun-tains. He has jointly owned the Swimartfranchise since 2001.

The rescue attracted a lot of media atten-tion in Japan, and the group was present-ed with an award by the Japanese consul.

Dramain the snowAn avalanche in Japan, and an Australian pool shop owner comes to the rescue

THOSE cunning Czechs may havean answer to the water crisis use beerinstead. They have been marketing RealBeer Baths, an original curative spatherapy connecting a soothing hot bathand the unique dark bathing beer mixedwith rejuvenating yeast and a mixture of seven curative herbs.

They claim the baths harmonise themetabolism, provide relaxation, soothemuscles, warm joints, heal complexionand cure hair problems.

The real beer baths are taken in arehabil itation tub at a temperatureof 34 degrees. The major bath ingre-dient is dark bathing beer which isproduced in a traditional way based on

a proprietary method by the Chodo-var brewery. The bath is covered bycharacteristic beer foam of caramelcolour and the area is scented by thefragrance of freshly brewed dark beer.The agreeable temperature of the wa-

ter causes mild and gradual increase inheart activity and stimulation of bloodcirculation.

To increase the effects, guests are of-fered a glass of unique non-pasteurised

Rock Lager, including active yeast cul-ture which work positively on the diges-tive system. After 20 minutes in the bath,the guest rests on a bed in the relaxationarea under a eece quilt.

An answer to thewater shortage?

Feel like a beer? Youre soaking in it

The group, which included ve Thredbo instructors, anexperienced American and an Aussie pool shop owner

The group worked for two hourshelping the 24 stricken skiers


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20 | SPLASH!

industry news

MINISTER for Small Business JoeTripodi has urged NSW exporters to seekrecogniti on for their international busi-ness success through the 2007 PremiersNSW Export Awards.

Mr Tripodi, who recently launched theawards in Sydney, said exporters contrib-uted a great deal to the economy of NSW.

NSW exports were valued at $44 billionlast year, an increase of 3.5 per cent overthe previous 12 months, says Tripodi.

Exporters create jobs, they add to thediversity of our business sectors and they

are very innovative. The Export Awardsunderline the signicance of exportingto the economic development of ourState, while winning an award turns thespotlight on a companys achievementsas an exporter and highlights its businessexcellence, he says.

There are 12 national categories thisyear including: Agribusiness; Arts, En-tertainment and Design; Small Businessand Services, and four State categories.The NSW Government is the principalsponsor of these awards, which promote

exporting as a business developmentstrategy. The Government sponsorstwo award categories the overall NSWExporter of the Year Award and the Re-gional Exporter of the Year Award.

The awards, now in their 39th year,are organised by the Australian Insti-tute of Export. Entries for the Awardsclose on August 24, with winners to beannounced at Star City in Sydney onOctober 18.For information on how to enter, contact the Institute of Export on (02) 9350 8170.

NSWExport Awards

AS we go to press, Poolscape, the newconcept integrating pools and spas intobackyard living is being launched atDesignbuild, Australias largest design andbuilding exhibition.

Poolscape has to date attracted threeclients, Aquatic Pools, Ceramic Solu-tions and Sunbather into the Pavilion.

According to Simon Cooper, managingdirector of Interpoint Events, Poolscapeis an unique opportunity for SPLASH!clients to reach builders, designers,architects and landscape contractors.

Poolscape showcases the pools andspas in the context of backyard living,he says. This concept is a new one forDesignbuil d and we hope to roll it outlater in the year at Designbuild Perthon the 12th to 14th of October, 2007.For more information contact SimonCooper on (02) 8586 6105.

Poolscape launches inSydney

WHILE southeast Queensland is havingits own problems with lack of water,there is one thing it certainly isnt lack-ing people.

Brisbane and the Gold Coast aresti ll Australias number one andnumber two fastest growing cities,though the rapid i ncrease has easedslightly thi s year.

The latest Queensland PopulationUpdate shows that while populationgrowth in the southeast corner droppedfrom 64,000 people in 2005 to 52,000last year, Brisbane and the Gold Coaststill grew faster than any other cities inthe country.

Overall, Queensland received anet gain of 25,800 people from otherstates: an average of about 500 eachweek; there were 53,455 births reg-

istered in the period the highestnumber ever recorded and an increaseof 2.6 per cent on the previous year;Queensland recorded a net increaseof more than 400 new residents eachweek from overseas (total increase

of 21,380 new arrivals), and overall,Queenslands annual growth of 1.9 percent from 3,977,000 people in June

2005 to 4,053,000 people in June 2006 was well above the national averageof 1.3 per cent.

SEQsurges ahead

Brisbane, fastest grow ing city in Australia


21/31

Phone: (08) 9344 7044 Fax: (08) 9345 1816.251 Balcatta Road, Balcatta, Western Australia 6021.

Web site: www.pool-controls.com.au

For automatic pool protection without the slightest risk of

infection..all the time, its got tobe Chemigem.Chemigem monitors and adjusts both Chlorineand pH levels to ensure your pool is totally safefor swimming, every day of the year.Best of all, having Chemigem monitor your poolcould mean big savings for your hip pocket, withits more efficient use of chlorine and the hours

you will save in filter running time.Thats why hotels, resorts and Councils insist on

Chemigem for their pools to ensure theirpatrons total satisfaction.

For more information on how Chemigem is your best choice, ask your pool builder or your local pool store.*2 year full warranty on controller, 5 year pro-rata

warranty on probe.

Distributed by: Pool Controls Queensland: (Brisbane North) Mobile 0411 078 124 (Brisbane South) Mobile 0411 078 126Pool Controls Victoria: Mobile 0411 078 127 Pool Controls New South Wales: Mobile 0437 078 115

Swimline Products NSW: Phone (02) 9971 2306 Fax (02) 9971 7592Flowcontrol Pty Ltd SA: Phone (08) 8346 9100 Fax (08) 8358 6015 AICG POC279 SEP 2005


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22 | SPLASH!

industry feature

War over waterWhile military leaders discuss the effects of global warmingon international security, there are a few civic leaders preparingfor a stoush of their own

Water is on everyones lips guratively speaking.

The most prolonged drought in living memory hassome people looking for answers, some for control and

others for ways to maximise our evaporating resource.In Queensland, Premier Beatty is looking at seizing control of

water from local authorities but is baulking at the $20bn pricetag. Meanwhile, councils squabble amongst themselves about whoshould and who shouldnt have restrictions. Some Gold Coast resi-dents have formed into water vigilantes, outing restrictions theysay have been placed by a slow-acting government in Brisbane.

South of the border, the new Water Minister, former bushrehero Phil Koperberg, is looking at imposing restrictions alongthe whole length of the Murray-Darling river system, over-ridingcouncil powers. Regional industries have suffered, with one mine

borrowing water from the local town of Orange while anothermine was forced to close down. In South Australia, BHP Billiton isbuilding its own desalination plants, but environmentalists are upin arms at the prospect of the local coast turning into a dead seafrom hypersalination.

State relations are coming under strain as the Federal Govern-

ment looks to impose water-piping from NSW to Queensland;and Tweed Shire is reportedly charging three times more toQueensland water carters, than to carters who deliver in NSW.Some companies have even reported water theft one Gold Coastcompany has said a megalitre was stolen from them in the darkof night.

Farmers in the Lachlan Valley are planning to sue the Iemmagovernment for taking away their water allocations, while inVictoria, further water restrictions loom, with some lobby groupscomplaining they should have come sooner. On the Apple Isle, eastcoasters are complaining that west coasters are stealing their rainby cloud seeding; at the same time west coast Tasmanians arecomplaining the seeding carried out by the hydro electric scheme is causing too much rain.

With a federal election due this year, we can be sure well hearmore of this storm of words. That is, unless theres actually a stormof water instead, and the drought decisively breaks. Then, it couldbe a return to the old form of letting everything coast along until thenext drought which would serve no-ones better interests, least ofall an industry that relies on a constant supply of good water.


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SPLASH! | 23

industry feature

Industry included in Victorian reviewSPASA Victoria has taken part in a State Government review ofwater restrictions involving three other key stakeholders effectedby water restrictions: turf farmers, car wash businesses and sportsground managers.

In Victoria they have a drought response plan catering forrestriction from 1 through to 4, but at the time of writing Level 3arestrictions had been introduced. From August 1, restrictions arelikely to move to Level 4, or some amendments will be made toLevel 3a.

SPASA Victoria made a presentation at the review.We asked for assistance in a few specic areas regarding our

members needs, says Brendan Watkins. At this stage werehopeful of having those considered favourably.

Up till now there hasnt been a huge amount of collaborationand weve been talking to government about the negative images and the perception that new pools cant be lled, when if fact they

can be lled, just not with town water.SPASA is in the process of drilling its second series of bores. It

will probably be late June or July before the bores are deep enoughto be satised theyve struck water.

Were very hopeful this time around, says Watkins. But theresno guarantees. At the end of the day theres an industry and thereswater. You can ll a pool and you can top it up.

The Victorian Government will be looking at prices, infrastructureand delivery of water in June. There are estimates that the priceof water may rise signicantly. Part of the reason to raise the costof the water is to ensure revenue to the authorities during restric-tions when less water is consumed. There is concern among the

welfare lobby that this would have a much greater effect on peoplewith a low income.Meanwhile, a Melbourne man became the rst Victorian to have

his water supply all but cut off for washing his car in breach ofLevel 3 restrictions. His water supply was reduced to a dribble fortwo days. He claims he was using water from his water tank, butinspectors photos told a different story. The restricted ow wasenough for him to drink and cook, but not to shower.

New bores and pipesfor regional VictoriaWater Minister John Thwaites opened the upgraded Barwon Downsbore eld in May. With increased capacity of transfer pipes andpumps, the elds six groundwater bores can now all operate atonce, supplying about two thirds of the water used in the greaterGeelong region each day. Thwaites says the bores could supply upto 55ML of the daily 71ML water consumption in the greater Gee-long water supply system.

Thwaites said the Bracks Governments Central Region Sustain-able Water Supply Strategy had identied the $1.4 million BarwonDowns bore eld upgrade and a new bore eld at Anglesea as keyprojects in securing the citys water supply.

Water pumped from Barwon Downs is transferred to WurdeeBoluc Reservoir each day, where it mixes with surface water beforebeing treated and piped to customers in the greater Geelong water

supply region.Further work to construct an additional two bores at Barwon

Downs is scheduled for next year. This will provide backup toallow maintenance to the existing bores. Meanwhile, in Bendigo,groundwater extracted from a disused mine network will be usedto pump life into Rosalind Park and Queen Elizabeth Oval .

Bore located for ACT buildersThere has also been some good news on the bore front in thenations capital. A SPASA member, Peter Boehm of Aurora Land-scapes and Pools, has been snifng around and came across a borewater supply just over the NSW border. This is believed to be suf-cient to supply the anticipated 300 pools per year built in Canberra.

The water is of a suitable quality to be cleaned up for swim-ming pool use, and will add between $600 and $700 to the cost ofa new pool.

The Department of Planning in Canberra is approving develop-ment applications, but the ACT Government is not supplying poolwater, so pool builders have to nd their own water supply. SPASAsBrian Hardiman believes this new source might be their saviour.

We put an ad in the paper for expressions of interest andreceived a couple of replies but they were very expensive. Onewas drawing water from the Goodradigbee River where he had anallocation and could supply water for a service fee of about 10c perlitre. The other wanted exclusivity so they could get the cash owto buy a vehicle and start trucking it. But that didnt work out.

There are also a couple of pool builders sourcing water independ-ently, and being cagey about where the supply is, as it may be limited.

Ironically, the ACT Government is looking at pumping water fromthe Molonglo River for residential use. ACT Health had previously

stopped pool builders from using recycled water as it was deemedunt even after the planned treatment by reverse osmosis. Sowhere is that recycled water ending up now? You guessed it, theMolonglo River.

The ACT is likely to go to Level 4 restrictions during or beforeJuly, and that may include a ban on topping up pools by bucket but no nal word has been given on that as yet. The ban will pos-sibly even force the swimming pool of parliament house to close,according to Hilary Penfold, the secretary of the Department ofParliamentary Services.

A proposal has also been presented to the Federal Governmentby a consortium of ACT scientists, engineers and sustainabilityexperts, suggesting that consumers could use as much water asthey liked for outdoor purposes, as long as they pay a substantialpremium. That money would then be ltered back to low-use con-sumers as a reward.

ACTs water utility, ACTEW, has given in-principle support, andis prepared to trial the scheme if it receives Commonwealth seedfunding. Water Rewards, the group proposing the scheme, believesthe market forces would regulate water usage and help fund newinfrastructure.

NSW developmentsIn New South Wales there has been an increase in water restric-tions on the Central Coast, but the good news for the industry is

that the council is still offering a permit system for pool builderswho can purchase an allocation. The Gosford-Wyong Council hasdeveloped that system specically to protect local jobs.

The Council has also come up with a long term plan to securewater for the region. It has recommended the construction of apipeline to pump 160ML per day from the lower Wyong River and

One proposal suggests consumers coulduse as much water as they liked, as long

as they pay a substantial premium.


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24 | SPLASH!

Ourimbah Creek into the Mangrove Creek Dam. The pipeline wouldcost $80m and take seven years to build.

In Tamworth there is also talk of increased restrictions and thepossible introduction of mandatory swimming pool covers.

The rst water audit has been produced, showing that whileSydney consumers are starting to save water, business and govern-ment has fallen behind. Whats more, leaks have been taking awaymuch of the savings.

NSW Water Minister Phil Koperberg is planning to force townsalong the Murray-Darling to adopt Level 4 water restrictions fromJuly 1. This is likely to mean no lling of swimming pools. Koper-berg says the restrictions will be brought in if irrigators end up withno water allocations.

A strange spectacle has risen out the drying lake Eucumbene the ghost-like town of Adaminaby. Fifty years ago, old Ad-aminaby was submerged under 30m of water by the creation oflake Eucumbene for the Snowy Hydro Electric Scheme. Now, the

old streets are rising from the depleted waters. Snowy Hydro hascalled for an increase in cloud seeding, but without the support ofthe Victorian Government.

Hydro Tasmania is seeding clouds to generate rain successfully too successfully according to the residents of Zeon, who claimthey are now being inundated with rain. Hydro Tasmania has beenseeding clouds on the west coast since 1964, but some on the eastcoast say the seeding is stealing their rain. Seeding doesnt actu-ally create rainclouds, just encourages existing clouds to drop theirload potentially moving the rainfall from one location to another.

Drought-proong Queensland

SPASA Queensland has negotiated a workable compromise withthe water commission by drought-proong the industry in south-east Queensland, according to David Close.

He says the authorities came to understand the public health riskif pool water drops below the skimmer level, and there could also beliability issues if empty pools start to pop out of the ground.

The pool industry will arrange supply of water for all new pools, withthe payback being that pool owners will be able to continue toppingup their pools using town water during Level 4 restrictions. At Level5 (currently in force, though with a date of up to July 1 to comply) theywill need access to rainwater via a downpipe diverter or a water tankcommitted to the pool. Town water can still be used once the rainwatersource has been exhausted, as long as they have three of the followingfour measures in place: a swimming pool or spa cover; all shower-heads, and kitchen and bathroom basin taps are water efcient; all toi-lets are water efcient; only water efcient washing machines are used.

SPASA has arranged for up to 2ML of water per day from vesprings around south-east Queensland to be available for new poolconstructions in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast areas.The water will be available at a discounted rate equivalent to one centper litre, plus cartage costs.

What that means is the average $30,000 pool will now cost$32,000, and that doesnt seem to be a problem with consumers,says Close. Probably because were dealing in a lifestyle product.Its not really a luxury item in southeast Queensland, where 34

percent of all homes have a pool.We will drought-proof for the construction side of pools and on

that basis I would assume the consumer will always have accessto top them up. We will bring the spring water up to the requiredstandard for the new pool. It will all be part of the building contract it virtually is now anyway in Queensland.

industry feature

Close says the combination of a mild summer and the need forplanning water supply for new pools may have the effect of spread-ing pool demand over the whole year, instead of the normal build-ing cycle. And while the industry is steady, he credits the $6000 permonth spent on radio advertising reminding consumers of thebenets of having a swimming pool with a promising outlook.

In other news, Close has been appointed as an advisor to theBuilding Services Authoritys board a position likely to lead to fur-ther roles advising Queensland Health and the Water Commission.

Its a good recognition factor for the members in Queenslandthat weve been nominated to take that role, he says.

In other Queensland news, there had been some confusionbetween the Gold Coast Council and water carters about lling upnew pools, with the carters continuing to ll new pools despite thecouncil saying they couldnt. The fact is, under current restrictions,water carters can ll new pools just not with town water.

The Gold Coast City Council has also progressed with its plan for

the $1bn Tugun desalination plant, being built to supply southeastQueensland with 125ML of drinking water per day by January 2009.About 70 people attended a recent information forum on the plant.

West getting coveredThe Western Australian State Government has announced anextension of the Build Green scheme which from September 1 will

Feedback from a pool ownerHAVING ju st read the ar t ic le St or in g w at er in your pool

(page 23, April/ May 2007, by Bryan Goh), I wanted to letyou know t hat we have installed a similar system for ourpool that works extremely w ell.We live outside a reticulated w ater supply system and haveto rely on tank water for all our needs, and our above-gr oundswim ming pool w as suffering. So my inventive hubby (IH) iso-lated and diverted water from a particular section of the houseroof, and included a shutoff valve (the relatively cheap inlinepull/push sort) which means when the pool is full we can closethe pipe and divert all water back to our tanks.If we f orget, or the house tank is full enough, the poolover ow is diverted through a pipe connected via an outletnear the top of the skim mer box. This used to go to the damand just evaporate, but now it lls a garden tank for plantwatering. Not very complicated w hen you think about it, butit m eans we c apture every drop and its all t for pu rpose.Even though w e have had very little rain, the odd thunder-storm has been enough to m aintain the house and gardentanks at a good level and keep the pool full and even the odddewy night is enough to add a few litres. Now I just have toget the IH to put in a dripper system from the garden tank soI can just turn on the tap and sit back wit h a chardy insteadof hauling buckets of water to the garden most nights!PS. The best thing we have done, after the water leveldropped by about 8cm on one hot windy day a few years

back, was to install a solar blanket which w e only removewhen w e are swim ming. So w e now lose very little water toevaporation and its w armer.

Kathy van OostveenCreswick, Victoria


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SPLASH! | 25

industry feature

include the mandatory inclusion of pool covers on all new pools.The premier, Alan Carpenter, says his policy will save 30 gigali-

tres of water and provide a reduction in greenhouse gas emissionsof 129,000 tonnes, the equivalent of taking 30,000 cars off the road.

As well as the requirement for pool blankets, new houses in WAwill be required to have solar or ve-star gas hot water systems,water-efcient shower heads and tap ttings in all sinks and ba-sins, and water efcient dual-ush toilets.

From 2008, new home owners must install secondary plumbingto toilets to allow for an alternative water supply at a later date, aswell as provision for grey water recycling.

SPASA WA believes the requirement for pool covers may meanthat further restrictions on pool owners will not be imposed.

Derek Prince of WA pool cover manufacturer Daisy, says that hiscompany is prepared for the additional demand these measures willherald, and believes the water saving measures will be effective.

It will train people when they get a pool to think about watersaving. It will get them to think about pool blankets at the outset,even before they start building the pool, so more people will be sav-ing more water over a longer period of time, he says.

The WA Government has announced a doubling in the pool coverrebate to $200.

Also in WA, the Water Corp is encouraging the WA Government

to tap the Yarragadee aquifer, or build a second desalinationplant twice the size of the $1bn Kwinana plant currently underconstruction.

South Australia is also gearing up for anticipated water restric-tions from July 1. It is expected that swimming pools will only beallowed to be topped up if the owner has a pool cover, and the toi-let, washing machine and showerheads are water efcient. Rebatesare available for water efcient devices.

Queensland authorities have come tounderstand the public health risk if poolwater drops below the skimmer level.


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industry feature

Where is our water going to come from in the future? Thesky seems a likely place but its not always reliable. Thesea is endless but has a few drawbacks, including the

expense of removing the salt. Recycling waste water has its detrac-tors but mainly because of perception, not reality.

Greg Leslie is an associate professor in the School of Chemi-cal Engineering and Industrial Chemistry at the University of NewSouth Wales(UNSW). Before he came to UNSW, he worked in thepublic and private sectors on various water treatment, reuse anddesalination projects in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, HongKong and the United States. He was the lead process designer onSingapores highly successful NEWater recycling project and wasdeputy program manager for the largest indirect potable reuseproject in the United States providing 70 per cent of the drinkingwater to 2.5 million people in Orange County, California.

He says that for future security, the answer is to develop a rangeof options. But in his opinion, you would look at all the alternatives,and once they are exhausted, then look at desalination. First off theblock would be recycling.

The bottom line is you diversify. You dont have all your superan-nuation invested in the stock market. You have part of it in property,part in bonds. So you develop other sources of water, says Leslie.

If youre by the coast, of course you look at desalination. Its gotits place. But my personal view is that desalination is the last thingyou do. Because its the most energy intensive, and does not lever-

age existing assets.Everything associated with desalination, with the exception of

the distribution system that brings water into our house, does notexist. There is no intake. There is no desalination plant. There is nopipe connecting the plant to the water distribution system.

Think of the water distribution system like an artery. The biggest

The casefor recycling

Associate Professor Greg Leslie says thatrecycled water makes good sense.

pipe is up in the hills, at the bottom of the dam. The closer you getto the coast, the smaller the pipes get, like capillaries.Desalination is the other way around. You need the biggest pipe

out in the ocean, to draw the water in. And every litre that you pullin, you only get about 400mL of drinking water. 60 percent just getsspat back out into the ocean. From there youve got to get the watersomehow back into this network of pipes, but youre trying to puta lot of water into a part of the system thats sized for smaller vol-umes of water. So you have to bring it back to the Sydney pressuretunnel, and all that infrastructure doesnt exist, he says.

On the other hand, much of the infrastructure required for recy-cling does exist.

With waste water, what we do know is that every day, someonesgoing to have a shower, someones going to run their kitchen sink,someones going to ush their toilet, he says. Its going to run offtheir property into a sewer that will ow down the hill to a trunksewer, and depending on where you are there might be a pumpingpit. Eventually its going to run to a sewage treatment plant whichwe already own where that raw sewage will be treated to a pointwhere its safe to put back into the environment into the ocean orinto a river like the Hawkesbury-Nepean or the Georges River.

The EPA monitors those plants, Sydney Water operates them,you and I pay for them. They exist. And all they do is move wateraround. And the level of salt in that water is about 30 times lowerthan the level of salt in the ocean.

The good news is we already have about 50 to 60 per cent of the in-frastructure, including the intake which is the sewer network and thesewage treatment plants. All that is required is to bolt on the reverseosmosis membranes the same type used in a desalination plant.

On top of those benets is the fact that, instead of only using 40per cent of the water, as with desalination, recycling nets 80 per


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SPLASH! | 27

industry feature

cent to 85 per cent of the water passing through the system.Why I am interested in recycling before de-salting, is because

the community already owns all those pipes; because you getmore water in terms of the effort that you put in. Its more efcientto recycle.

Pathogens are less problematic than saltAnd while the main fears in the community apart from the simpleyuk factor are worries about pathogens, Leslie says they arenowhere near as difcult to remove as salt.

Youve mainly got to get the salt out, thats the issue, he says.The pathogens are part of it, but the pathogens are big things. They

are virus, protozoa, bacteria. At the molecular scale, theyre complexlittle critters. Salt is sodium. An atom. Tiny. If we can get those out, wegenerally do a pretty good job getting the big critters out.

Water quality is not that simple, but it kind of is. Theres alwaysstuff that gets through, but the issue is, at what concentration

does it get through? And is it present in our existing drinking watersupplies? The stuff that comes out of your tap at home is not pureH2O. Its got stuff in it. And in fact, a lot of the organics were wor-ried about in recycled water, are actually much lower than in thewater that comes out of the tap.

And thats ne. There is no risk at the tap, and there is no riskwith this. Its just perception.

The type of recycling Leslie is recommending is commonly calledindirect recycling. This is because it goes through a time and environ-mental barrier, such as a river or reservoir. A common perception isthat this is to further purify the water. In fact, the opposite is true.

Unlike desalination, we dont advocate putting the water directly

into the pipe network from recycling. Not from a water quality per-spective once youve made water from these membrane plants,whether its sea water or recycled water, when you throw it backinto the environment, youre in an uncontrolled setting. A birdsgoing to crap in it. Runoffs going to get into it and someone mightbe using pesticides.

But when we put it back into the environment, it gives us thislag time. So if something goes pear-shaped, no-ones drinking thewater straight away. There might be months between when youmake it and when it nds its way back to a plant.

That time lag is necessary because of the time it takes to testthe water. While the pathogens are easy to test for, stray chemicalsare harder, and they may be present in such small quantities thatthe water needs to be concentrated before the equipment can pickthem up. And that all takes time.

After the time lag, the water is pulled out of the dam and treatedagain at a regular drinking water plant.

Youre already drinking itThose who feel squeamish at the thought of drinking recycled wa-ter should consider the fact that many people are drinking recycledwater in Australia right now, including in Sydney only no-onemakes a fuss about it.

The Penrith sewage treatment plant that treats the sewagefrom the city of Penrith, dumps the water just downstream of Pen-

rith weir, into the Nepean, he says. It ows 17.5km downstreamwhere the Richmond drinking water ltration plant pulls it out ofthe Hawkesbury-Nepean, treats it and on-sells it.

In effect, the people of North Richmond are drinking recycled water.Depending on the time of year and the release of water from the

dam, that river can run as high as 25-30 per cent recycled water.

The Penrith sewage treatment plant doesnt have any mem-branes. Its just a regular sewage treatment plant. And theres justsand at the ltration plant.

But even the water treated to this standard which is far inferiorto the treatment proposed by water recycling projects is safe.

From a safety issue, its not an issue, says Leslie. If its an issue,then weve got problems with Richmond. Because A, we dont treatthe water to the same standard as a recycled water project. And B,the time between when you discharge it and we drink it is only a day.

But the reality is, the waters safe in these schemes.Another compelling point in favour of recycling is that, whether

or not we decide to do anything, we still have to pay to treat anddispose of our waste water.

If we shut Warragamba dam down and built a massive desalplant wed still be collecting, treating and disposing of sewage.So it makes sense before you start looking at the expense of desal,we should see how far we can take re-use.

The reality is, to protect the ocean outfalls, you need about 40per cent going through so they dont clog up. So our target shouldbe to recycle 60 per cent.

We should put the recycled water into prospect reservoir, whereit will sit for a week or two, then it would pulled out and treated atthe Prospect drinking water treatment plant. No different at whatgoes on at Penrith and North Richmond. The only difference is thatwere going to be treating it a whole lot better. Whats left over cango into the Hawkesbury-Nepean so we dont need to release damwater to keep that river alive.

If we still have a shortfall, thats when you do desal.All the facilities for recycling will be built at existing waste water

treatment plants, where the government already owns the land.

Better than drinking qualityDespite his avid support of recycling, Leslie sympathises with thehealth authorities who stymied the plan to use recycled water to llpools in the ACT.

He says that portable reverse osmosis should be perfectly ne fora swimming pool water, and its an issue that should be looked at.

That level of treatment is used to ll high pressure boilers thatneed a lot higher quality water than a swimming pool needs. At theBP renery, they use recycled water to be the boiler maker in theirhigh pressure boilers. Because of corrosion issues, it has to havenear-distilled water quality.

But health departments are being conservative and thats their job.Im not going to knock them for doing their job. Its a matter of percep-tion, risk management and a case of not having precedents for it.

However, he adds that pools being lled from the mains at NorthRichmond could have water composed of 25 per cent to 30 per centrecycled water. And thats recycled water that hasnt been treatedwith reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation.

Leslie spent many years working on the successful NEWaterproject in Singapore.

He says that there, the recycled water is of such a high qualitythat business pays more for it than for normal tap water. Becausethe electronics and computer industries need pristine water for

their manufacturing processes, they treat the water again on theirown premises. But they nd it is easier and cheaper to treat therecycled water than the tap water.

Thats because its gone through the reverse osmosis and itsgone through the advanced oxidation and other processes. So itscleaner than the stuff that comes out of the tap.


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28 | SPLASH!

industry feature

Ken Collins, pre-qualied governmentconsultant, offers some history andadvice regarding potty skimmers.Sometime during the 1960s or early 1970s, a breglass poolmanufacturer which was then based in the south western regionsof outer Sydney, started producing breglass pool shells whichincorporated a surface skimmer in its coping.

This appeared to be a good idea at the time. Pre-moulding a

purpose designed skimmer box into the pool shell obviated theneed to purchase a manufactured plastic skimmer, post-cut anaperture in the pool wall to accommodate the box and then bolt iton. Since the pool walls were almost always not vertical, the skim-mer box would appear to hang off the side at a weird angle, and ofcourse there was always the possibility that the rubber seal usedin the mounting process would leak, at least in the long term whenthey started to perish. So a moulded-in skimmer certainly seemedto be a good idea.

However, manufacturing difculties dictated that a xed lid couldnot be incorporated in the mould, so a separate lid was made toform the top of the box and to reinstate the coping surface so that a

trip hazard wasnt formed.Unfortunately the lid was simply dropped in place and notfastened in any way. When the lid was removed as was oftendone by curious and playful children, the resulting exposure ofthe moulded box made it appear like a small seat, not unlike achilds potty.

Naturally, young children decided this little seat was a goodplace to sit and that was okay so long as the lter pump wasntrunning and their bottoms werent large enough to ll the entireskimmer opening and seal it off.

It wasnt long before the inevitable happened. The pump was run-ning and a childs bottom was large enough to ll the opening. The re-sult was that before anyone could realise why the child was screamingin agony, the pump had sucked some of the childs bowels out throughits anus. This is known medically as evisceration.

The headlines very soon spread the message: Child disembow-elled by swimming pool pump. Not a good look for the industry.

This rst happened in about the mid-1970s. Unfortunately it hap-pened more than once before the pool industry designed a meansby which the hazard could be overcome.

At that time I was the SPASA Education Director and a campaignwas implemented to inform the public of the dangers and to havepool servicemen take the necessary action whenever one of theseskimmers was encountered.

The pool shell manufacturers immediately issued a modication

kit and written instructions on how to overcome the hazard, a copyof which is printed here. These were initially provided to the install-ers of new pool shells. Later, they were made available to the poolservice industry, and as I recall, at no cost.

The problem is that whilst many potty skimmer pools weremodied, many still remain as rst installed. Also many modica-

Untangling entrapmenMaking pools and spas safer

tions were not done correctly and the lids became removable after ayear or so.

I exhort anyone in the industry who encounters one of theseskimmers to carefully check to see if it has been safely modiedand if not, take the necessary steps to see that it is done. Disem-bowelment is not a pretty sight.

Anti-entanglement covercoming to AustraliaAustrol Industries has gained the Australasian rights to theTriodyne anti-entrapment suction cover, the Anti-Hair Snare Plus,billed as the safest cover in the world.

While the device is reportedly the safest drain cover on the

market internationally, the issue of whether it meets the Austral-ian standard is still being debated causing concern in somequarters of the industry that we may be restricted from using thesafest device.

The Anti-Hair Snare Plus outperforms the requirements for thecurrent American Standard, ASME/ANSI A112.19.8M. This stand-

Pool Data Systems Pty Ltd

POOL COPING

SUCTION OUTLET

LEAF BASKET

TOP VIEW OF A POTTY SKIMMER WITH LID REMOVED

NEW LID TO BE SECURELY

FIXED IN PLACE WITH

ADHESIVE OR SCREWS

SAFETY MODIFICATION

OF A POTTY SKIMMER


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SPLASH! | 29

industry feature

The Daisy UltraDome advantages A Daisy UltraDome Solar Pool Cover carries thenational SmartApproved WaterMark and qualifies forall rebate schemes.

Unique Daisy UltraDome technology meansour pool covers are made stronger to last longer with up to 8 years pro-rata warranty.

Swim in a warmer pool, and save water, time and money A Daisy UltraDome Solar Pool Cover will:

Warm your pool by up to 8C using free solar energy for months more swimming time

Reduce evaporation by up to 97% Help keep out leaves and dirt Reduce salt and chemical use by up to 50% Roll on and off in 30 seconds with a quality

Daisy Roller System

State governments, local councils and water authorities all across Australia are recommending you install a pool cover.

Some are providingup to $200 cash rebates if you do.

Why? Because an uncovered pool can lose from 8,000 to 10,000 litresof water a month in summer due to evaporation and with much of

Australia in severe drought, thats water we just cant afford to waste.

Every pool needsa Daisy Pool Cover.

But dont just take our word for it.

Contact your local Pool Shop for professional adviceand installation of a Daisy UltraDome Solar PoolCover and Roller System.

For more information and Application Forms for all the available RebateSchemes, and our Fact Sheets on Evaporation, Heating Capabilities andDaisy UltraDome technology visit www.daisypoolcovers.com.au

Perth Sydney Brisbane Melbourne International Australias largest supplier of pool covers and rollers

745_Daisy_Poolside(Domest)_HlfPge.indd 1 23/1/07 1:41:46 PM

ard has been underrevision for more thansix years and a newdraft standard has justbeen accepted. Trio-dyne are condent theircover will meet thenew standard theyveactually been workingclosely with the board and it is currently inthe process of beingrecertied.

By the time thisedition of SPLASH!hits your desk, Austrolwill have launched the

product at the SPASAconsumer expo at Dar-ling Harbour, Sydney.

While there seems tobe a general consensus

that the Anti-Hair Snare Plus is the safest drain cover available, es-pecially with regard to hair entanglement, there is a question markregarding how it will comply with the current Australian standard inits current form.

Due to a glitch in the standard, there may be an issue with thesesafer types of suction covers including Gary Halls cover featuredin SPLASH! February/March because there is an opening in the

centre. At present, the standard (AS 1926.3 2003) seems to insistthat the cover must be solid in the centre, to a size of 1.2 times thediameter of the outlet point.

In an earlier version of the Australian standard, there was aprovision that covers that complied with the US standard weredeemed to comply with the Australian standard, but when a revi-sion was undertaken in 2003 the clause was omitted. Des Berry,who helped draw up the original standards, commented in an ear-lier edition of SPLASH! that he was very much of the belief that theAmerican standard is superior and that hair entrapment protectionwas far superior with American style suction covers (such as theTriodyne cover) and that they do not need the no holes in centrelimit to be safe.

In fact, he said that suction covers which comply with the Aus-tralian standard, but not the US standard, are not necessarily safeagainst entrapment.

According to Manfred Wiesemes, president of SPASA NSW,there should be no problem regarding the standard and thesetypes of covers. He has recently been reviewing the standard withStandards Australia and has said they decided to leave it as it is.

We decided to leave the standard alone, because there has beennot one proven case of entrapment in a spa that has met the stand-ard. The spa in Noosa was illegally plumbed, the spa in Forster,illegally plumbed, he says.

We dont care what the American standard is. We have an Australian

standard that states the ow rate of the pumps and says you have tohave two suctions apart from each other. The standard is very simple. Itsays you cant have a suction you can cover with your hand.

For more information on the Anti-Hair Snare Plus, visit www.triodyne.com or contact Michael van Dyke at Austrol on(02) 4935 2210.

The rst step to stopping entanglement is to keepyour head out of the spa water. These signs are amust for spa owners available from SPASA NSW for$6.50 each, or $6 each for orders of more than 50


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30 | SPLASH!

Resort S tyle L iving is a pictorial homage to the work of Australian landscapedesigner, Dean Herald.

Herald is the founder of the Rolling Stone Landscapes, a company that haswon many awards including a gold medal for Best Show Garden at the prestig-ious Chelsea Flower Show in London. His gardens have also been featured ontelevision shows such as Better Homes and Gardens, The Block and Reno Rub-ble, as well as in many major Australian garden and lifestyle magazines.

This 160 page, hardcover coffee table book captures the beauty, glamourand appeal of his award-winning gardenand landscape designs. With more than150 images, Resort S tyle L iving show-cases impressive pool scapes, outdoor

dining and entertainment areas, expan-sive pools, wet bars, ponds and waterfeatures. The stunning photography isenough to inspire the creative juicesin any builder, homeowner or buddinglandscape architect. Resort S tyle Living is available from bookshops for $59.95

The SPLASH!Bookshelf

Win a copySPLASH! has a copy ofResort Style Living to give away.

For a chance to win this book, email:splashcomp@interm edia.com.au. In the subject line w rite

the name of Dean Heralds landscape company. In the body

of the message include your name and address. The rst

correct entry w ill be sent a copy of the book.

Turning backyards into resorts

A dance partyunderwater

SPLASH! asked a fourteen year old swimm ing fanatic and m usic lover whathe thought of the new AquaSoundz underw ater MP3 player. He gave us ateen-eye view from under the w ater. By Jack Maher

industry reviews

I think the AquaSoundz underwater M P3 player is reallycool. Its a great idea and it works a lot better than I expected.

Some of the best things about it are the clarity of the sound even though its underwater you can still hear every word be-ing sung. Also, the arm strap was very convenient and securedit without getting in the way.

Its very easy to use. Most M P3 players have way too manybuttons but this only had the essential ones. Which is reallygood, because when youre under the water, you cant see themso you dont want to be searching through lots of different but-tons and switches. Also, it doesnt need batteries, so that savesyour pocket money.

I think it would be really great when youre doing laps,because after a while laps can get a bit boring. I think themusic you listen to could determine the speed of yourswimming if youre doing some relaxing laps on a hot day,put on some Oasis or Bob Marl ey, but i f youre traini ngfor 50-metre or 100-metre sprints, put on some AC/DC or

Metallica.It would also be great when youre oating on your back.Kids could also record times tables or spelling bees onto it,and listen to them while playing in the pool or while theyrehaving a bath.

The FM radio would be great for l istening to the Swans


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game while playing around in the pool or doing laps. Espe-cially for kids who are forced to have a bath in the middle of the last quarter!

The only thing you have to be aware of is that the ear-piecegot stuck in my ear; I think I pushed it in too far, so you have to

be careful of that.It is an awesome product and Id love to own one. My ratingi 4 5 f 5

Splash JunJuly07!01!31

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