April 24th, 2012
Just about every in-ground swimming pool has coping stones around the edge. Over the years they deteriorate and need replacing. This article will tell you what your options are for replacing them.
Until recently all Swimming pool coping stones were sourced from UK manufacturers but now a nice range of Mediterranean style copings are available in the UK. The traditional UK made coping stone comes in 2 foot lengths and are either 9 inches or 12 inches wide. There are two stlyes and two colours available. The two stlyes are called “bullnose” and “flat top”. Bullnose have a built in backward slope and flat top do not. The colour choices are White or Buff. The most popular choice by far is White Bulnose.
 Flat top coping stone |
 Bullnose Coping Stone with backward slope |
 Traditional White Bullnose Pool Coping |
As well as the standard straight coping you can also get what are known as “specials”. These are the corner stones for internal or external corners and “radius” copings for going around roman ends (as shown in the image above).
The traditional copings always stand out from the paving surround and many people like the way they define the edge of the pool but others prefer the copings to match the surrounding paving. This matching style is typically Mediterranean and now there is available in the UK a Spanish pool coping that is not only great looking as a stand alone coping but comes with matching paving slabs if you want them.
The Sahara coping has the built in back slope while the Ardoise coping is a flat top. Ardoise has a riven finish while the Sahara is smooth.
 Ardoise Coping Stone - Flat topped with riven finish and 330mm wide |
 Sahara Coping - back sloping, smooth and 270mm or 330mm wide |
|
Surprisingly these Mediterranean swimming pool coping stones are not more expensive than their UK counterparts. Below are the prices for a 12ft x 24ft rectangular pool for comparison.
| Traditional 9 inch |
£740 .00 |
| Traditional 12 inch |
£920.00 |
| Sahara 270mm |
£680.00 |
| Sahara 330mm |
£740.00 |
| Ardoise 330mm |
£930.00 |
For more information on the coping stones and matching paving slabs featured here follow the links below
Click here for Traditional Swimming Pool Coping Stones
Click here for the Sahara Range of Swimming Pool Coping Stones
Click here for the Ardoise Range of Swimming Pool Coping Stones
Tags: ardiose pool copings, coping stones, pool copings, sahara pool copings, swimming pool coping stones, swimming pool copings, traditional pool copings
Posted in Bright New Ideas, Swimming Pool Kits | No Comments »
March 20th, 2012
£1,200.00 for a pool pump? You must be joking.
No. We are serious. Read on to find out why.
The biggest drain on your wallet if you own a swimming pool is the fuel bills for your heater. If you have installed a heat pump then you have cut those costs considerably. Often overlooked is how much power is being consumed by the circulation pump. Up until now there was not much you could do about saving electricity with your pump after all it has to be on to keep the pool filtered. You can either leave it on 24 hours per day as many people do or have it come on for about 8 hours per day. A 1 horse power pump will draw 0.75Kw per hour costing about 10p per hour. 8 hours per day for a 150 day season is £120.00, leave your pump on all the time and the cost is £360.00
Think on a 10 year time scale and that is £1,200.00 in electricity plus in a 10 year period you will have to buy at least one more pump at £400.00. If you are considering a purchase now then reckon on one pump now and another in 5 to 8 years time. Below we will see how the intelliflo pump will save your electricity bill but consider also that, because of the way they are made, they will last much longer than 10 years.
The basic premise behind the intelliflo is that a reduction in the power requirement of the pump is way out of proportion to the reduction in the flow rate. A 50% reduction in the flow rate can lead to an 90% reduction in the power consumption. So run your pump for twice as long on half the flow and your filtration rate will be exactly the same but your power consumption will be down by 80%. For example if you run a 1 Horse Power pump for 12 hours per day and it will cost you about £1.00 in electricity. The intelliflo would cost 10p for that 12 hours but you will have to run it for 24 hours because you have half the flow so it will cost 20p. 20p instead of £1.00 equals an 80% saving. See below how those cost savings add up.
We take a 10m x 5m (32ft x 16ft) pool as our example. Such a pool could have either a 1 horse power or a 1.5 horse power pump which would typically be run 12 hours per day. The intelliflo would run 24 hours per day. An outdoor pool would typically be open for 150 days per year. We also compare the cost of an indoor pool open 365 days per year.
| Typical 10m x 5m pool |
Daily Cost |
150 day cost |
Saving |
365 day cost |
Saving |
| Intelliflo pump, 24 hours per day |
21.3p |
£32.00 |
|
£77.00 |
|
| 1HP pump, 12 hours per day |
£1.65 |
£248.00 |
£216.00 |
£595.00 |
£518.00 |
| 1.5HP pump, 12 hours per day |
£2.48 |
£373.00 |
£341.00 |
£895.00 |
£818.00 |
Cost saving is not the only benefit. The intelliflo is so quiet at typical low speeds that you simply cannot hear it. Even at higher speeds it is the quietest pump on the market.
What we like about the pump is the very fact that you can alter the speed it operates at to suit what you want from the pump. You can pre-set 4 speed settings in to the controls. A high speed for a thorough back wash. You can set another speed button to get optimum performance from your heater. When you are not in heat mode it can drop down to minimum flow mode and save the pennies.
The technology behind the pump is cutting edge and the motor is made from a permanent magnet. This means there are no parts that rub together which in turn means there is nothing to wear out. The pump has been on sale in America for 8 years and, so far, the replacement rate is lower than 0.5%.
If all of the above is not enough then the intelliflo pump is the ultimate eco-friendly choice of pump. All that saving in power consumption is also a saving in CO2 pumped in to the atmosphere.
The Intelliflo Pump - saves you money in the long run
When you buy from PoolStore you get a 5 year warranty.
Click here to go to the product page for prices
Tags: energy saving pump, intelliflo pump, pentair pumps, pool pump, swimming pool pump
Posted in Bright New Ideas, Swimming Pool Pumps | No Comments »
March 1st, 2012
Up until now there had only been one fundamental type of summer pool cover available now, for the first time, pool owners can choose between two types.
Swimming pool summer covers are often called “bubble covers” because they look very much like a sheet of bubble wrap. In fact the machinery used to make bubble wrap is also used to make swimming pool covers. These machines produce a cylindrical bubble that is prone to weakness on the corners and leaves limited room for air expansion inside.
The traditional bubble
After many years of research Plastipac, the manufacturer, have come up with a new type of bubble that they say will change the way pool covers are made. The new bubble looks like two bubbles joined together. This does away with the weak points of the traditional bubble making much longer lasting as well as giving more room for the air inside to expand. They have also improved the additive in the cover used to protect it against UV light and chemical attack. So confident are they in their new material they have given it a 6 year warranty. That is a pro rata warranty but all cover warranties are pro rata.
The new Geobubble design
The geobubble is available on two types of material. The curiously named Sol + Guard material is a clear material and 500 microns thick. This clear material is the best for “solar gain” , that is gaining extra heat in the water due to the sun shining down on it. It is not so good at retaining the heat at night. Very many of these covers are sold overseas to places with sunny days and warmer nights. Also available is the 600 micron blue top with silver underside cover. Blue is the traditional colour choice for most pool owners and the silver underside reflects the heat back in to the pool at night and so tends to be more popular in cooler climates (like the UK).
 600 micron blue/silver material |
 The Clear Sol + Guard 500 micron material |
Tags: geobubble, pool covers, sol+ guard, swimming pool cover
Posted in Swimming Pool Covers | No Comments »
August 23rd, 2011
Every autumn pool owners buy their winterising chemicals but how many of them study the label and take note of the recommended doses?
Winterising chemicals can come in 5 litre, 3 litre, 2 litre or 1 litre bottles and they all have different pool volumes that they can dose.
Despite what it may say on the lablel, winterisers will last for about 3 months so to get 6 months of protection you will need to dose your pool twice. Once in October and again in January.
The contents are mostly water with the “good stuff”, the algicide, in varying concentrations. So to cut through the confusion we have come up with our pound cost dosage comparison. We have standardised our pool volume to 10,000 gallons and our longevity to one 3 month span.
You don’t have to use winter algicide, some summer algicides will do the winterising job just as well so we have included them too.
Reading across the table Perfect Super Concentrate comes in a 1 litre bottle and will treat 26,000 gallons. That means you need 0.4 litres to treat 10,000 gallons. At a cost of £24.00 for 1 litre that means it costs £9.60 to treat 10,000 gallons. Compare that to the popular Kleen Pool Brand and you’ll see it costs £22.50 to treat 10,000 gallons. Worse still is Clear n Clean at £30.00 per 10,000 gallons. That is why we don’t sell them!
| Chemical name |
Container size |
Gallons container will treat |
Litres required to dose 10,000 gallons |
Container
Cost |
Cost per 10,000 gallons |
| Perfect Super Concentrate |
1 litre |
26,000 |
0.4 |
£24.00 |
£9.60 |
| Champion Winterclear |
5 litres |
12,000 |
4.2 |
£21.00 |
£17.64 |
| Blue Horizons Wintertime |
5 litres |
15,000 |
3.3 |
£21.00 |
£13.86 |
| Fi-Clor Winteriser |
3 litres |
19,000 |
1.6 |
25.00 |
£13.15 |
| Kleen Pool |
1 litre |
5,000 |
2.0 |
£11.25 |
£22.50 |
| Clear n Clean |
1 litre |
6,000 |
1.6 |
£18.00 |
£30.00 |
| Blue Horizons Algimax |
2 litres |
20,000 |
1.0 |
£18.50 |
£9.75 |
We sell the top 3 on the list. Two dedicated winterisers (Perfect Super Concentrate and Fi-Clor winteriser) and the all year rounder Blue Horizons Algimax Eliminator.
Tags: swimming pool winterisers, winterising, winterising a pool, winterising algicide
Posted in Swimming Pool Chemicals | No Comments »
August 4th, 2011
On the label of most swimming pool chlorine products you will see a reference to “Available Chlorine”. This short article will attempt to explain what that is.
In its natural state of 100% purity chlorine is a gas but swimming pool chlorine is often refered to as “granular chlorine” or “shock chlorine” or “chlorine tablets” “or “liquid chlorine”. In order to get from a highly poisonous gas to a stable white powder you have to add stuff. The more stuff you add the lower the content of chlorine becomes until it is low enough to remain stable in the container and for general handling.
Chlorine Tablets contain chlorine in the form of trichloroisocyanuric acid (short name “trichlor”). This is the most concentrated form of swimming pool chlorine with a 90% available chlorine level.
Next comes Shock Chlorine which is calcium hypochorite (short name “cal hypo”). The strength of this can vary, as a minimum it is 65% available chlorine, but some of the fi-clor superfast blends are 75% available chlorine.
Granular chlorine has a few different chemical names but is best known as sodium dichloroisocyanutrate (short name “dichlor”). This has 55% available chlorine. Granular chlorine and chlorine tablets contain cyanuric acid which is a stabliser to stop the chlorine being burnt off by the sun.
Liquid chlorine, like shock chlorine, does not contain cyanuric acid stabiliser. Liquid chorine is sodium hypochlorite and contains about 15% available chlorine. Other forms with 10% or lower concentrations are available and are used by dairy farmers for sterilisation and in household bleach.
Tags: available chlorine, Calcium Hypochlorite, chlorine, dichloroisocyanurate, sodium hypochlorite, swimming pool chlorine, trichloroisocyanuric acid
Posted in Swimming Pool Chemicals | No Comments »
