AusLeisure

The swim school at CityFit Bathurst has been able to increase business and customer satisfaction with a significant equipment upgrade that has delivered enhanced water quality.

With business owner Gary Webster having successfully grown his swim school business in the heart of the NSW country town over the last few years, he had reached a point where he was concerned that the water quality would not permit increased patronage and bather numbers.

Looking around for solutions and having spoken to other swim schools, Webster decided that a plant upgrade could overcome these issues and enable him to continue growing the business, while improving water quality and customer satisfaction.

Specialists in the field, Tim Batt Water Solutions, were able to provide the answers – install a UV system to remove chloramines from the water and upgrade his chemical control system to include auto superchlorination and remote monitoring/control, plus automated record keeping.

A Wallace & Tiernan Barrier M525 medium pressure UV system was installed, along with a BECSys5 controller and ‘BECSys for Windows’ PC software/’BECSysNow!’ App on his network and mobile devices.

The W&T Barrier M525 UV system is designed to be easily installed, directly into the filtered water line going back to the pool. It can be positioned in either a vertical or horizontal position, with ‘light trap’ stainless steel elbows on either side and a safety glass strainer immediately downstream. Webster reports a significant drop in the chloramine levels in the pool since installing the UV system – it now typically runs in the combined chlorine range of 0.2-0.6mg/L; well under the NSW Department of Health maximum allowable level of 1.0mg/L.

Webster has also noticed an increase in the clarity of the pool water and reduction in chlorine smell in the air and on the bathers skin after swimming. The ORP mV rate of disinfection has also increased in the pool water (by 20-30mV), meaning that the chlorine in the pool is now more effectively doing it’s work. Customer satisfaction has clearly improved and there is now scope to increase bather numbers significantly while maintaining a comfortable and safe swimming environment for all comers.

The next step was to upgrade the chemical control system. Here Webster has found that using an ORP mV based system has worked well in his facility - maintaining optimal disinfection at all times while using the minimum amount of chlorine to do the job. His well proven Strantrol controller was changed to a BECSys5 controller, from the same US manufacturer – BECS Technology in St Louis, USA. The BECSys5 is as used at the Optus Aquatic Centre on the Gold Coast for this year’s Commonwealth Games swimming and diving competitions and comes with a 5 year electronics warranty/2 year probe warranty, so he was confident that it would perform well for the longterm. While giving a readout of pH, ORPmV, free chlorine and temperature as standard, the controller can accept optional additional sensors for total/combined chlorine, TDS, turbidity, filter plant flow, pressure and vacuum, etc. This controller also gives Wesbter the ability to set up automatic superchlorinations of the pool, at night, if they are ever needed.

One of the most useful and unique features of BECSys5 controllers is the inclusion of Ethernet connection and datalogging with free software to enable remote monitoring of the pool, either from his connected computers, or from his mobile phone. Connection to the PC gives the added benefit of remote control of the Sys5 settings and continuous graphing of all the readings and events. The design of this advanced automatic graphing takes the form of a building management systems’ graphs, with the ability to zoom in on time/days as required and to configure the data presentation of all probe readings and events exactly as is required.

Webster sees great potential for the remote monitoring when he is away from the facility, enabling him to check in and see his current water chemistry levels at any time. He can then easily remind staff to make changes if any are required. When at theReliable alarm notifications by e-mail are sent out by the system and these can be converted to text to his mobile device if necessary. Webster has even found that the monitoring system is reducing his time spent in the plant room by enabling constant and up to date knowledge of the pool conditions.

Investing in the latest equipment for his pool is now improving Webster’s efficiency as an operator and enabling him to grow his business, while keeping his customers happy and having more control over the entire operation.

The result has been a win-win situation for both CityFit Bathurst and their clientele.

Click here to contact Tim Batt Water Solutions via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

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