Chlorine-Free Swimming Pool with Hydroxypure System from Waterco

QLD resort benefits from Waterco's Hydroxypure system
Six-month trial progressing well at Turtle Beach

A Queensland holiday resort has been trialing Waterco's Hydroxypure, chlorine-free system, and the results have been tangible and rapid.

At the award-winning Turtle Beach Resort on Queensland's Gold Coast, swimming pools are a key drawcard. There are four separate swimming areas, including children's wading pool, an adult's only pool, lagoon pool, lap pool, in addition to four spas.

With such large volumes of water, it's little wonder the resort's maintenance team was faced with a number of challenges trying to maintain the pools and spas.

"The pools would often be cloudy, and the time taken up by the maintenance team to keep these pools running was very high," explains Nick Briscoe, inventor of the Hydroxypure system. "The chlorine levels had to be run very high in order to achieve clear water."

Additionally, all the water areas were running salt chlorinators, which required regular maintenance.

A particular issue was the children's pool, which consists of three separate bodies of water - Mushroom Waterfall Pool, plunge pool with waterslide and spa, and the entry water feature. "The chorine odour from the kid's pool was always very strong - even from the road outside," Briscoe says. "Plus the entry water feature was always very unclean and also had a very strong chlorine odour.

"The reception area is located between the kid's pool and the water feature, so the first thing you would notice on check-in to the resort would be the strong smell of chlorine."

Recognising the issues, Briscoe contacted the resort's manager, Stephen West, and explained about the Hydroxypure chlorine-free system.

"Stephen could see all of the benefits of having a chlorine free system running in the children's pool, and he was particularly interested in the fact Hydroxypure has the Sensitive Choice endorsement," says Briscoe. "He was also interested in the fact the commercial system is remotely monitored and automated."

However, Nick says the resort was initially very skeptical that it would work and that it would be approved for use by the local authority (Gold Coast Council).

Council was briefed on the Hydroxypure system prior to it being installed and it approved a six month trial with a strict testing regime. The Hydroxypure system was subsequently retrofitted to the existing pool plumbing system, but first the resort wanted to completely drain pool and water feature and start again with fresh water in order to remove the salt. Additionally, the media filters were all changed to Waterco Glass Pearls in order to improve filtration quality.

"It really highlights the versatility of the Hydroxypure system to be retrofitted to older commercial pools," Briscoe says. "There are many such pools which will face the same challenges, so it is important to know that the Hydroxypure system can be adapted to work on just about any hydraulic situation."

For the six-month trial, Waterco's Hydroxypure system was installed to the front pool area, which contains the water slide and is the most popular pool area in the resort.

Clean water, no chlorine odour
"Both the children's pool and waterfall now don't run on chlorine, and the rinse water from the backwash from the swimming pool is used to top up and disinfect the waterfall," Briscoe says. "A Waterco MultiCyclone plus an existing cartridge filter were also installed into the waterfall.

"And there is enough residential hydrogen peroxide to maintain clean water with constant filtration on the water feature. In addition, the waste water from the backwash cycle on the filters is now being used in the resort. And the trees and bushes are growing much faster with the use of the highly oxygenated water!"

The result has been no chlorine odour on entry to the resort, and as part of the process a large amount of water has been saved due to the installation of four Waterco MultiCyclones, which are key components of the Hydroxypure system. Backwashing frequency and duration have also been reduced.

According to the resort, the children's pool now has a lot more traffic than previously, it's consistently clean and the time spent maintaining the pool is significantly reduced. "Plus the maintenance staff have noticed most of the kids using the pool have ditched their goggles," Briscoe adds. "Some of the comments relate to the positive effect on children with asthma and sensitive skin."

Hydroxypure - at a glance

- It's salt free, odourless, free of taste and you don't need to shower after swimming
- It is only water sanitisation system approved by the Sensitive Choice® program of the National Asthma Council Australia
- It can be installed in new swimming pools or retrofitted to salt or chlorinated pools
- It is highly effective in maintaining pool clarity
- Hydroxypure uses a combination of ozone and hydrogen peroxide to create one of the most powerful oxidisers in nature. It based on the Peroxone Treatment Process (PTP), a combination of hydrogen peroxide (H202) and hybrid ozone (03)
- Specially-made control unit maintains adequate levels of hydrogen peroxide to be retained within the swimming pool, automatically adjusting its dosing for high bathing loads, hot weather, rain and pool top ups
- Extends the life of the pool surface and pool equipment