www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
Pool&SpaIndustry JUN 2010 SPN
37
INDUSTRY WAITS FOR IMPACT OF NEW ‘WATER RESTRICTION’ LEGISLATION
The recent Flood and Water Management Act, which was passed in April 2010, may have an impact on swimming pools, but hot tubs have not been included in this legislation. This Act is likely to become operational from October 2010, once secondary legislation is produced by the Government. A number of new activities will be added to a list of non essential uses of water and during a hose pipe ban, swimming pool users will no longer be able to fill and top-up swimming pools. A drought order will no longer be needed to be applied for to prevent the topping up of pools by hose pipes, fixed plumbing or even buckets.
It also used to be accepted practice that pools requiring emergency repairs could also be emptied and then refilled. This practice is likely to be unacceptable, without temporarily storing the water displaced to repair the pool. It is understood that the filling of pools under construction will continue to be exempted under this legislation. The exact wording will need to be provided within the secondary legislation of this Act. The SPATA Technical Committee has come up with a number of ideas to assist customers in keeping pools in operation during the period of a hose pipe ban or a drought order and below are just three of the ideas: Keep floating covers on the water surface
whenever swimming has stopped to reduce evaporation (and cooling).
Lower pool water temperatures to reduce evaporation and minimise the effect of algae etc.
Water can be abstracted from other areas and
STAKEHOLDER ACCOUNT HELPS FEND OFF
DEADLOCK ON PAYMENTS
The SPATA Stakeholder Fund facility was introduced to deal with the stand-off situation where a client might say “I am not going to pay until the work is complete” to which the contractor might reply “I am not going to complete the work until I am certain of being paid”. This situation is resolved by the agreed balance due from the client to the contractor being paid into the fund and released to the contractor on completion of the work. In the event of a dispute as to what constitutes satisfactory completion there is further provision for the matter to be determined by a SPATA – appointed mediator.
Funds are held in a special bank account which is administered by the SPATA managing director and accountant. Any interest accruing to the account is retained by SPATA as a contribution towards the cost of the service which is thus self-funding except for arbitration costs (if any) which are paid by the parties concerned in previously agreed proportions. A further use for this facility is to deal with pre- payments for major items of equipment, such as pool covers and enclosures, which manufacturers are reluctant to put in hand without adequate security but for which clients are reluctant to make substantial down-payments in advance. In such cases SPATA would retain the funds until delivery was imminent or would return them to the client in the event of the supplier failing to deliver.
brought in by tanker to fill the pool. Costs for receiving a tanker with 10m³ (or 10,000 litres) of water will vary depending upon the location, with more remote sites potentially costing more than other areas. But prices are likely to be in the range of £295 - £395 (inc VAT).
WANTED – MEMORIES FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY
SPATA will be celebrating its golden anniversary in 2011 and has chosen SPATEX as the fitting time to hold this milestone event. It is hoped to provide a history of SPATA, including its origins when it was called The Association of Swimming Pool Contractors (ASPC).
We want to make the 50th anniversary celebrations very special, so anyone with materials or memories that may be relevant are asked to contact the SPATA office.
DESIGN AWARDS HELPS RAISE PROFILES OF WINNERS
This year’s 34th annual industry awards run by SPATA in Brighton have generated a tremendous amount of interest from local and, in some cases, national media.
The awards which acknowledge the quality and style of the pools SPATA members design and build remains a great showcase for the industry. With the support of BOTTLE PR, the industry has been able to generate interest for all the award winners, which is a great benefit – raising the profile of the member! So it may be early in the season but start planning now for what pools you think might become award winners at Brighton next February.
In the July/August edition of spn (Swimming Pool News) we turn the focus to the work of BISHTA
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