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INDIA PROPERTY SURVEY SHOWS HUGE VALUE FROM OWNING A POOL
and families who want a swimming pool and suddenly find it within their reach financially. It’s meant that there are real price hikes for those selling with a pool. I think they more than recover their investments in having the pool built.
The worldwide question as to whether a swimming pool adds value to a property has just been given a very strong and positive answer in India.
The sub continent is now one of the world’s fastest growing swimming pool markets and a major survey carried out in the first three months of this year shows that home buyers throughout the country are prepared to pay premium prices for properties which have a swimming pool.
Two hundred swimming pool properties were compared in prices with similar sized homes on the market without pools. The survey, carried out by FNTY Properties, showed a huge premium for those with a pool.
A spokesman said: “In India there is now a whole level of consumers
“A pool adds value as long as it’s a feature a buyer is seeking. Another non-essential feature might be a fenced yard or a third garage bay, or maybe an outbuilding for storage. These accessories were at one time invaluable to the current owner, but might not be a value-added proposition for all buyers.
“Pools are awesome in my opinion. People in India love them. Those in the market for a house are willing to pay a lot more for a pool.” There are others, of course, that think a pool is a burden. Either they think the maintenance is more responsibility than they care to take on, or maybe they just aren’t pool people.
“From our perspective, the short answer to the question is that pools are like so many variables when pricing property. It adds value if a buyer is seeking a pool and throughout India people want the luxury of a pool. It’s sort of a new phenomenon.”
ONE IN FIVE ADULTS URINATE IN POOLS, CLAIMS US SURVEY
While most Americans see the local public pool as a respite from the summer heat, one in five sees it as a bathroom.
A shocking new US survey claims that a full 20% of those swimming and splashing about also relieve themselves in it.
Furthermore, the survey says red- eyes often associated with a day at the pool are from chloramine, the chemical created when urine combines with the chlorine that’s already in the pool, not from the water treatment chemical. The survey from the Water Quality and Health Council found one in five Americans admit to using a public pool for quick relief (urinating) and seven in 10 confessed to skipping a shower before going for a swim.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a pre-swim shower removes sweat, cosmetics and other dirt that could mix with chlorine to create irritants in pool water.
Michele Hlavsa, chief of the CDC’s healthy swimming programme, said, “These irritants, not the chlorine itself, cause red eyes when we swim and the strong chemical smell of some pools.”
How can this contamination be avoided? Make sure you shower with soap and water before you jump in the water. Take small children on frequent bathroom breaks. And make sure you have a lifeguard or operator who frequently makes sure the pH and chlorine levels in the pool are up to standard. Proper levels help keep pools healthy by
destroying waterborne germs that can cause diarrhoea, swimmer’s ear and skin infections.
“Swimming is not a substitute for bathing. Too many people unknowingly treat the pool as a communal bathtub,” said Dr Chris Wiant, Chair of the Water Quality and Health Council. “It may seem counterintuitive, but it’s important to shower before you jump in the pool to help keep swimming healthy for everyone in the pool.”
Last summer, the Water Quality and Health Council mailed more than 32,000 free pool test strips to swimmers. Data submitted by swimmers across the United States last summer showed that 54% of pools tested had unacceptable chlorine levels and 47% had inappropriate pH levels.
WorldNews AUG 2012 SPN
NSPF LAUNCH NEW ONLINE COURSES
The influential US National Swimming Pool Foundation has launched two online courses in metric providing basic education in pool and spa day to day operations and water chemistry. ‘Pool & Spa Basics’ and ‘Water Chemistry Basics’ have been created by the NSPF in response to demand from pool owners who want more information.
Each course contains narration, video, images, quizzes and other interactive learning tools, and the content is drawn from the existing NSPF Pool & Spa Operator Handbook and the Certified Pool/Spa Operator Course. NSPF spokesman Alex Antoniou said: “The online courses were designed to quickly get employees up to speed on the basics of pool and spa operation and water chemistry. We designed the learning to meet the needs of pool store managers and those individuals new to the industry who know that owners expect to find well-informed people.”
81 IN BRIEF
SALES OF SOLAR POOL COVERS BOOM WORLDWIDE Solar pool covers are becoming a worldwide phenomenon. On the spot product surveys in the United States, Australia and South Africa show the covers were the number one sales item for the last six months up to the end of April this year. PcPools, one of America’s leading swimming pool suppliers say the trend is clear, but its origin is not.
“It may be in response to increases in utility prices or it may be a long-term environmental trend. Many swimming pool owners are looking for a cost effective way to open their pool early. Consistently using a solar pool cover allows them to do so by getting free heat from the sun. A few even expressed surprise at how quickly using a solar pool cover extends the time they can be in their pool.”
SUNRISE SPAS APPOINTS NEW EUROPEAN TEAM Canadian spa manufacturer, Sunrise Spas, a division of Sunrise Leisure Group, has appointed a new
management team in its European Distribution Center in Zoetermeer, Holland. The new team will be led
by – Management and Sales Manager Andrea Layfield. Also on the team are Paul Swartsenburg, sales, technical and service specialist, Rocco Goulooze sales, warranty specialist and Rob Goed in charge of logistics and stock
management. The new team will support across Europe in five languages. Sunrise Spas has been committed to producing products of quality and performance including its top selling Paragon series.
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