Southern Swim School, Kirrawee NSW

Chemtrol controller is the brains behind swim school pool room

Client: Southern Swim School, Kirrawee NSW 

Facility: Swim school (15m x 8m pool, 150,000 litres)

Bather load: 1800/week

Equipment: CHEMTROL® PC5100 Programmable. Dual ppm control with UV

We recommended the PC5100 controller to Josh Crowther because he wanted everything to run automatically. So this controller handles all the monitoring and control of the equipment in their pool plant room.

This means that on top of water chemistry he can also control the main pump and filter, heater, UV, pool water level etc. They also have a flowmeter connected to alert them if any drop in flow occurs, and a float switch to top up the pool automatically if the level drops.

Given they have been using calcium hypochlorite to sanitise the pool, they can now dump water automatically when the TDS level rises. More importantly, given they are monitoring the pool with both Free and Total chlorine sensors, they can also fully control the UV/combined chlorine level, which would save them a lot on their electricity bill.

Based in Kirrawee, NSW Southern Swim School is a family-owned and run business, who were looking for a more powerful, fully-featured controller for their facility. We touched base with owner and director Josh Crowther for his experience so far. 

How many people use the facility?

In terms of bather load we are currently averaging around 1800 bathers/week in our 18m pool. This is a combination of swim squads, lessons and recreational swimmers. 

What made you upgrade your controller?

It was definitely time to upgrade. 

We had a basic controller with two probes that measured just free and total chlorine. In terms of monitoring, it was all manual testing throughout the day. 

I actually rigged a little security camera from Bunnings which was focused on the controller display so I could view readings from home! That was my hack for ‘remote monitoring’!  But it wasn’t really a solution as I still had to go to the pool to make any adjustments. It’s a half an hour drive from home to the pool, and another half an hour back – and I’m time poor! 

Our old sand filter was also struggling, so we upgraded to one which removes particles down to 1 micron. 

What was on your shortlist in terms of features for the new controller?

We then wanted something that works with, and is able to control, everything in our pool room, which led us to a Chemtrol unit.

I do everything covering the maintenance of the facility – there is no pool manager, so I wanted a unit that offered:

• Remote control 
• Set and forget
• Rich data output
  

What is your experience of the new controller, and how does it  help you day-to-day?

The Chemtrol unit definitely has a lot more bells and whistles, and everything is automated so we only do one manual test a day to benchmark against the controller readings. 

Having the controller ‘talk’ to all the other equipment is impressive. We have it set up to control everything in our pool room, so I have visibility on things like pool water temperature, free and total chlorine and UV. Otherwise it just does its thing, so there is not a lot to think about, which is great. 

“I really appreciate the remote control functionality, so I have access to all the data it outputs, all on my phone. That also means I don’t have to go to the pool to adjust settings”.

What features do you most appreciate?

I really appreciate the remote control functionality, so I have access to all the data it outputs, all on my phone. That also means I don’t have to go to the pool to adjust settings, I can do that from home or wherever I am. 

“I love how it sends alerts, if anything is out of the pre-set parameters – I get pinged”.

CHEMTROL® PC5100 Controller

The CHEMTROL® PC5100 Controller is a programmable control system that offers complete chemical automation for pools and spas. This includes:

• Dual ppm reading with UV control
• pH
• ORP 
• TDS
• Make-up water and auto replacement
• Water balance with Langelier Index
• Temperature and heater control

This model also incorporates two unique solid-state PPM SENSORS that generate easy-to-use, direct and reliable readings of both Free and Total Chlorine concentration in water.

Get in touch for advice on the best programmable controller for your aquatic facility, that way we can provide a competitive pricing solution based on the functionality you need. You can also browse our complete range of high-performance equipment for commercial swimming pools and spas.