Victorian Council achieves savings through innovative approaches

Paul Bourne‑Bryant Chooses Chemtrol For Aquatic Facilities and Water Parks

Client:  Council in Victoria

Facility:  Swimming pools, Water features and Splash parks

Bather load:  Variable, heavy load in summer

Equipment: CHEMTROL® PC110wF Controller, designed for pools, spas, water parks & feature applications.

Stretching from Melbourne’s outer suburbs to the foothills of the Great Dividing Ranges, the region manages a number of water-based recreational facilities. These include pools, play parks, playgrounds, and a water park – all of which must adhere to Victorian health regulations covering the water quality users enjoy there.

Warburton Water World Splash Park

We caught up with Paul Bourne‑Bryant​​​​, Aquatics Project Manager (Recreation, Parks & Facilities) who talked us through a few facilities he manages, challenges he faces – and his experience of the controllers installed.

Tell us about the facilities you manage?

We have water parks and swimming pools all aimed at recreational use for children and families: 

• Seville Water Play park, which has basic floor jets and a rock waterfall feature
• Lilydale Lake Splash Pad, which is part of the Lilydale Lake playground, has water jets and cannons.
• Warburton Water World, which is our latest water park – an extensive playspace and recreation area for people of all ages, including a swimming pool and features such as water slides and a tipping bucket. 
• Belgrave Heated Outdoor Pool, 33 metre swimming pool located in the heart of Belgrave, Victoria.
• Monbulk Aquatic Centre, Indoor Leisure and 25 meter heated pools
• The Yarra Centre aquatic facilities, indoor leisure and 25-meter heated pools
• Lilydale outdoor 50-meter pool and a heated toddler pool
• Healesville outdoor 50 meter pool and a leisure pool
• OLINDA outdoor 25 meter pool and a heated toddler pool

“We have installed a Chemtrol controller at each of these, with plans to add a few more units in the near future”

What are your primary considerations regarding water quality?

All public aquatic facilities in Victoria need to manage water quality risks to public health and to comply with the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 and the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019. These risks are primarily from pathogenic micro-organisms in the water. Bathers can be affected by disease-causing microorganisms that are passed on through contaminated water or surfaces, if we don’t take steps to analyse and treat the water at our facilities. The controllers help us with this important task.

“This is obviously crucial to the safety of our community, while meeting the relevant health regulations” 

Seville Water Play Park

What made you upgrade your existing controllers?

Up until recently, we had basic domestic controllers installed, which did not meet our requirements in terms of features and capabilities. As part of our capital renewal program, we upgraded to CHEMTROL® units, enabling us to achieve significant cost savings through enhanced water quality analysis, control, and management capabilities.

Previously, a service technician manually tested water quality once daily. With the integrated remote functionality of the Chemtrol controller, we have transitioned away from manual testing, allowing for remote monitoring and management. Despite this advancement, daily visits are still necessary to conduct essential water tests, in compliance with health regulations.

“We upgraded to CHEMTROL® units enabling us to achieve significant cost savings”

What Are the Benefits of Implementing Chemtrol Remote Monitoring?

In a nutshell, if I need to describe the benefits, these are the key items:

Proactive Maintenance – With the remote alert capabilities, the maintenance company can address issues before the operator or the council is even aware, ensuring prompt and reliable service.

Data-Driven Insights – The cloud-based data analytics enable the council and the maintenance company to anticipate future faults, reducing unexpected outages by 25% and promoting a more proactive approach to pool management.

Operational Efficiency – By reducing false service calls by 40% or more, these controllers streamlines maintenance operations, saving time and resources.

Triangle of Trust – Remote controlling transparency fosters a “Triangle of Trust” between the council, the maintenance company, and the pool operator.

Proven Expertise – Implementing a cutting-edge remote control showcases our management’s commitment to research and selecting the best solution to meet our specific needs, enhancing our council reputation.

What are some of the challenges you face with your sites?

Like any external or outdoor body of water, water quality can change frequently. The number of people accessing our sites can also have an impact, with spikes of 1,000 – 3,000 daily users accessing a water park during school holidays. 

If the combined chlorine level goes above 1, we have to do a super chlorination dosing, which involves a contractor visiting the site and manually actioning this. The CHEMTROL® controllers help us significantly, as super chlorination can be done automatically and fully operated via remote access.

Lilydale Lake Splash Pad

What is your experience of the new controllers, and which features are most useful?

The new controllers are real game-changers as they give us full visibility of our data 24/7. 

Previously, with our manual testing, if something went wrong after testing we would not find out until the next day. The warnings/alerts feature is also very useful if any reading goes beyond the parameters we set. I touched on the super chlorination feature earlier. Previously this was a manual operation, but the unit can do this remotely – so this is an additional saving for us.  

“We’ve had such a good experience that we will be looking to specify more Chemtrol units at our indoor pools and other facilities”

Implementation 

Working alongside Flowgistics, a leading pool maintenance company in Melbourne, we explored various options and proposed a comprehensive solution. This included our commercial-grade PC110wF controller, designed specifically for applications in pools, spas, water features, and splash parks. Upon commissioning these notable sites, Flowgistics conducted initial training for local operators on the controllers’ functionalities and the cloud-based Remote Monitoring system to ensure smooth operation both locally and remotely.

Flowgistics provides sustainable and innovative solutions to commercial facilities, including councils, hotels, aquatic centers, swim schools, and aged care facilities. Their dedicated team is committed to delivering high-quality, comprehensive maintenance services tailored to the specific needs of the commercial aquatics sector.

Flowgistics takes great pride in its collaboration with Victorian councils and Chemtrol Australia, offering advanced monitoring solutions and creating satisfied customers.

CHEMTROL® PC110wF Controller

The CHEMTROL® PC110wF Controller is a programmable control system that offers complete chemical automation for pools, spas, water parks & feature applications.
This includes:

• Free Chlorine control (ppm) with solid-state sensor offers superior precision and control of chlorine levels,
• pH control with acid and/or CO2, as well as base control, tailored for outdoor applications
• ORP monitoring for sanitizer reference and oxidizer control backup
• TDS level display with optional water valve control
• Temperature monitoring and display
• Water balance with Langelier Index

This model also incorporates our solid-state PPM SENSOR that generate easy-to-use, direct and reliable readings of Free 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.