Earlier this year ground-breaking Dryden Aqua appointed Pollet Pool Group as the sole distributor of its swimming pool products in the UK. Far from a rush of excitement, PPG’s water treatment specialist, Jimmy Lamb, had to be convinced.
“I was just as sceptical as the next man about what ‘activated’ actually means,” says Jimmy, a well-known pool industry personality.
“I remember thinking; is this something that has simply been thought up in a marketing meeting? “But with an open mind and having taken the time to listen to those who are qualified, experienced and have knowledge and science facts behind it; I’m now a convert,” Lamb confirms.
The main Dryden Aqua product focus is the revolutionary AFM, which is made from green container glass and exceeds the performance of quartz and glass sand by filtering 30 to 50 per cent more organics and sub 5 micron particles out of the water. The introduction of a so called ‘activated filter media’ into the UK swimming pool market some years ago created quite a stir.
Jimmy recalls: “Reaction came from filter media suppliers and manufacturers of the filters themselves.
“The thought of putting glass anywhere near a pool was a big ‘no no’, let alone in the filter.”
The brains behind such technology, namely marine biologist Dr Howard Dryden, has spent years developing the product and has approached pool water treatment from a biological perspective rather than chemistry angle.
Jimmy explains: “The formation of biofilm and associated problems is a biological problem, not a chemistry problem and so therefore requires a biological solution.
“AFM is a bio-resistant filter media that bacteria cannot adhere to, thus eliminating the potential formation of biofilm in the filter media,” he enthuses. It is green glass that has the appropriate balance of physical and chemical properties for filtration purposes. The glass is sized and shaped to give it the correct mechanical performance and it also undergoes a three stage process including heating the glass to near melting point. This process has a dramatic effect on the surface of the glass and increases the surface area by 300 times. With the enhanced chemical properties and increased surface area through the activation process this media has huge adsorption to attract heavy metals and organic molecules.
“Although sand has been a very effective filter media, it does have drawbacks,” says Jimmy. “Sand offers the perfect surface for bacteria to adhere itself to and secrete an alginate to protect itself from the chlorine. This alginate in time becomes a biofilm – a haven for cryptosporidium to hide and for bacteria to grow, thus increasing chlorine consumption and in-turn creating more combined chlorine (chloramines).”
Littlehampton Leisure Pool in West Sussex is one of few large commercial pools that have been enjoying the benefits of Dryden Aqua’s Activated Filter Media (AFM) as their preferred filter media. In conjunction with the complete DAISY (Dryden Aqua Integrated System), the installation replaced an existing Ozone system that was expensive to operate and maintain.
Jimmy Lamb comments: “Littlehampton now has the best water quality that I have ever seen in a busy commercial leisure pool and I’ve visited many commercial pools in my time! “They have very little chlorine smell in the pool hall and are able to keep free chlorine levels as low as 0.7mg/l. Not only do they have superior water quality but they are making significant saving on their running costs.”
Pollet Pool Group
Tel. +44 (0)1635 234038
www.polletpoolgroup.co.uk
