Pool & Spa SCENE reports on providing safe and sustainable public pools…
Public swimming pools need the equivalent of ‘black box’ technology from the aviation industry to provide key technical analysis on day-to-day running but especially in the event of a major incident. But the commercial wet leisure sector faces a £180 million investment shortfall to cover the cost of technological investment as the industry continues to drag its feet with the adoption of available AI technology.
Shockingly, a large percentage of the UK’s 6,000 pools don’t even use basic automated dosing systems. One of the stand-out presentations at the recent SPATEX exhibition was a round-up of innovative strategies and technologies for improving the management, monitoring and energy efficiency in our public pools.
A panel of leading industry experts gave their view on both current and future implications for the public swimming pool sector. Pooling resources to maximum effect, the seminar was hosted by Luke Griffiths, General Manager of the Institute of Swimming Pool Engineers (ISPE).
There was an expert panel of Richard Lamburn, Head of Facilities at Swim England; Ian Ogilvie, Lead Tutor for the Institute of Swimming (IoS) representing Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS), and Vice Chair of PWTAG; and Chris Bateman, Pool Plant Tutor for Swimming Teachers’ Association (STO). “I think energy efficiency really has to start with the small gains,” opened Richard Lamburn.
“Operational excellence is the terminology that we use, which is about just refining the way in which you operate to ensure that you are maximising those potential savings that you can incur. “For example, how many sites apply a pool cover when the pool is not in use, and then don’t adjust the air temperature? The whole purpose of the pool cover is to retain heat and eliminate or reduce the evaporation.”
Asked whether smaller facilities can afford to implement these changes cost effectively, Richard continued: “Training your staff with the appropriate courses, equipping them with the knowledge to operate the facility as efficiently as possible – that’s the starting point before you start to implement any mass capital interventions. All those small gains will all add up and have a big impact.”
The big question is whether the pool industry can afford to adopt renewable energy sources like solar or heat pumps to make facilities more sustainable. Lamburn responded: “Having PV [photovoltaic cells], the generation of electricity on the site and then the storing of electricity to enable you to use it then, via a heat pump – that’s the sustainable future that gives you both economic and environmental sustainability.”
Luke Griffiths turned the topic to the most common mistakes pool operators make in handling pool chemicals and how can these be avoided through better training or procedures? Ian Ogilvie highlighted an incident report programme introduced by the CBA (Chemical Business Association). Five of the eight logged in the first quarter’s report were to do with chemicals, and four of the five involved day tank mixing.
“The key part is that although you might know the theory behind it, it’s about being able to get that situation corrected,” Ian said. “Actually implementing the training in the practical sense once you get to site.”
Some major chemical suppliers have already talked to the CBA following a serious incident in London in January 2025, Ian added pointing out PWTAG, RLSS and the STA had all been getting involved to analyse what happens in these situations, with an analogy of the ‘black box’ in the aviation industry as something to introduce to provide technical details for review.
The debate turned to how swimmers’ health and safety can be maintained as water quality standards evolve to address environmental sustainability. Chris Bateman remarked: “I think we’re a little bit behind other countries. But one of the biggest issues I think we’ve got at the moment with sustainability is that by 2050, there’s going to be a massive shortage of water in the world.”
SAFETY FIRST
Safety is paramount and non-negotiable, added Lamburn. “There are so many facilities that aren’t doing the key basics. We supported the government with a £60million investment in a swimming pool support fund last year that was available for the implementation of technologies, capital intervention to reduce energy consumption and reduce operational costs.
The subscription to that fund was £240million, so there is a further £180million of investment needed.” Luke Griffiths asked how poor facilities could improve their readiness and response plans for chemical incidents to ensure both staff and swimmer safety.
Ian Ogilvie recalled an incident where a company that accidentally flooded their day tank because they put it in about 20 litres that went into the bund. “They were prepared to try and remove it but didn’t know how to and by pure chance I happened to be there the next day,” he said, and pointed out the shortage of trained specialist companies that can react to urgent demand in that situation.
The panel were asked for their thoughts on how emerging technologies be utilised to improve water quality, monitoring and maintenance. Chris Bateman gave Dryden Aqua’s Space system as an example of notable current AI technology, fully automated in monitoring and reacting with bather loads to maximise energy efficiency and suitable chemical injections.
He believes that over the next few years there will be many more such systems appearing. Lamburn pointed out that currently, “a large percentage” of the UK’s 6,000 pools don’t even use basic automated systems. With questions then opened to the audience, Jon Herbert, MD of Rockingham Swimming Pools pointed out that at the last PWTAG conference, two experts had predicted that water scarcity over the next 20 years would put bills up by 30-50% to build nine new reservoirs.
How will it ever be environmentally sustainable to drain the amount of temporary pop-up school pools, given current water consumption. Richard Lamburn replied that in a “perfect world” we would dump no water but he can’t say with any certainty whether this would be achievable. Chris Bateman agreed but suggested that using drained water somewhere else, for example in flushing the toilets, might be a part of the solution.
Ian Ogilvie added that the temporary nature of these pools is a major hurdle to backward recycling or using a grey water system: “I don’t think the viability of being able to add that to the system for a short period of time of four to 12 weeks could be achieved.” Daniel Ekema, the Programme Leader for Pool Plant at the Institute of Swimming, was involved in the creation of the chemical incident register.
He hoped more of these occurrences would be reported for more accurate data. “The shared data will help companies and organisations develop safety procedures,” Ekema assured. “If you were hesitant in the implications of reporting something, he added: “Please be reassured that information is kept secure and anonymous.”
The panel agreed that reliable reporting and monitoring will play a major role in ensuring that swimmers’ safety is maintained with the advancement of technology and sustainability targets in the future. The seminar was hosted by Luke Griffiths, General Manager of the Institute of Swimming Pool Engineers (ISPE) with an expert panel of three: Richard Lamburn, Head of Facilities at Swim England; Ian Ogilvie, Lead Tutor for the Institute of Swimming (IoS) representing Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS), and Vice Chair of PWTAG; and Chris Bateman, Pool Plant Tutor for Swimming Teachers’ Association (STO).
SMALL GAINS
Richard Lamburn commented: “I think energy efficiency really has to start with the small gains. Operational excellence is the terminology that we use, which is about just refining the way in which you operate to ensure that you are maximising those potential savings that you can incur. For example, how many sites apply a pool cover when the pool is not in use, and then don’t adjust the air temperature? The whole purpose of the pool cover is to retain heat and eliminate or reduce the evaporation.”
Asked whether smaller facilities can afford to implement these changes cost effectively, he continued: “Training your staff with the appropriate courses, equipping them with the knowledge to operate the facility as efficiently as possible – that’s the starting point before you start to implement any mass capital interventions. All those small gains will all add up and have a big impact.”
How can the pool industry adopt renewable energy sources like solar or heat pumps to make facilities more sustainable? Lamburn commented on the debate concerning the balance between economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.
Lamburn added: “Having PV [photovoltaic cells], the generation of electricity on the site and then the storing of electricity to enable you to use it then, via a heat pump – that’s the sustainable future that gives you both economic and environmental sustainability.” The topic turned to the most common mistakes pool operators make in handling pool chemicals and how can these be avoided.
Ian Ogilvie highlighted an incident report programme introduced by the CBA (Chemical Business Association). Five of the eight logged in the first quarter’s report were to do with chemicals, and four of the five involved day tank mixing. “The key part is that although you might know the theory behind it, it’s about being able to get that situation corrected,” he said, “actually implementing the training in the practical sense once you get to site.”
Some major chemical suppliers have already talked to the CBA following a serious incident in London in January 2025, he added. PWTAG, RLSS and the STA had all been getting involved to analyse what happens in these situations, with an analogy of the ‘black box’ in the aviation industry as something to introduce to provide technical details for review. The debate turned to how swimmers’ health and safety can be maintained as water quality standards evolve to address environmental sustainability.
Chris Bateman remarked: “I think we’re a little bit behind other countries. But one of the biggest issues I think we’ve got at the moment with sustainability is that by 2050, there’s going to be a massive shortage of water in the world.” Safety is paramount and non-negotiable, added Lamburn. “There are so many facilities that aren’t doing the key basics.
We supported the government with a £60million investment in a swimming pool support fund last year that was available for the implementation of technologies, capital intervention to reduce energy consumption and reduce operational costs. The subscription to that fund was £240million, so there is a further £180million of investment needed.”
Griffiths asked how poor facilities could improve their readiness and response plans for chemical incidents to ensure both staff and swimmer safety. Ian Ogilvie recalled an incident where a company that accidentally flooded their day tank because they put it in about 20 litres that went into the bund.
“They were prepared to try and remove it but didn’t know how to and by pure chance I happened to be there the next day,” he said, and pointed out the shortage of trained specialist companies that can react to urgent demand in that situation. The panel were asked for their thoughts on how emerging technologies be utilised to improve water quality, monitoring and maintenance.
Chris Bateman gave Dryden Aqua’s Space system as an example of notable current AI technology, fully automated in monitoring and reacting with bather loads to maximise energy efficiency and suitable chemical injections. He believes that over the next few years there will be many more such systems appearing.
Lamburn pointed out that currently, “a large percentage” of the UK’s 6,000 pools don’t even use basic automated systems. With questions opened to the audience, Jon Herbert, MD of Rockingham Swimming Pools pointed out that at the last PWTAG conference, two experts had predicted that water scarcity over the next 20 years would put bills up by 30-50% to build nine new reservoirs.
How will it ever be environmentally sustainable to drain the amount of temporary pop-up school pools, given current water consumption? Richard Lamburn replied that in a “perfect world” we would dump no water but he can’t say with any certainty whether this would be achievable. Chris Bateman agreed but suggested that using drained water somewhere else, for example in flushing the toilets, might be a part of the solution.
Ian Ogilvie added that the temporary nature of these pools is a major hurdle to backward recycling or using a grey water system: “I don’t think the viability of being able to add that to the system for a short period of time of four to 12 weeks could be achieved.”
When asked whether particular chemicals were common to many of the incidents reported, Daniel Ekema, the Programme Leader for Pool Plant at the Institute of Swimming who was involved in the creation of the chemical incident register, said he hoped more of these occurrences would be reported for more accurate data.
The shared data will help companies and organisations develop safety procedures, he said. If you were hesitant in the implications of reporting something, he added: “Please be reassured that that information is kept secure and anonymous.” The panel agreed that reliable reporting and monitoring will play a major role in ensuring that swimmers’ safety is maintained with the advancement of technology and sustainability targets in the future.
