School Servicing & Callouts

School Pool Servicing

Regular Servicing must be an important part of any school pools preservation schedule.  We find that regular checks by our highly experienced Pool Engineers save our clients’ budgets significantly - as the little issues can be caught early, i.e. may just be a seal, blocked injector or o-ring replacement needed – however, if left these issues have the potential to develop into much more costly repairs; such as plantroom/pool leak damage, complete new filtration pumps or full replacement of major plant equipment.

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On our visits, our main aim is to try and prevent the need for urgent callouts by highlighting items of plant which need maintenance or replacement.  We can then recommend that these items are either replaced periodically based on usage (to prevent breakdown) or are serviced regularly, or changed on the next visit to save additional labour costs.  

Most pool hall and plantroom set ups and daily checks are very different; so we also like to work with on-site operators to regularly demonstrate and refresh them as to what exactly what they need to be doing on a daily basis (i.e. water tests/calibration/backwashing procedures/dosing needs) to ensure that they are doing their best to keep the facilities operating smoothly and successfully.

Urgent Callouts

In The busy world we live in, operators don’t have time to waste on looking after pool plant. We aim to minimise equipment problems through preventative maintenance as above, although there will still be times when you need an emergency response.  Our technical support is at hand to discuss urgently via telephone or email, and our engineers can attend as quickly as required.  With down time of school pools being a critical factor, we are ideally located in the midlands enabling us to get to most destinations rapidly.

Filtration

Pool filters take a lot of abuse in their life so should be inspected annually and changed periodically. The most common question asked is how often the sand should be changed. The real answer is nobody knows because every site is different.  It all depends on how well it’s been looked after.  Filter media tends to start clogging up from around the outside first making the filtration surface area smaller and smaller, until in the end the filtration area so small that it can no longer cope with the task and the clarity of the pool water starts failing (i.e. cloudy/misty water).

Sand has been around for millions of years and does not degenerate but it does clog up with deposits of fats and grime from filtering pool water.  One option is to throw away the sand and fit new sand, but this can be a major expense on very large, steel filters, so if filter is in good condition, we can perform a chemical treatment to clean the sand which will restore the sand’s quality.  However, please note on Bobbin Wound or GRP filters, we would not recommend that these are chemically treated as the heat generated by the chemicals can cause damage during the cleaning process.

At Rockingham we can:

Refurbish old steel filters – (remove media, fit new manways if needed, sand blast filter internally, reline filter internally, fit new underdrain sets, refill with media.)

Inspect Filters for signs of deterioration of internal coatings and channelling of sand

Removal and replacement

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Chemical Dosing

Ideally, any school pool should be run from an automatic dosing system to ensure that chlorine/pH levels are continuously checked and dosed accordingly.  However, we understand that budgets can be an issue, so we will discuss and work with on-site maintenance staff to help advise on the best way to hand dose and complete their regular water checks and water chemistry logs.

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Automatic Dosing

We can work on and install various different dosing controllers based on client’s equipment, budgets and needs, from the old redox systems to membrane cap technology using CANBUS/LAN connectivity and remote log on.

We can carry out servicing on most units available in the pool/water industry - whether you are dosing sodium hypochlorite from a barrel to large chlorine generation units.  We also carry stock on our engineers vans of the most common items needing regular replacement; so are able to carry out repairs on the very same site visit to save costs.  However, the one item we don’t keep stock like other firms is dosing controller probes, as these all dohave limited shelf life and don’t believe it’s right to supply parts with a reduced life span.  These are all available on next day delivery from suppliers and we recommend they are purchased “fresh” to ensure you get the best replacement probes with a full working time span.

We can also carry out servicing of chemical dosing pumps, CO² dosing, chemical feeders, on site chlorine generation, UV and Ozone systems.

Balance Tanks (Overflow Pools)

The current PWTAG guidelines state that a correctly designed balance tank should be drained down once a year and inspected.  Most companies only drain down and remove debris; however we would recommend that the tank is also cleared out of any sediment and debris, the inner surfaces are degreased, brushed and washed down. A balance tank is a critical part of pool filtration and needs to be well maintained.  For example: having a bath can cause a scum line around the bath after just one use, then imagine the build up that would form within the balance tank of a heavily used pool.  This thick scum build up prevents chlorine from penetrating; allowing for bacteria to grow in the high humid temperatures in the tank

Our team of engineers are all qualified to work in confined spaces as required by health and safety regulations for this type of work and we can carry out all cleaning, emptying, relining and repairs work within balance tanks.

Energy Saving VS/VF Pumps

We will now often change our school client's standard filtration pumps over to variable speed or varible flow pumps as they are really a "no brainer" for energy saving; especially when pumps are typically running 24/7 on school pools.

They cost significantly less to operate because its variable speed technology moves water more efficiently at lower speeds - thus lowering energy bills by up to 80% (saving determined based on flow rate requirements).

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They are also much quieter than standard pumps so if noise leves in the plantroom is an issue; this is defintely the pump to fit.