What runs your pool

A fibreglass shell is only half the pool. The other half is the gear that keeps the water clear and warm, and it comes with every pool we deliver. Here is each piece, what it does, and why we chose it.

Essentials, included with every pool

Variable speed pump

The pump moves the water through the filter and chlorinator. A variable speed pump runs slow and quiet all day, which cleans better and uses far less power than a single-speed pump, then ramps up for a backwash. Sized to your pool’s volume.

Reltech Ecoflo V3 Pro, Australian made

Media filter with glass media

A sand filter running crushed glass instead of sand. Glass traps finer particles, backwashes with less water and lasts years longer than sand. The multiport valve on top does filter, backwash, rinse and waste with one handle.

Magna-Flo 25 inch (28 inch on larger pools), with glass media. Cartridge on request where there is no gully for the backwash line

Self-cleaning mineral chlorinator

Makes chlorine from a low level of mineral salt, softer on skin and eyes than a standard salt pool, so you never carry chlorine home. Reverse polarity keeps the cell clean on its own. Sized to your pool’s volume.

Crystal Aquatics MineralFresh, Australian made

Automatic pH control

Works with the chlorinator to dose acid on its own, so the pH stays where the chlorine works best. No probe to calibrate, and one less job on the weekly list.

Crystal Aquatics pH Logix

Colour LED pool light

A compact LED light flush-mounted to the shell with 20 metres of cable to the equipment pad. White as standard, multi-colour with a remote as an option, and a second light for longer pools.

Spa Electrics Atom

Handover kit

Test kit, starter chemicals, a telescopic pole, leaf rake, brush, vacuum head and hose. Everything for the first month, and we walk you through the water balance on the phone.

CPR sign

The resuscitation sign that has to be up at the pool barrier, weatherproof and to the Australian Resuscitation Council guidelines. It is in every package, because your certifier will look for it and it is a poor thing to be missing on the day.

Pool Protector handover kit, and the CPR sign

The engineering pack

Not equipment, but it comes in the same delivery: the stamped shell drawings, the standard installation details and the compliance certificate your state needs. It is what your certifier asks for on day one.

Certificate of Compliance in NSW, Form 15 in QLD, Reg 126 in VIC

How a pool actually works

If you have never owned one, all of it is a single loop, and every piece in the kit has one job in that loop.

1. Water leaves through the skimmer box at the waterline, which catches leaves before they sink to the floor.
2. The pump pulls it through and pushes it on. Variable speed means it can run slowly most of the day, which is quiet and costs a fraction of an old single speed pump.
3. The filter catches what you cannot see. Ours is packed with crushed glass instead of sand, so it traps finer dirt and backwashes with less water.
4. The chlorinator makes the chlorine from the salt already in the water, so you are not carrying bottles home from the shop. The pH controller doses to keep the water balanced, which is the part most people forget and then pay for later.
5. Clean water returns through the eyeball returns and pushes the surface back towards the skimmer, and the loop starts again.

It runs on a timer. Your part is emptying the skimmer basket, checking the water now and then, and swimming.

What is not in the kit, and who does it

We would rather you knew this up front than found out on the day.

• Pipework, valves and fittings. Your plumber buys pipe to suit the run from the pool to the equipment, because that distance is different on every block.
• The equipment pad and the power. A licensed electrician connects the gear on its own circuit.
• Excavation, the crane, backfill, the bond beam, paving and the fence. Your builder or your trades, or our licensed crew in NSW and Queensland on sites that suit.
• The water to fill it. A tanker or your own tap, depending on where you are.

The shell itself already comes with the skimmer box and its fittings, the hydrostatic valve and two eyeball returns, so nobody charges you for those twice.

Three ways to spec it

How to choose. Swim in summer only: Essentials. Want spring and autumn too: Comfort. Want the pool to look after itself: Effortless.

Every tier includes the light and the handover kit. Pools over 35,000 litres step up to the larger filter and chlorinator in Essentials and Comfort. Add-ons at any tier: a second light, colour lighting, a cartridge filter instead of media, a larger heater, a robotic cleaner, app control, an acoustic box for the pad.

Worth adding

Heating

An inverter heat pump pulls warmth out of the air and puts it in the water, and stretches your swimming season well past summer. Sized to your pool’s volume and where you live. A blanket and roller keep that heat in and cut the running cost, so we price them together.

EvoHeat Fusion i Pro range

Robotic cleaner

Drop it in, it does the floor and walls in two hours and climbs out ready to empty. The single best upgrade for anyone who does not want to own a pool brush.

Maytronics Dolphin

Freshwater system

In the Effortless package: a freshwater system that runs on a fraction of the salt of a standard pool, for water that feels close to fresh.

Naked freshwater system with pH control

Colour lighting and control

Multi-colour LED with a remote or wifi control, or a second light for pools over eight metres. Plumbed and cabled the same way, so it is a straight swap at order time.

Spa Electrics Atom Multi Plus

Salt, mineral or freshwater: what is in your water

This is the question we get asked most, and the names confuse people because all three make chlorine the same way. None of them is a chlorine-free pool. What changes is what you put in the water and how it feels to swim in.

Yes, a magnesium pool is a mineral pool. The magnesium is in the mineral blend you add, not in the equipment. Any chlorinator that runs at low salt can run a magnesium blend, and ours does.

Your first fill is in the kit. The handover kit includes the starter salt and chemicals along with the test kit, pole, rake, brush, vacuum head and hose, so you are not shopping on the day the water goes in. Plenty of sellers list salt and minerals as extras.

You can change your mind later. Moving from mineral to freshwater is a change of equipment, not a change of pool, so nothing about the shell or the plumbing has to be decided forever on day one.

Comparing two kits? Four questions

Every supplier calls their entry package something confident. The gear underneath is where they differ, and these four questions separate them in about a minute. Our answers are in the brackets.

1. Is the pump variable speed or single speed? A variable speed pump runs slowly for most of the day and uses a fraction of the power. A single speed pump is the cheapest thing to put in a package and the dearest thing to run. (Ours is variable speed, in every package, including the base one.)
2. Is there automatic pH control, or just a chlorinator? A chlorinator makes the chlorine. It does not keep the water balanced. Without pH control that is a weekly job with a test kit and a bottle. (Automatic pH control is in every package we sell.)
3. Glass media or sand in the filter? Crushed glass traps finer dirt than sand, backwashes with less water and lasts years longer. (Glass, in every package.)
4. Who handles a warranty claim, you or them? Every piece of equipment carries its maker's own warranty. The question is whether you are handed a phone number or someone deals with it for you. (Ring us first and we deal with the supplier.)

Ask the same four of anyone you are comparing us against, including the cheaper quote. If the answers are single speed, no pH control and sand, the two numbers are not for the same pool.

Warranties, plainly

Two different things cover your pool, and it is worth knowing which is which.

• The shell. A 25-year structural warranty from the manufacturer, on the shell itself. It covers the making of the pool, not the installing of it, whoever installs it.
• The equipment. Every pump, filter, chlorinator, light, heat pump and cleaner carries its own maker’s warranty, and the terms are theirs, not ours. We send you the warranty documents and the manuals with your handover, so you have the paperwork before you need it.

If something fails, ring us first. We deal with the supplier for you rather than handing you a phone number, and we would rather sort it than have you chase it. Warranty claims do need the equipment to have been installed and run the way the manufacturer sets out, which is another reason the engineering pack and the handover matter.

The rest of the terms, including the deposit and what happens if council says no, are on how it works and in the terms of supply.

Why these brands

We buy on our own trade accounts across the major brands, so we are not tied to one maker’s catalogue. The pieces above are what we would put on our own pool: Reltech pumps and Crystal Aquatics chlorinators are both Australian made, parts and service available anywhere in the country, and the maker’s warranty on each one passed straight to you. Exact models can change with supply. The specification in your quote is what you get.