BlueFit takes on management of Gladstone Aquatic Centre

Facility management company BlueFit’s recent acquisition of Lane 4 Aquatics has seen it become the manager of the Gladstone Aquatic Centre as of 1st September.

With Lane 4 Aquatics having previously operated Gladstone Regional Council’s two pools, the Gladstone Aquatic Centre and Mount Larcom Pool, BlueFit Pty Ltd is now the preferred facility management operator for both pools on a five-year lease term with an additional five-year renewal option.

Speaking to local media, Lane 4 Aquatics co-Manager Kalam Shaw advised “it's business as usual and essentially nothing has changed except eventually the branding.

"Both owners have asked each other for advice across the years and both are quite friendly with each other and have been in the industry for numerous years.

"It was seen as a good idea to venture in together and get more quality in what they're trying to do across the east coast."

Shaw added that no Lane 4 employees are being impacted by the merger.

The filtration system at Gladstone Aquatic Centre’s indoor pool was recently upgraded with a Neptune Benson Defender unit, replacing the pool's original system which featured equipment dating back almost 30 years.

With the Council having approved the $354,000 cost of the system in April, it was installed by Sunshine Coast company Alto Pacific Pty Ltd and became operational on 16th July.

Immediately after installation, Lane 4 Aquatics co-Manager Tanya Page advised that the environmentally friendly system, will save hundreds of thousands of litres of water compared to the outdated filter, telling the Gladstone Observer “we (now) have cleaner water, we can pull finer solids out of the water which means the water clarity is improved.

"Instead of doing free chlorine and pH we now have total dissolved solids, alkalinity and calcium so we can really keep a close eye on the water.

"The biggest thing it's done is reducing chloramines - sometimes when you walk into an indoor pool you can smell chlorine - you can't actually smell chlorine, you smell chloramines. "Having the Benson Defender system will extend the life of the pool and we can already see the water quality is sparkling."

Image: Gladstone Aquatic Centre.