Siemens Delivers consistent water quality at Goulburn Aquatic Centre

Goulburn Aquatic Centre has improved safety and ensured consistent water quality over the longterm with Pulsar® dry chlorine briquette feed systems in its 25 metre indoor and 50 metre outdoor pools.

The long established Goulburn Aquatic Centre in southern NSW, with its 50 metre outdoor pool and attractive surrounds, built a 25 metre (440 kilolitre) indoor pool about 12 years ago. This pool enabled learn-to-swim and other aquatic activities to be continued all year round in this well known Southern Highlands town. The indoor pool has been heavily used ever since by the local community and has added to the overall popularity of the centre.

Centre Manager, David Gustafson, initially experienced issues typical of pools using liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite). Handling and safety were the key concerns. A major concern for David was that there was always the chance that a leaking chlorine line, fitting or tank could spill large amounts of corrosive liquid chlorine in the plant room, or worse still, cause injury to a staff member.

To reduce these risks the Goulburn Mulwaree Council, formerly known as the Goulburn City Council, approved the trial of a ‘Pulsar 3’ dry chlorine briquette feeder and chemical on the indoor pool, to be controlled by the existing Strantrol System3 pool pH & chlorine controller. This system offers the safest handling chlorination alternative, with the briquettes easily scooped by operators from their delivery drum directly into the feeder, as required. The high quality briquetted chlorine is also an excellent sanitiser and has a very long shelf life of up to two years, compared to the liquid chlorine product which can decay significantly in strength in just a few weeks.

The Pulsar system trial was closely monitored and David noticed after just six weeks of use that the pool’s salinity level (total dissolved solids - TDS) had dropped from a typical level of 1200mg/L+ to around 900mg/L, with fewer backwash cycles, therefore reducing water consumption considerably. This has proven to be a very important factor for Goulburn Aquatic Centre as it is located in a town that has experienced severe water scarcity issues in recent years, due to drought conditions.

Other added benefits of the Pulsar system have been reduced usage of carbon dioxide and/or acid to correct the pool’s pH, as dry chlorine briquettes have a lower pH than liquid chlorine. This has led to further costs savings which have balanced out evenly overall against the higher cost of the dry chemical compared to the liquid product.

The improved sanitation strength of dry chlorine briquettes, combined with the improved feed efficiency have led to lower combined chlorine levels for the indoor pool, improved air and water quality and therefore happier pool customers and pool staff. A UV system was also installed which improved air and water quality still further. The trial had been a total success - the Pulsar system was purchased and has been operating reliably ever since.

When a workplace occupational health and safety audit of the Goulburn Aquatic Centre site was carried out for the Council by an independent consultant in 2005, it was recommended that the existing gas chlorination system on the 50 metre outdoor pool be replaced with another Pulsar unit. The gas chlorine system was deemed to be too close to passing pedestrian traffic and therefore not sufficiently safe in that plantroom location. Changing the location and design of the pool plantroom to accommodate new safety requirements for gas chlorine was not economically viable by comparison to the Pulsar system installation.

In September 2005 a ‘Pulsar 4’ dry chlorine briquette feeder and Siemens Ezetrol pH and chlorine controller was installed in the 50 metre pool plantroom to take over the chlorination task for this outdoor pool (see pictures).

The Pulsar 4 system has also shown itself to be very reliable and easy to use over the longterm. It has provided good water chemistry with stable pH, low salinity (TDS) levels and excellent disinfection, to provide a comfortable and safe swimming environment for patrons with comparatively good operating economy. The low salinity also makes backwash water more easily recycled in the future, or treated, in an area of particularly scarce water resources.

For more information David Gustafson can be contacted at the pool on 02 4823 4834.

Siemens offers Pulsar feeders and chemical in Australia, along with a range of pool chemical control and dosing and UV systems.

Note: As of 2011, Pulsar products are distributed by Tim Batt Water Solutions

Click here to contact Tim Batt Water Solutions via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.