Small changes in pool design can make a big difference overall

Although nearly a half-century old, the green movement (or its sister cause, energy conservation) has only recently reached the point where it's a major driver of product development, sales and legislation.

Builders are still in different stages of acceptance. Some have been pushing green pool design for a long time under the guise of energy savings, while others have begun adopting measures such as selling variable-speed pumps and oversize filters as these have become popular.

One building company that has been selling green pools for many years is Riviera Pools of Tampa, Fla., and the company's experience may be helpful for builders still feeling their way into the new age of energy awareness where each kilowatt-hour is examined for possible wastage.

First and foremost, says Bob Albano, sales manager and 20-year veteran of the business, whatever green policies the company has pursued over the years, they have all been subservient to its business goal of profitability.

Or, put another way, while the company uses many green design practices in its pools, that's mostly because its customers see value in the lower operating costs green practices guarantee.

Altruism is nice, but if it's going to work for a pool building company, it has to help pay the bills.

"I've found that most customers aren't into the environmental side of it," Albano says. "They're much more concerned about their operating expenses. So that's the angle I take with it; that we can give them a pool that won't cost that much to operate.

"Our typical customers are upper middle class; they're more value shoppers than price shoppers. And if you can show them the value of purchasing the more expensive equipment that saves energy and money, they usually do."

The Rivenergy Package

With that philosophy in mind, Riviera long ago developed an entire package of energy-saving elements which it dubbed the "Rivenergy System." These elements work together to dramatically reduce the amount of power-plant coal (and utility rate payment) required to supply the pool's needs.

The company focused on the circulatory system, examining every component with a view toward eliminating energy-wasting constriction. It starts with 2- to 3-inch piping, sweep fittings and, depending on the customer's wishes, a variable-speed pump or an efficient two-speed or single-speed pump, properly sized for the application.

While big pipes, sweep elbows and efficient pumps are now the accepted ideal for efficient pool circulation, Riviera adds a design component that is often overlooked by both builders and the media in general. The company makes its pools with a plethora of ports into the pool, in combination with, most importantly, a heated water return at the bottom.

The science here is straightforward. If heated water is returned at the top of the pool it tends to stay on top and produce a heated layer with cool water at the bottom, whereas water returned at the bottom mixes naturally and provides better heating efficiency and better chemical dispersion. Albano has seen clear field results for years.

"It definitely saves energy," he says. "I've had customers tell me their water heats up one to two degrees per hour quicker when you return from the bottom."

Filter Savings

As for the final major component of the system, in the great green filtration debate, Riviera comes down on the side of DE because of its combination of high performance (trapping particles down to single-digit microns) and low-flow restriction.

"We don't use the vertical-grid DE filters," Albano says, "We use Sta-Rite's modular DE filter because it gives me another 5 to 7 gpm of flow, and their heater doesn't use a burner tray, which slows the water down. We look at everything we put on the pool to make sure it doesn't hurt your flow rate."

While Riviera looks to save energy at the filter, it can be an excellent place to save water. Up the Atlantic seaboard in Deptford, N.J., Randy Budd of Budd's Pool Co., AQUA Hall of Famer and second-generation pool business owner, is saving thousands of gallons a year by using green filtration methods.

Budd uses new water-saving MultiCyclone prefilters, which require no input of electrical energy, but create a centrifuge out of normal water line velocity to separate out debris over 20 microns in diameter before it enters the main filter chamber. This means the filter needs fewer cleanings - and each backwash saved conserves up to 400 gallons.

"They really do work," Budd says. "I was skeptical at first, but I brought a couple of them in and, especially if you have a sand filter, it's a product that saves thousands of gallons of water - you only have to backwash maybe once a year. It takes 80 percent of the dirt out before it gets to your filter.

"And if you have a cartridge filter you only have to clean it maybe once a season, which doubles the life of your cartridges, so that's a really green product. What I really like about it is that it's bulletproof, an idiot can install it and the customer can't screw it up."

Just downstream from the prefilter, Budd uses an oversize sand filtering system augmented with zeobrite, which also extends cleaning cycles dramatically. "It's much more environmentally friendly than DE without the mess of a cartridge filter," he says.

Over And Over

These elements of pool system design can certainly have an enormous impact on the environment, but when it comes to the actual construction of the pool, Albano notes, it's harder to be green. "You're pouring concrete or you're shooting concrete, and you're hanging tile. There's not a whole lot in there you can do."

Budd, on the other hand, has adopted a reusable forming system for making inground swimming pools, which allows his pool company to construct vinyl-liner pools of differing shapes from the same elements, saving a good deal of landfill space.

"It's a direction we just took this year," he says. "It allows us to build pools that do not require manufactured walls. We just buy these Aqua Forms from Frank Wall and reuse them; you could build 3,000 pools with one set of forms. So now you're bypassing the kit, and no longer putting petroleum-based products or steel in the ground. Obviously, with the price of oil being up and the issues with petroleum-based products, we were looking to do things a little bit differently."

Budd says that, in addition to reusing the forms, the use of concrete in pool walls has a smaller environmental impact than steel or plastic. "You set the forms up and do a monolithic pour and your walls are done. And then we just put a vinyl liner inside it. You can built it as a gunite but we do it as a vinyl-liner pool."

This building process is better for the environment, but that's not the primary reason Budd uses it. He uses it because, like so many other building and retail trends that have grown out of the environmental movement, it makes sense from a business perspective. The green aspect is almost a happy accident.

"You know, it's weird," he says, "but a lot of times if you're just trying to do things that separate yourself as a builder and help your customers, a lot of times that's also the green way to do things."

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