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The major contribution to lowered energy use for Variable-Speed pumps is reduced flow rates. The inability to control the unnecessarily high flow rate for filtration purposes is the main reason why single speed pumps are not energy efficient.

It should also be noted that the permanent magnet motors incorporated on Variable-Speed pumps are inherently more efficient than the induction motors on single speed pumps.

This is because not all of the energy that goes into the motor is conserved as work at the shaft. Some of this energy is lost with the heat due to various mechanical resistances.

Because of their design, Variable-Speed pumps inherently lose less energy, compared to traditional pumps.

Thi...

A U-Haul carrying about 600 pounds of dry chlorine caught fire in Signal Hill, California, prompting the evacuation of a nearby Costco.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene and had the fire out within two hours, according to reports.

County fire spokeswoman Charisma Murillo said that no injuries were reported, although authorities closed off nearby streets and evacuated the area, including the Costco “out of an abundance of caution.”

Video and eye-witnesses described heavy smoke billowing out of the back of the truck.

“It was just a huge amount of smoke. It went on for blocks and blocks,” said Casey Carver, a Long Beach Resident.

L.A. County Fire wrote in an online statem...

Robotic cleaners operate independent of the pool plumbing often travelling on tracks or wheels, carrying their own filter and pump with them.

Power is supplied by a 24-volt power supply or by 120-volt household current, both plugged into an ordinary AC outlet.

Among the greatest advantages of robotic cleaners is that they collect debris in their own filter bag, thereby increasing the pool’s filter cycles by removing the debris that would otherwise be picked up by the pool filter. Like other cleaners, they also help mix chemicals throughout the pool.

Like anything else, when it comes to robotic pool cleaners, there are key features that it pays to be on the look-out for to evaluate the advantage...

The swim season has been a short one for many commercial pools across the country as both the pandemic and the chlorine shortage delayed openings and then forced early closures. From California to New York and just about everywhere in between, public pools are closing before the traditional end of the pool season on Labor Day due to the rising costs of chlorine or flat-out inability to obtain sufficient supply.

In San Diego County, California, scarcity of the chemical shuttered dozens of pools this August. In a region where the temperate climate allows for year-round swimming, the city of Coronado closed its pools until further notice, saying it has received little to no supply to keep both i...

The July 19, 2021, pump regulation date has passed, meaning that most single-speed pumps will no longer pass muster with the Department of Energy. But so long as distributors continue to have stock on the shelves, single-speed pumps will still be available for purchase. That means pool owners will still have the option of replacing their existing pumps with single-speed models, a decision that might, at first glance, seem like a good idea given the lower initial sticker price.

But if pool owners understood the long-term monetary savings that can be realized with variable-speed technology, they might be convinced to make a different decision.

That’s because if there is one reason to convert fro...

Shares of pool and spa products distributor Pool Corp, which lists its stock under the ticker symbol “POOL,” rose by 22.4% in April according to data from the S& P Global Market Intelligence. The upward move followed the release of excellent first quarter earnings results.

According to Peter D. Arvan, President and Chief Executive Officer, first quarter sales came in at $1.1 billion, the first time in the company’s history that they crossed the $1 billion mark in the first quarter. This represents a 57% increase over the same period last year and was the result of strong demand in virtually all their markets in North America, and even stronger market conditions and execution in Europe.

Europe ...

Chlorine bleach has a history that dates back to the late 1700’s.

In 1774, Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele discovered the chemical element chlorine, a, greenyellow gas. Just over a decade later, the French scientist Claude Berthollet found that chlorine was an excellent whitening agent for fabrics.

Berthollet began a small facility in Javel, a town near Paris, for the manufacture of a new product called 'Eau de Javelle.' The product was a bleaching powder that consisted of potash (soda ash) which had absorbed chlorine gas.

In 1799, a slightly different bleaching powder was invented by Scottish chemist Charles Tennant, made by passing chlorine into a mixture of lime and water. Lime (compose...

If you’ve been following the trade news over the last few months, you’ve probably seen one topic in particular flooding every outlet’s feed: Trichlor.

But beyond understanding that there's a shortage of this common sanitizing agent, you may not know a lot about the situation as a whole. So let’s discuss what it is, why it’s so hard to find, its common substitutes and (most importantly) what you can do to make sure that a Trichlor shortage doesn’t leave your business coming up short.

What is Trichlor?

First things first: let’s make sure we’re on the same page about Trichlor and how chlorination actually works. Yes, by now you’re probably an expert on chlorine’s practical effects, but understandi...

All the pool trades and social media have been buzzing with blogs and articles on the current chlorine shortage. Some of these articles make it look as if every pool in the U.S. is threatened to become an algae cesspool—and the service trade is due to dry up and blow away like a tumbleweed. I have news for the pool service trade to offset the gloom prophecies. The fact is that there IS NOT a shortage of chlorine. What!? Because the shortage is primarily just ONE type of chlorine and that is trichlor tablets. And here is some really good news: There is more than ONE way to chlorinate a pool and there are options besides trichlor tablets.

While there is good news, there is also some bad news. I...

A trucker shortage and a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline are expected to impact the availability and price of gasoline.

According to AAA, during the first week of May, the National average of gasoline jumped by 6 cents per gallon, averaging $2.96 a gallon. If this trend continues, it would make the national gas average the most expensive since November, 2014.

Until the closure of the Colonial Pipeline, the problem was a delivery problem, rather than a supply problem. There simply aren’t enough truck drivers to move the fuel.

And experts say that without drivers available, gas supplies could become tight in some areas.

Ryan Streblow, the executive vice president for the National Tank Truck C...