What this means is that if you buy any swimming pool liner (excluding above ground pool and splasher pools) which is made to size then we will give you a bubble solar cover for free.

Now don’t go thinking this is just some gimic with a cheap and nasty cover - what you will get depends on the gauge of liner you go for ranging from 400M Blue cover through to 500M Gold/Blue cover and is the same as the covers you would normally purchase from us.

So - if you’re thinking about buying a new solar cover for next season why not think about knocking the cost off the price of a new liner and have your swimming pool looking BRAND NEW with a lovely new liner and a crisp new cover.

Please contact us for more information on 0800 328 4150.

Apparently swimming pool floats used widely by many people to learn to swim have now been branded a health and safety risk as they have potential to spread disease and infection.

Despite a parent point out that its surely more risky for a child to drown from lack of bouyancy and rather it were better to keep them people have still insisted they be banned.

It makes you wonder just how crazy this world is going to get with legislation on every action we take.

“Business using Internet have grown 46% faster than those who haven’t”
American Business Journal 2008

“Internet shopping has increased by 38% compared with the same period in 2007”
IMRG September 2008

“UK e-commerce grew 3,600% between April 2000 – December 2006”
IMRG 2008

Clearly the way forward in the swimming pool industry is to remain strong with an online shop and prices which are as competitive as possible. Here at 1st Direct we invest all that we have into stocking the products you want at the best prices available to us.

This year however the two events are clashing so we’re left facing a choice between Lyon in France and the bright lights of Las Vegas.

1st-Direct is taking six key members of its team out to the 5 day event from 18th - 23rd November to be showcased all of the exciting and innovative products being brought to the market over the coming year.

No doubt this blog will become filled upon our return with many an exciting new swimming pool ideas and products which we hope to include next year.

Obviously it’s not all hard graft out there and we all very much look forward to getting together as an industry to share our thoughts and ideas.

All this with special thanks to our supplier SCP (UK) Ltd who are taking us out there as their guest.

Apparently the star decided to have her extrememly expensive new swimming pool built without the thought for planning permission. At 40ft x 22ft it’s a fair size swimming pool which attracted the attention of the local authorities who came around to check she’d taken down the marquee from earlier in the year.

Heather Mills is now fighting the case applying for retrospecitve planning permission and stating that she will offer her swimming pool water to be used by the fire brigade should there be a fire in her village. What a novel idea!

If she doesn’t get the permission granted then she will be forced to fill the brand new pool up with concrete which would be enough to make anyone cry!

There are many different swimming pool covers out there claiming to be safety covers but few actually can be classed as truely safe to prevent drowning if fallen upon.

Certikins chairman Mr Patrick Thorpe recently laid his seal of approval down on the walu safety cover as he installed on to his own 24′ x 12′ pool in his French home.

Walu safety covers are very popular in Europe being one of few to properly conform with the French NF p90-308 safety standard with its ability to comfortably hold a weight of 100kg.

Available in either a translucent or opaque version the walu safety cover also offers either solar heat gain and heat retention or protection from the sun which normally stimulates algae and pathogenic micro-organismsgrowth and therefore reducing the chemical consumption of the pool.

The walu safety cover weighs in at 1.25kg per square meter and can be rolled in and out using the geared crack handle by just one person. It rolls up onto itself therefore negating the need for a roller. A motorised version of the crack handle can be purchased as an additional extra helping you further with its use.

For more information on the walu safety cover or a quote for your pool please contact our sales team on 0800 328 4150.

By simply using two clear acrylic plates around 1 ft apart and filled with water the artist has created the illusion that you are walking under the water or ontop of the water. This pool has astonished onlookers who come across it.

For many years there have been different types of filter media for use in swimming pool sand filters ranging from volcanic rock to simple silica sand.

EGFM is simply made from reclycled glass and was brought to us about a year ago. It has massive benefits over silica sand which are as follows:

• Silica sand is in ever decreasing availability due to finite resources
• Increased efficientcy due to it having consistent angular and sub-angular shape and being more permeable and non porous compared with sand
• Cleaner - the glass lacks the imperfections such as cracks and flaws which normally allow bacteria and nasties to get trapped and breed in sand therefore staying cleaner itself and rejecting more on backwash.
• Less media required in the sand filter by around 10-15%
• EGFM has a life-cycle which is longer than your filter will last so saves the dreaded filter sand change every couple of years (and cost!).
• Lower chemical levels required in the pool water.
• 70% less backwash required.

EGFM is priced higher than silica sand but its qualities are far superior to the silica sand and over the course of just two sand changes it will have saved you money.

1s-Direct have contacts right at the source of where this product comes from and hope to be bringing it to you shortly and the best price we can.

For more information on this exciting new swimming pool filter media product, the eco glass filter media, please contact us now.

In the space of the past 3 years 1st-direct has displayed over 2,000,000 pages about swimming pools to it’s customers which we think is a fair old amount.

Most of our customers within that time have found us by searching the very generic phrases such as ‘Swimming Pools‘ and ‘Above Ground Pools‘ closely followed by phrases relating to swimming pool pumps, solar / winter covers and filters.

We would like to say a big thank you to all those people out there who have taken time to look at over 2,000,000 pages of our website and look forward to keeping you posted on all of the latest products and unbeatable prices that have interested you so far!

The school had just laid out over £150,000 on a brand new swimming pool for their children. This initially sounded expensive when you look at the pool and see how not very big it is! We then walked into the plant room and all was revealed…… they’d been had by a local (reputable and well known might I add!) pool builder!!

It turns out that the pool company who built the pool had personal connections within the board of governors and they’d really gone to town on the pool. In fact, we’d quoted for the very same job at almost 65% of the price they ended up agreeing on! A bit strange don’t you think……

As we walked into the plant room our jaws dropped to the floor in astonishment - what had they done?

This pool which didn’t look any bigger than a 34′ x 18′ (4′ depth) had a sand filter which was over 5ft (yes - 5 FEET!!) wide and over 6ft tall and must have cost them a fortune let alone the cost of all that sand to fill it. The official SPATA regulations (swimming pool allied traders association) would recommend that you only require a 36″ filter on that size pool (based on the water volume provided by the pool company) and that’s circulating the water every 3 hours (4 hours is the requirement on commercial pools and only upto 8 hours on a domestic pool so well under that at 3 hours!) which would only cost in the region of £1,300 for a good one (not the RRP of £6,500 on the Astral one installed).

Added to this they’d put 2x 1.5hp ITT pumps on the pool. The pool of this size (with the 36″ filter it should have had!) would have only required a 2hp (just one) however in the circumstance where they put this huge filter in you would require far more than 2x 1.5hp pumps to circulate the water. Maybe it’s no wonder that they’re now on their 4th replacement pump in under 6 months!! Some poor supplier’s probably getting hit for warranty claims at the moment.

The poor school has also had replacement chemical dosage systems countless times as they keep failing and the big big surprise is with the building. A sliding glass enclosure which cost £10,000’s is already starting to degrade - and why….. because they’ve installed absolutely no dehumidification or heat recovery into the building so all of that heat and steam is just eating away at the lovely enclosure - not to mention the misty glass windows and wasted heat energy.

The school has this week closed the pool for the winter saying that they just can’t be bothered with all this agro they’re getting with the pool as every time something breaks (which seems to be once a week!) they have to shut the pool down.

We have recommended to the school that they involve SPATA and catch up with these “professionals” who installed the pool and seemed to take every penny and opportunity to exploit the school that they could. That is if they’re not sat on a beach somewhere rubbing their hands together!!

We offer them our support in any way to get that pool useable for the children.

Initial reaction is one of sceptisim  cynism amid fears of it not being funded properly and with confirmation of funding only initially for  the first two years but the public opinion is one of great interest in this swimming scheme.

At a cost of AUS$4million this is no cheap project but one that puts them at the forefront of swimming pool technology.

The pool is adjustable from 0m down to a depth of 2.75m and works using a series of hydraulic lifts. This is the same pool used in the Olympics a few years ago which following its success is why the governement decided to invest the money in it.

The US Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) has changed its guidlines on labelling following its statement that “shock” is a pesticide claim and that the swimming pool product used in its stated application makes no biocidal claims and must only use the terms “shock oxidiser” or “oxidising shock” to qualify the function and the purpose of the chemical product.

Perhaps we’ll see this imposed in the UK swimming pool market soon.

You can only imagine the things that must have gone through their minds when they saw this!

I don’t think I could have personally kept a straight face whilst pulling this one off! Have a look:

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The current economic climate combined with the rising price of everything is having massive implication on the swimming pool industry.

This week 1st-direct has learnt that price increases on swimming pool products are being handed out like sweets at the moment. One supplier has put their prices up 10% across the board, another by 5% at the end of this month followed by a further 10-15% in the new year and swimming pool chemicals rising by as much as 20% from January ‘09.

Added ontop of these increases the swimming pool industry in going to suffer on items such as stainless steel which is extremely high at the moment.

With the supplier price rises and impending credit crunch we are expecting the swimming pool industry to take a very different shape in 2009. Prices will be considerably higher for everyone so now is the time to buy if you were planning on any upgrades / replacements during the next year.

Here at 1st-Direct we will be doing everything that we can to absorb these increases and continue to offer the best prices around.

He is now the world record holder for the highest shallow dive into 12 inches of water. I can’t imagine there’s much competition to try and take it away from him. His record now sits at a massive 35 feet!

Where do they find these people?!

Potentially put down to a wiring issue the entire swimming pool, plantroom and equipment are now all completely ruined. You can see from these pictures the mess it left and how quickly and easily it all seems to have burnt.

This customer is now looking at a massive cost for all of their new swimming pool equipment including works to re-do the pipework which has also suffered as a result - a cost estimated to be in the six figures!!

Always take care with a swimming pool installation. Remember that you are combining various highly volatile substances such as gas/oil, chemicals, electric and lots of plastics that if triggered will be un-stopable as this customer found out.

It is the reaction between the swimming pool chlorine and the sweat and urine which produces harmful fumes which don’t do a childs lungs much good.

Swimming has often been linked to helping asthma and other throat irritations as the warm moist hair is very good at relieving the syptoms.

There is a solution though for swimming pools. There are many non-chlorine water treatment chemicals on the market now widely marked as either swimming pool bromine or active oxygen products. Either of these methods are the ideal solution. The benefits include no strong smell of chlorine in and around the pool (or on your body and in your hair after swimming), far less irritation to people with sensitive skin and no more funny coloured hair for people with fair hair colour.

Whilst these products do cost a bit more than your normal swimming pool chlorine you will probably notice that we sell the likes of swimming pool bromine for about the same price you would buy your chlorine from a local swimming pool company.

Click to view our range of non-chlorine swimming pool chemicalsor bromine.

Speaking to our swimming pool customers we seem to be getting the picture that due to the bad weather many have not been using their swimming pool much or even not opened them at all this year. We have however also noticed a marked improvement in the sales of air domes / swimming pool enclosures which enable the use of a pool in bad weather and also assist the heat retention which saves you money in heating the pool.

We offer products for bad weather swimming viewable by click here: swimming pool air domes.

Another important point to note in this weather with outdoor swimming pools and above ground swimming pools is to monitor your chemical levels closely. You will find the the rain water will sometimes through your pH levels off very quickly and reduce your chlorine effectiveness. We’ve had customers who’s swimming pools went green over-night just from heavy rain storms! For all of your swimming pool chemicals please visit our water treatment page.

You can also view our various swimming pool guides in our advice section of the website.

Police in Dorset have reported illegal pool parties, or dips, having been arranged using Google earth to identify suitable locations and social networking services like Facebook to coordinate party-goers.

Pool owners have reportedly returned home from work to find their prized swimming pools full of empty beer cans. Some have even been woken up by early morning dippers splashing about in their back garden swimming pools.

Police have warned pool owners to be vigilant this summer as the dipping craze appears to be gaining momentum. They also remind potential dippers that entering private property to use the swimming pool without permission is trespassing which is a criminal offence.

They recently purchased a spa from another local company which was delivered and installed about one month ago. They were given a chemical starter kit which contained all the essential pool / spa chemicals required and shown how to use it.

The spa had clearly been sitting around in a warehouse for quite some time and had been water tested by the manufacturer before it left the factory. What happens with spas and hot tubs in this situation is that water gets retained within the pipework from the water test and can develop some bugs / algae / etc.

The customer filled the spa up and just started using a normal dose of chlorine without shocking it first and as such the entire family (and some friends!) have come out in horrible boils, spots and rashes ALL over their bodies. One of their girls is said to have over 1,000 spots all over her body. Upon going to the doctors they were told it was caused by the water.

The mistake here was that you must always ensure you flush through you pipe work with a shock chlorine in the water on the first time you fill a spa / hot tub to ensure that all the nasty bugs have been killed! Only once it has been shocked should you then start you chlorine / bromine treatment and finally climb in!

Shock chlorine is readily available in granular or liquid form - it’s not worth risking it.

Well, at 1st-direct we have made an advanced application which calculates the estimated running costs of a swimming pool based on its location, size, shape, water table, covers etc to help high-light what you might be in for when the bill comes through. We can also size you correctly with these factors to ensure you swimming pool is getting the heating it requires to keep it at your desired temperature.

When looking at a standard 30′ x 15′ swimming pool you will see below an example of how the current methods compare. These are based on standard variables around an outdoor pool, used for 6 months per year with a solar cover off for no more than 4 hours per day:

LPG - £1,800
Economy Night Rate Electric: £888
Oil - £987
Natural Gas - £560
Heat Pump - £410

Looking at these figures you can see some variation in heating methods. It’s clear to see though that the cheapest way of heating your swimming pool is via what’s called a heat pump.

Swimming pool heat pumps have been around for quite a while now but had some bad press around them some 10-20 years ago. This has now all changed with developments in the product and we now can’t stop selling them!

They go official by the name of ‘Air Source Heat Pumps’ which means they source the energy from it’s ambient air rather than directly from a traditional source such as gas, electric or oil. The way they work is very similar to air conditioning but in reverse. The units consist have car radiator type panels on them with a centrally position fan (electric operated) which draws air into the units over the fins on the panels. The heat is then collected by the fins and transfered into the pool water using the help of a compressor and heat exchanger. What this in effect means is that you can heat your swimming pool effectively and to just the same temperatures by simply paying for the electricity to power little more than the fan.

These units do rely on ambient air temperatures and respond better on warmer days. A standard heat pump such as our Heat Perfector / Fairland range will operate down to around 5 degrees centigrade at an efficiency of 5:1. You put £1 of electricity in and get an equivalent £5 of heat put into your swimming pool - fantastic! Some units will go as far as 7:1 on a hot day. For people who like to swim in their pool during the winter we have the calorex range (selected models) which can handle temperatures down as cold as -15 degrees centigrade and still perform effectively.

With units costing typically between £900-£2,000 you will very quickly recover the initial outlay and save money in the future when heating your swimming pool. You are also safe in the knowledge that you are using a massively ‘green’ product which is having far less impact on the planet than other methods of heating.

Call now and one of our team will gladly talk you through the benefits and also accurately size which model is best suited for your size of swimming pool.

More information and pricing available by click - Swimming Pool Heat Pumps 

It is also worth noting that not all swimming pool algae is green. If you see black spots on your pool walls or floor these may be caused by black algae. This is one of the most difficult to get rid of.

You may also encounter yellow algae, sometimes called mustard algae. This tends to cling to the pool walls, particularly in shady areas. Like black algae, it can be very difficult to eradicate.

Algae spores will get into your swimming pool carried on the wind, in rain water and even carried on peoples swimming costumes. An imbalance in water treatment chemicals, warm weather, sunlight and maybe the presence of nitrates in the water can encourage the algae to bloom. Most commonly, poor filtration and water sanitisation are at the root of many algae problems.

Treatment for swimming pool algae starts with cleaning the pool. Organic material, such as leaf debris, can contribute towards algae growth. Swimming pools need to be regularly brushed, even if they look clean, to remove microscopic bacteria and dirt from the pool walls and floor.

Next on the list should be addressing the acidity and alkalinity of the swimming pool water. The pH of your swimming pool water should be in the range from 7.2. to 7.4 for water treatment to be effective.

After cleaning and addressing the pH balance of your swimming pool water you are ready to attack the algae with an appropriate algaecide. If you are unsure of what to use then you should consult the swimming pool experts at 1st Direct.

Once treated with an effective algaecide you will need to shock your pool water to remove chemical residue. Shocking or ’super chlorinating’ significantly raises the chlorine levels for a short time ensuring that any living bacteria are completely destroyed.

Next you should look at your pool filtration system. Backwash the sand to clean it or, if you have a cartridge system, change the cartridge.

Once you have managed to return your swimming pool water to a useable state it is important to establish a regular routine for testing and inspecting the swimming pool water to ensure that it remains healthy.

Lorenzo was trapped underwater for a full 10 minutes by the force of the pool’s suction pump. Six people had tried, unsuccessfully, to pull the boy from the six-foot-deep water. He was finally rescued when a police officer managed to switch off the swimming pool pump.

Lorenzo had been playing in the deep end of the pool with a friend. His friend had managed to remove the pool drain cover because the fastening screws had become rusted and loose. The attorney representing the Peterson family said that “A simple rod with a hook fastening the cover could prevent this from happening again.”

Lorenzo suffered irreversible brain damage and is currently receiving neurological rehabilitation. The insurance settlement will help to cover the costs of his treatment.

This tragic accident was only one in a series of pool tragedies that have occurred in recent times. As swimming pool ownership increases in the U.K. it is important for everyone who owns and operates a swimming pool to be fully aware of the regular maintenance and inspection needed to keep their swimming pool safe.