.png)
Talking Pools Podcast
If you’ve ever stared at a test kit like it personally insulted your family… welcome home.
Talking Pools Podcast is the pool industry’s “pull up a chair” show—part shop talk, part field manual, part therapy session—built for people who actually live on pool decks: commercial operators, service techs, builders, facility managers, and anyone responsible for water that can’t afford to go sideways. The network was created to level up the pool industry with real-world conversations on water chemistry, filtration, troubleshooting, construction, safety, and the business side of keeping pools open and budgets intact.
Here’s the hook: it’s not theory-first. It’s experience-first—a roster of seasoned pros (with 250+ years of combined “been there, fixed that” wisdom) turning complicated problems into practical moves you can use the same day. And it’s not one voice, one vibe, one corner of the industry: it’s a network of shows designed to reflect how diverse this work really is—different regions, different specialties, different personalities.
Also worth saying out loud: women aren’t “special guests” here—they’re on the mic as hosts, from the beginning, with an intentionally balanced roster. That matters, because the best ideas in this industry don’t come from one lane—they come from the whole road.
If you want a podcast that can make you laugh and make you better at what you do—without pretending the job is easier than it is—Talking Pools is the one you queue up before the first stop, and keep on when the day starts getting weird.
Talking Pools Podcast
The Biggest Pool Technology from Down Under
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
For this special Mondays Down Under episode, Lee, Shane, and Nick are finally together in the same room after two exhausting days walking the floor at SPLASH! 2026.
The team shares the products, technology, conversations, and innovations that caught their attention, including smarter chlorinators, Bluetooth pressure monitoring, automatic backwashing, direct free-chlorine testing, advanced commercial sanitation systems, and robotic cleaners that are becoming increasingly independent.
They also speak with representatives from Waterco, Davey, Fluidra, Brauer Swim, Maytronics, and other industry leaders about equipment designed to reduce maintenance, conserve water, improve chemical control, and give pool professionals better information before they arrive on-site.
Beyond the equipment, the episode explores two important industry developments: a new guide addressing sanitization marketing claims and the draft revision of Australian Standard 3633, which has not been rewritten since 1989.
And yes, after two days of demonstrations, masterclasses, interviews, networking, and enough walking to make a Fitbit file a workers’ compensation claim, everyone’s feet are completely destroyed.
In This Episode
- The sights, crowds, and atmosphere of SPLASH! 2026
- Waterco’s MultiCyclone dual-cartridge filtration system
- How centrifugal prefiltration can reduce cartridge cleaning
- The Waterco OptiCell and direct free-chlorine measurement
- Commercial salt-chlorination and AOP systems from Brauer Swim
- Fluidra’s Solo, ECHO, Halo Pro, and Halo Pure chlorinators
- Seasonal programming and centralized app control
- Bluetooth pressure gauges that monitor filter condition
- AI-assisted heat-pump technology
- The Maytronics Dolphin EON robotic cleaner
- Internal robotic-filter backwashing
- Managing multiple cleaners through one technician-friendly app
- Robotic cleaners that dock, recharge, and empty themselves
- Automatic remote backwashing with the iWash system
- A rollable, lockable insulated spa cover
- The new sanitization marketing-claims guide
- Why “freshwater,” “mineral,” and ionized-pool claims need clarity
- The draft revision of Australian Standard 3633
- Why Australian and New Zealand pool professionals should provide feedback
- Lee’s chemistry, diagnostics, and customer-experience masterclasses
- The WAVES event and helping more women find their voice in the industry
- Why SPLASH belongs on every Australian pool professional’s calendar
If you attended SPLASH! 2026, tell us which product or presentation impressed you most. If you missed it, Lee, Shane, and Nick have done the walking, filming, questioning, and blister collection for you.
Send questions, topic suggestions, or requests for future industry guests to talkingpools@gmail.com.
The Pool Shop Coachan online store offering industry-specific business mentoring, coaching, and training programs
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Thank you so much for listening! You can find us on social media:
Email us: talkingpools@gmail.com
Speaker 8
Good afternoon, good evening, good morning, good whatever time of the day it is. It is time for Mondays Down Under on the Talking Pools podcast. I'm Lee, the pool shot coach, and today I am joined in person. Hey! The team are together. We've just all done splash and we are exhausted.
Speaker 2I am 100% exhausted.
Speaker 11So we're back at uh Watercoat with Davy. Um, we've got another new product on the line here, which is their multi-cyclone dual cartridge filter. So again, we're here with Sherry. Can you take it away, Sherry? Give us a bit of an explanation on this one.
Speaker 5Sure. Hi guys. So uh there's a technology that's uh specific to water coat, and that's our multi-cyclone technology. It's a pre-filter uh that um the water runs through before it goes through the filtration system. Um and what happens is when it's actually right in the bottom of this filter. Probably would have been good if we'd shown you a multicyclone prior to this, but that's okay. So the the the way it works is the water actually comes in through this inlet, it creates centrifugal force through through this bowl right here, which pushes all the larger particles down to the bottom. Uh, and then the so all the larger particles fall to the bottom, and then that that water is free from all of those larger particles. It then returns up into the cartridge filter, um, being pre-filtered, and uh, and and then it filters through this 250 square foot cartridge element and then returns back into the pool. So the features and benefits of that is that obviously all those large particles are falling down there, and this isn't going to get blocked as as frequently. I guess it depends on uh how dirty your pool is or or what environment it is in. But we find in most situations when put a put on an appropriate pool with a 250 square foot cartridge element, uh, you generally only need to clean your cartridge out twice a year. So that's gonna save on water consumption, that's gonna save on the life of your cartridge, that's gonna uh prevent things being restricted, like slowing down your cleaner, um and uh and yeah, having to prime your system more frequently. So all you have to do at this end here, there'll be a tap. You just open it up, you literally just open it up to release any of the dirt and debris collected in the bottom of this basket, shut it back up and keep running. So we just recommend you do that whenever the basket or the bowl in the bottom starts to look full. But yeah, save on water and uh save on replacement cartridges and uh save on headaches.
Speaker 6So that sounds great.
Speaker 5Perfect. Yeah, so that's the multi-cycle enjoy. Thank you.
Speaker 8My feet are so sore. I have got blisters upon blisters, I tell you.
Speaker 11And Lee has been working it hard, very hard. So yeah, I mean, even though we've been walking around, Lee's been delivering a lot the last two days. So take your hat off to her.
Speaker 8I've been running masterclasses and yeah, facil well, facilit facilitating masterclasses on chemistry and diagnostics and business growth through customer experience. They were really good. We had some great sessions, and I hope everybody who attended it got a lot out of it. So, but this is quite novel for us actually getting to do this in person because normally we're interested in history. It is, and we're the we normally three heads on a screen. Well, today we're three heads on one screen, so um, that'll be interesting for the viewers today, won't it?
Speaker 2And we've got Shane back. Um thank you.
Speaker 11Like wines, like wines. Thank you for putting it in.
Speaker 8So the three amigos are together in person, and today we're gonna talk about what we've seen. So we've just walked splash for two days. Two days. I actually won't be interested to find out how many keys we've done, all right? Well, I I reckon my Fitbit hasn't gone out on strike. It's too tired. Um, but no, I reckon it can be three days. What do you reckon, Nick?
Speaker 2Yeah, I definitely think I think I've got through most of it, but I could have stayed and chatted to so many more people.
Speaker 8We were probably some of the last to leave.
Speaker 7We are now on the Brouwer stand at Splash 2026, and I am joined by Luther.
SpeakerHey guys.
Speaker 7And Luther is Instagram famous. So if you're not following in, you need to follow Brouwer.
SpeakerYeah, Brower swim. Jump along.
Speaker 7So Luther is going to tell us about his awesome products. They are well known for their AOP systems in the commercial space in particular, but also uh covering the residential as well. So, Luther, please tell us about your fantastic products.
SpeakerYeah, so this is one of our commercial grade chlorine generators. This is called the M2000, so it's a 2,000 grammer chlorine generator. They are the best looking uh chlorinators in the market.
Speaker 72,000 grams. So, what size pool does that do?
SpeakerUh so that that's your typical million-liter pool. Um, but we do up to 4,000 grams, so that's good for your your 50-meter plus pools, um, aquatic centers, surf parks. This is what you typically see running in your your theme parks, wave, wave pools, surf parks.
Speaker 7So you guys are in some of the biggest pools in Australia, yeah, correct.
SpeakerAnd yeah, correct. We are in biggest pools in Australia. That's what we're known for. Uh, we started off in the learn to swim industry and proved our products in that market, and then the councils jumped on board, and now we're in the majority of the largest councils around the country and around the world.
Speaker 9And a lot of the caravan parks too.
SpeakerYeah, yeah, majority of the holiday parks use our equipment, uh, recovery centers, learn to swim.
Speaker 7So we just have to convince the US market to pick up salt water chlorination. Yeah, they've been a bit slow on the uptake.
SpeakerYeah, exactly right, but there's plenty of other countries that like to use salt chlorination.
Speaker 7Yes.
SpeakerUh, a lot of countries find it very difficult to get liquid chlorine, so that's why they're going to salt.
Speaker 7And so do your units work on all various salt levels?
SpeakerYeah, correct. So the term fresh water, also known as a low TDS 1200, so we can go from 1200 TDS, which is not detectable to the taste, feel, touch, all the way through to seawater. So we can produce the chlorine required in all those levels of TDS. But not just chlorination, we do AOP, secondary sanitation as you use.
Speaker 7So let's let's walk.
SpeakerUm we're covered past some of our residential units here.
Speaker 7So salt water chlorinator.
SpeakerYeah, that's just your standard chlorinator. Then you've got your your ozone unit that can be retrofitted up against your backyard chlorine generator.
Speaker 7And so that could typically go on either whether it be salt chlorination or chlorine. Or chlorine or chlorine.
SpeakerYeah, that just complements your chlorine. At the end of the day, you need that small amount of residual chlorine. But adding the B natural, which is our ozone generator, allows you to reduce those levels. It removes the nasty combined chlorine that gives you allergies, eczema, asthma, those sort of things. Helps with the clarity of your water. Um, and it it really looks after those people that have this terrific.
Speaker 7And that's a acid dose at the same time.
SpeakerCorrect, that's your yeah, your automatic acid dosing unit. And then you've got the all-in-one units over here, which is either a bee fresh unit or a bee mineral. So it's chlorine, chlorination and ozone all in the one unit, and you can have it either as a freshwater option or your mineral.
Speaker 7And so the fresh freshwater option works off a low TDS, you said? Yes. So it still has a chlorination cell, yes, yep, or electrode. Yep. And it has the ozone as well.
SpeakerYeah, definitely.
Speaker 7Fantastic.
SpeakerAnd then what's this big bump of the um this is these are the all-in-one units that we build. So we have in-house fabricators. So we have uh your chlorine generation, AOP UV, chemical control, all uh all on the one neat skid. So they can the pool builder can tell us how much room they have, and we can put all the items onto one neat skid, plumb it, wet test it, wire it up, um, ship it out the door, anywhere in the country, just to reduce the time their plumbers have on site. So labour is a very expensive cost these days. So with our guys being able to do this all in our factory and ship it off all one neat skid, it's reducing the cost and time in field.
Speaker 7So the first one we looked at, the really big buffer was a 2000 grammar, was that correct?
SpeakerYes, correct.
Speaker 7And so is this a 500 grammar only having one cell or have I got it?
SpeakerYeah, yeah, yeah. No, this is this this cell can come as a 250 or a 500. This one's uh 250 on this display. So we've got a 250 generator with an AOP X2.
Speaker 8So the AOP is on the other side?
SpeakerYes, and this is what you typically find at a learn to swim school that has 1,000 bathers per week. Wow. So this will go in and guarantee and maintain health regulations for those 1,000 bathers per week.
Speaker 7So this is AOP, so UV, ozone, all in the all in the one unit, reducing hydroxyl radicals and correct, and it's salt water compatible.
SpeakerSo you'll see other other UV systems out there that are made of stainless steel, but you can't use them with salt or water chlorination because you can't put salt in the water because they end up rusting out. So our poly units have re revolutionized that market.
Speaker 9And I understand, are you in the you're in Australia and New Zealand?
SpeakerAre you in the islands in the Fiji and Pacific Islands? Yeah. Yep, right over there. Asia. Right. Um, Southeast Asia put our systems in for the Southeast Asia Games.
Speaker 9Wow.
SpeakerUm, they actually rang up and told us that they've got the fastest pool in the world now. So I don't know how that happens. Maybe the pool's built on an angle.
Speaker 9That's all right.
SpeakerBut if they're if their golden gold medalist is saying that it that that water's the fastest in the world, well, we're not gonna we're not gonna um deny that and we're gonna run with it, that's for sure.
Speaker 9And Brow will take that gold medal and we will, we will.
SpeakerAnd we do have the biggest pipes in the business. Um, so with our big secondary sanitation systems over here running 10-inch pipes, glass strainers, that's when you need serious equipment to look after those bathers. So it's not about looking after the bathers, particularly when it comes to councils, councils want to look after their structures. So, what you get with chlorine, you get a byproduct, which is a chloramine. You end up with a trihelomethane in that water, and that's what you can smell. And it's very corrosive. And that corrosive gas you can smell goes up in the air and rusts all the structures within the buildings. So that's what knocks it out. So it's not just looking up for the health of the bather, it's looking after your multi-million dollar structures.
Speaker 7Yeah, absolutely. Um, invest looking after your investment is is so important.
SpeakerYes.
Speaker 7Okay, well, thank you very much for your time.
SpeakerThanks for coming. Appreciate it. See you guys again. Where I'll swim.
Speaker 7Absolutely.
Speaker 2I thought they were gonna ask us to help pack down some of those stands. I wanted out.
Speaker 8They were packing down around us as we were going. So uh yeah, it was um definitely we were the last to leave, and usually it's the last to leave a bar, but not today. Um, no, that's certainly not a uh an accolade I want is last to leave. I'll get in a lot of trouble because I'm here without my husband if I'm the last to leave a bar. Anyway, so what did we see? What did we do? And for those who are listening that actually didn't get to splash, you missed out. I'm sorry. Um please make sure you you put it in your diary for two years' time. I am told by Christian uh Kristen Brookfield, who I just spoke to as I left. Uh, it will be held in August again in two years' time. So uh they've already got the slot locked and booked and ready to go. So make sure that you etch it in your calendar as a not to miss thing. So, guys, now Shane, this was only your second uh trade show. Your first to do without kids in tow, a little bit easier. And you said it was so big, it's so big.
Speaker 11So yeah, I mean two years ago, it was that was my first one, so it was a big eye-opener to actually experience a good trade show. Um, and I thought it was big two years ago, but I honestly think this year it felt a lot bigger. Yesterday, the amount of people that were there for pretty much as soon as the doors opened, it was almost like a concert. Yes, you know, and that's what a lot of the uh the guys and the the guys and the girls on the stands were saying they had no time yesterday to eat, drink, go to the toilet, you know, and it was just full on. So it was good yesterday. It was nice to, I think I only went to maybe six or seven stands, and the rest of the time was catching up with people, you know, being a greeting. Today was a little bit calmer. I think everybody went yesterday, and today was just that chilled version of the expo.
Speaker 8A lot of the locals actually say they rather come today.
Speaker 11On day two, yeah. Yeah, and they know yeah, for that reason. G'day everybody, we're here at Splash 2026. We are at the wonderful Waterco and Davy stand, and we are here with Sherry at the moment, and she is about to talk about the new product, the Opti Chlorine Centre.
Speaker 5Hi guys, so I'm Shari from Waterco. Uh, I'm a sales rep here in Queensland, and uh we're presenting the OptiCell for the first time at the Splash Conference 2026. This is a new innovative um piece of equipment that uh that is new to Waterco, manufactured by Waterco. It's been in the running and been made for the last three years. Uh it's something that uh I don't believe anybody else has ever done. Um so there's always been a um a bit of an inconsistency when testing for ORP in the industry, and there's many things that that uh go against getting an accurate result there. But with the Opti cell, the way that it works is the water runs through and there's a testing reagent right here. So it takes a sample of the water, mixes it with the testing reagent, goes up into here, shines a light through the sample of water that's been mixed with your reagent, which will give you a free chlorine reading, an accurate free chlorine reading. Um almost you know, 100% every time, not affected by pH levels in the water, not affected by the flow of water that's going through it. Um, the most accurate way to get a free chlorine reading, so it's not ORP, it's free chlorine, and then the chlorinator can adjust the chlorine output accordingly.
Speaker 11And the reagent as well in the small bottle here, Sherry, that would last roughly roughly for 12 months.
Speaker 5Uh should have a recommended retail price around the $99 mark, something like that. Right. Um yeah, it's coming out in I do believe next month.
Speaker 11Uh and it's gonna be And hopefully that's in New Zealand as well next month.
Speaker 5Yeah. Yeah, so uh so you know, gone are the days, I guess, uh for us at least, is testing with ORP. We'd uh much rather test the the actual pre-chlorine level, which is gonna be a hell of a lot more accurate. So uh really excited to present this new product.
Speaker 11Cool. Thank you.
Speaker 8Thank you. I spotted a couple of friends of mine who were here on Tuesday, and I didn't see them at the show at all. So I think they were having too good a time not going to the show. They just used it a bit of a junket, maybe. But no, there were some great products. We we interviewed a few people, so we'll we'll probably dot a few of the interviews um amongst this episode, or maybe we might even need to go over to two episodes. We'll see how it how it goes. But um, what are your some of the key product takeaways um that you saw, Nick? What do you think?
Speaker 2Look, there's a few there. I do like Floridra's new chlorinator range. I thought that was interesting. They're good, better, best options. Um, but you know, some standard chlorinators that have just those little bit more features which will come in handy for for people. So um being a Floridra dealer as well, I think they could um definitely be uh good in our market. So yeah, that was one thing I took away.
Speaker 8And so what were they called again? That was like the halo range, but it was the watered mortared down, but you know what I mean.
Speaker 2The eco and the solo, yes. And there was one other halo and the halo pure.
Speaker 8Right. Okay, yeah. So that uh that was really actually impressive.
Speaker 11Yes. Um it looks so slick.
Speaker 8I love the fact. Well, I love the fact that you can actually adjust them seasonally. Yes, so that you can actually plan this program this chlorinator for the whole year. So you know what hours you want to set up for summer, for spring, for winter, um, for autumn, and you can plan them all in advance. Um, for somebody like myself that travels around in a caravan. Um, that's actually really a huge advantage because uh then I don't have to worry about changing the settings or the chlorinator or ringing my sums and trying to explain to them how to program the chlorinator over the phone. Uh so yeah, some really good things there. They're very attractive looking unit too.
Speaker 2Nice and shiny, and they've got a couple of fancy lights on them. I do like the notification light. I think that would be very, very handy for the for the end user.
Speaker 8Did that have an app? Yes, yep, and so it can be programmed from your phone. Yes. Wow, yeah. So um some technology really coming into play um with some of those things.
Speaker 11I think it was saying with the app as well. With the new app, they've entwined every piece of equipment into one app node. So you've got the whole basically you can control absolutely everything from your robotic cleaner as well. There's not separate app nodes where it can entwined in one. It's very handy.
Speaker 8Yeah. What uh what did you see, Shane?
Speaker 11Um, seen as we're on the fluid draw stand still, which was quite an impressive stance.
Speaker 8Oh, it was a very impressive stand. It just looks very good. And I'm in location, prime location.
Speaker 11From memory, I'm pretty sure they they were at the entrants again two years ago.
Speaker 8So well, they are the number one sponsor, so they get prime location.
Speaker 11But they had a Bluetooth pressure gauge as well. So um we did record a short video on that. Won't go too much in detail on it, but that sounds quite revolutionary as well.
Speaker 8And that actually talks to the chlorinator as well.
Speaker 1And then moving up into the range, we've got our Halo Pro and our Halo Pure. Uh, and these just for that extra level of automation control. So we have peripheral devices that Bluetooth connect back to these uh power packs. That gives the ability to control additional pumps, additional features on the pool, allow us to control valve actuation and the like. So for anything where we've got a single pool in operation, an echo is gonna solve 90% of those solutions. When we've got a pool and spark combo, uh a Halo Pro is really gonna be the solution for you, particularly as well if if you're looking for pH and LRP control, that's where these really gonna shine. And our Halo Pure here, uh, this is the low salt version of the Halo Pro. Uh, all of our other chlorinators in the range uh have a recommended salinity of 4,000 ppm. Uh for our Halo Pure, uh, we're looking for 1500 PPM. So for customers who are looking for uh that you know fresh water uh low salts requirement, that's where uh the solution's gonna be. And it's and it's coupled with this, the mineral guard? Yeah, it comes in the box with a mineral guard, and that's a secondary sanitizer. Inside that mineral guard box or cartridge, uh little beads coated uh with copper and silver just to aid in that sanitization uh effects to reduce the chlorine demand on the entire system, making the effective products that much more effective.
Speaker 2And there was one last thing I wanted to see. I see a Bluetooth pressure gauge over there. Can you explain that to us?
Speaker 1Yeah, sure. So what we're trying to really do here uh is add additional sensing functions onto the pool equipment. So this uh Bluetooth pressure sensor will Bluetooth back to our solo uh Echoes, Halo Pros, and Halo Pures to add that functionality of what would have been an analog pressure gauge so that we can read that constantly throughout uh its life cycle. And the intent here is to be able to monitor the filter health so that if we do reach uh you know 50 KPA above our baseline setting, that we can recommend to the customer that it's time to backwash the filter or clean out their uh filter elements. And our intent long term is to be able to add all this functionality to the professional trade side so we can pass that directly to them, help them schedule their visits back to the pool sites, and so that they're uh pre-informed of the information going on at that location.
Speaker 2Yeah, they're all getting very high tech out there. Yeah, yeah, it seemed to be a bit of a theme for the show that there was a lot more tech that would talk to um to everything, even a heat pump that has AI inbuilt.
Speaker 8Oh, wow. Okay.
Speaker 2So um I didn't get to see them too much, but I heard that it will actually uh look at the weather and determine whether if it's a nice sunny day and potentially ramp down the heating to take full advantage of the solar of the heat from the sun.
Speaker 8So then you'd obviously program into it how much solar panels you have on the roof and yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2So very interesting.
Speaker 8Wow. I had a bit of a wonder. I am was lucky. That I actually had an exhibitors tag. So I actually got pre-entry. So I do have video footage of the place with not very many people in it. So there is some I did see some great things as I was wandering around without some people on the stand. So I got to have a little bit of a look, but not able to answer ask the questions. And I actually saw a really great spa cover that is lockable but foldable. So and I'm not talking here like hinged in the middle. This thing actually rolls up. So it actually rolls up.
Speaker 11Almost like a pool blanket. Yeah.
Speaker 8Yeah. A cut like a but a hardcover for a spa that actually, so it has Richard panels in it, and you roll it up. And yeah, so break thermal installation insulation. Um, it's lockable. So from a safety perspective, it's lightweight, easier to handle. I know a lot of people struggle with those spa covers when they get um a bit of moisture in them, in particular a condensation, and they get heavy with age um or with rain getting in. Um, yeah, getting them to actually open. Um, or um, and then handling them when you get them off to the side of the spa can can sometimes be um quite a challenge for people. So I saw that and thought that was quite novel too. Um, we've we've got a few p uh products on the um videos that we've done. So we'll talk about them briefly and then and then dot the videos in a month. So we've already talked uh about the halo and and the pressure gauge. Which other ones did we actually look at now?
Speaker 11Um one that I liked. We're gonna go about to the robotic cleaner. Although I found this year there weren't as many robotic cleaners as previous. Two years ago, I think every stand or every other stand, last flash, it was robotic cleaner, and it was quite overwhelming. Uh this year, not as many, which was still quite a few. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's still yeah, the main the main companies definitely have their ones, and there are a few, you know, new ones coming into the market. Uh, but one for myself, I was specifically looking at the new Dolphin Eon. So we've recently taken on a new climb. Uh, the swimming pool's got an infinity edge, and they've got a very, very large weir. Um, that they want, they're actually heating the pool at the moment in the winter because she likes swimming in the winter. Um, but they want to turn the infinity edge off. So this water is just gonna stay stagnant. There's nothing to clean it while we're not there. So they're after a robotic cleaner, which is actually gonna clean this particular area of water, it's about 25 centimeters deep, and now the new Dolphin Eon can clean uh minimum 20 centimeters. I think they said, so it's perfect um for this particular pool, and their new Eon 120 also has a very cool little feature, which is like a backwash in the cartridge filter itself. So, again, we've recorded a little video on this. Uh, we'll get those guys to explain it a little bit better than I can, but it's it's a very cool feature. And what I noticed as well, just a lot of the companies out there they've they've started doing their own little little quirky thing like the Bluetooth pressure gauge, never been done before. A backwashing setting inside a robotic cleaner, and there was quite a few of them at a water cow have one as well.
Speaker 3Yep.
Speaker 11So yeah, it was it was really good. I think they're really starting to up their game. I mean, yes, these companies are very good in general, but I always got the feeling this time around that they're really upping their game.
Speaker 8Uh, Ash was really good. She's talked us through the Matronics cleaner, the Yon. But um, there was a couple of things we spoke about off camera that she actually didn't get she didn't cover in a in a chat. And that was you mentioned um, or was it you mentioned Nick about the replace and you can actually put a cord on.
Speaker 2Yeah, apparently there will be um the provisions there to uh add a cable to the cleaner in the future. So either the battery, you don't like the battery, you want to run a little bit more, you can add a cable to it.
Speaker 8Well, I have to say I'm a bit lazy. I don't know that I'd take mine out and actually charge it.
Speaker 11So uh it's been in the pool for six years, a steel balance. It is.
Speaker 8Yes, I'm one of those people that don't take my cleaner out.
Speaker 2So am I.
Speaker 8But my pool is well balanced, so it doesn't need to be it is very clean, it runs every day. Um, so and the other thing that she mentioned was about the app. Now she did talk about the app, but what she didn't cover was the fact that um the app will now actually be able to be used for multiple cleaners by technicians, so you'll be able to have more than you on your app.
Speaker 11So, yeah, the issue I found from there, that they still have the current app and they use that for the S and the M model still. Is for myself, for instance, I would go to a client's pool. Once I've finished, I want to turn the robotic cleaner on for whatever reason. I could switch it on via that Bluetooth connectivity. Then if I go to a pool down the road, I want to do the same thing with their Dolphin. I would need to pretty much have to uninstall the app, reinstall it, set everything up again, and then turn their one on. With their new app, um, at the moment it's only for the Eon range and their skimmies from memory. I think they said you can have up to 20 uh robotic cleaners on this one app. So you've got that functionality now where you can just in and out, press play, you know. So that's really good. Now it's been a long time coming, I think that one.
Speaker 8Yeah. Now there was a cleaner apparently on the floor, and I didn't get to see it. I don't know if either of you two did. Did you see the one that self-docks charges and self-cleans?
Speaker 11Briefly, yes. I actually thought that was a lawnmower. To tell you the truth.
Speaker 8I saw I saw the lawnmower. Oh.
Speaker 11But then it was selling.
Speaker 8That was I thought that was a lawnmower.
Speaker 11Well, I thought it was as well. But that wasn't the self-docking one.
Speaker 8I don't know. What I didn't get to see it, but I understand that there is a clean. I don't think that was the cleaner. I think that was a right mower. That was a lawnmower. Um, but there is a there was a cleaner there today. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it. Um, that actually docks takes itself to the wall, docks itself, empties its own basket.
Speaker 11Oh, it does.
Speaker 8Yep. And recharges itself. Wow. But unfortunately, so you guys didn't see it.
Speaker 2I didn't see it. I seen one where you would place it on a stand and it would suck the debris out, or it would drop the debris into a separate basket underneath. Yeah, well, is that the I think that was the same one.
Speaker 8Yeah. This, but it was actually driving itself onto it. Oh, okay. No, yeah. So it was actually it would drive itself out of the pool.
Speaker 2I think it was a beatbot.
Speaker 8I think the okay, beatbot, right. Yes. Well, I didn't make it to the beatbot stand before they closed on.
Speaker 6That's the backwash that I was talking about with the debris lot. Oh. So essentially, when the robot is in the pool, it detects when the filters need to be cleaned. It'll stop on the bottom of the pool, take us about two minutes to complete. Water flushes through these. So one of the issues people have is not necessarily cleaning their filters as often as they can, which impacts how the robot functions. Okay, so this backwash will actually clean through the filters and push things through to the secondary part of the basket. Fantastic. The other great thing about these robots is they're now on the Matronics One app. So you can have things like you can have your cordless robot, your skimmy, all attached to the same app. And it has functions like it can you can set if there's a beach entry or if there's any obstacles in the pool, uh, or if there's a particularly steep descent. All of that stuff can be put in, which just gives your robot a better opportunity to clean your pool. It will still do it on its own, but obviously, if you're putting it in the app, you're just giving it all of that information to be uh cleaning your pool better and giving you more time to spend in it. And so is that app usable by service technicians? Yeah, it absolutely is, and it will have any error messages from the robots as well, so it just makes it easier for our end consumers and also our dealers and DLI agents.
Speaker 4How are you going? Nobody knows what's happening anymore.
Speaker 8My time was limited, guys. I had You were very busy. You were very busy. I had four four deliveries yesterday, so I hadn't two and two one-hour sessions. And by the time you go to the toilet, get something to eat, talk to people that stop you along the way, your hour is gone and you're back in class or ready to go again. So today I had a little bit longer, but of course I was filming for you guys, so I didn't get a lot, um, get a lot of chance to actually talk. And we even saw some of our um listeners. So um I really wanted to stop and talk to Andrew. Um, Andrew from Pool Butler. Um, if you're listening, Andrew, hello. Um, I did try to um corner you for an interview, but unfortunately, you were busy talking to people. So I would have loved to have had you on the podcast. But um, yeah, we had a few people stop by the buffer zone stand and even by AIS um and and let them know that they'd um listened to the podcast. So thank you to those people that um did reach out. We really appreciate it. And talking about AIS, we did stop by our good friends AIS and had a chat with them. You interviewed Lee?
Speaker 2Yes, spoke to Lee about their new uh Neo chlorinator, which uh hopefully I'll have my hands on in the next week or so to to install and try and and feel and touch and hopefully not break. But we will put it through its paces and and give it a really good test. Look, I'm uh hugely confident they've done their RD and it will be a really good unit. Um, I didn't even realize it was going to be Wi-Fi. I thought it was Bluetooth only. So yeah, to find out that it was gonna be Wi-Fi and um yeah, um, should be a good thing. Hey guys, I'm here with Matthew from Floridra, and I'm looking at a couple of new chlorinators. Do you care to explain them to us?
Speaker 1Yeah, we're super excited to bring this new range to market. So we've got our solo as a premium entry-level unit. Uh, it can control a variable speed pump as well as our new Bluetooth pressure sensor that goes into a filter. And so it's designed for the customers who want a premium entry-level experience, app control, your ability to control your pump and set timers all in a convenient space. And as we start progressing up the range, we start adding additional feature sets. Uh, so when you get customers who are looking at that entry market, they're a little bit price budget conscious. It's a fantastic solution. But a lot of customers have a little bit more bells and whistles on their pool installations. So if you've got things like uh a heater, uh, if you want light control, if you still want your variable speed pump or dosing capabilities, that's where the echo is going to come into the market. And what's great about the echo is that we're not locking into our ecosystem when it comes to heater control. We do have a dry contact relay on the bottom here, so we can then allow it to tap into the remote connections on uh other heat pumps, uh, in the flow switch if it doesn't have that, or a process switch for gas heaters and the like. So the ability to integrate a heater with our filtration pump setup uh gives us that ability to control all through one interface as well. So we're really excited to bring this to market. So I'm a sucker for lights and flashing lights. What's what's that mean? So what we have noticed in the industry is that consumers get uh these fancy products installed on their pool equipment sites, but they never get that uh fantastic handover experience to explain exactly how things work. So, what we've done is we've uh introduced a new notification system. So any issues or errors or warnings that get thrown up on the screen get communicated through our notifications panel. And we also have a visual indicator here on the bottom uh through our O on the echo or solo or halo. Yep. And so if you ever have anything flashing, blinking, anything to do with the oranges or red colors in uh impacts that warning or notice, we can then display those issues directly on screen. And we can also communicate other things going on with the systems during its normal operation as well. So if I go up here into our notifications area, we can then communicate anything from a filtering perspective, it's gonna be a solid green. As it's pulsing green, it's gonna be in a chlorinating state. So we're producing chlorine for the pool. In a solid blue or blinking blue, it's gonna be in an updating process. And as I mentioned, anything in that red hue is gonna be a warning or an error notification. And then just that go that extra mile when it's in an idle state, we can then customize what that color here is so that if you've got a customer who wants that to be uh a pink hue, and I hit that save button, and if I were to clear all my errors out, uh that will then move from a red to a pink hue in that case. And it's currently saying that I've got an open temperature connection because we're in a demo mode for today. So if I was to go in here, uh change my heater contacts out of the equation, and if I was to then uh disable my temperature sensor just to clear that error message out of the system. So I've got no notifications here, and that pink notification idle has now shown up.
Speaker 2A level of custom customability I haven't seen before, so that's really handy.
Speaker 1It goes a long way further than that though. So one of the great things that we're adding for this in timer control is the ability to set timers through any day of the week. So if we go into our frequency settings, we can then have custom timers from Monday to Sunday there. And to go a level further than that, we're now introducing four seasons customizations as well. So you have the ability to set a timer that runs on Mondays only, in winter only, and you can also tailor when that winter season starts and stops as well. So a level of customization that the industry doesn't actually have yet. Yes, like you've thought of everything. And we really have tried to. All right. Well, thanks for your time today. No worries, thanks everyone. Cheers.
Speaker 8We met Alina Gross, yeah, who is the owner of um AIS. Um, very nice.
Speaker 2I I didn't really get to have a chance to talk to her. I was chatting to Lee, but you guys did, I think.
Speaker 8Yeah, yeah. Lovely, lovely lady. And she has agreed to be on the podcast too. Um, so we will be having her as well. And she is a wealth and um information, um, an amazing businesswoman who has written a couple of books. I think she's an OAM. She had an Order of Australia Medal, um, which is one of the wonderful, uh, the highest accolades, I think, um civilian can actually get. So, which is lovely. And she she does a lot um for the wider community as far as I think women in domestic violence and and things like that. So um, she'll be a great one to have on the podcast. We look forward to to talking with her. We were also on the watercoast end. Yes. Um, Sherry? Shari. Shari. Shari Shari.
Speaker 2Shari, she's a star. She's a star.
Speaker 8Yes, Shari, shout out to you. And yes, your video will be on this one. Um, and she she was great. She talked us through a couple of new products there. Uh, there um uh multi-cyclone and so uh filter all in one. So having that, yeah, having that pre-filtration um and really reducing the service work that you have to do to the um or the cleaning that you have to how often you have to clean the filter. And that is a big advantage to service technicians. Yes. So we can really reduce the amount of time that we're actually on site for a customer, um, which helps us in the long run too, doesn't it?
Speaker 3Yep.
Speaker 8So we can we can sell them a product that benefits them and also benefits us.
Speaker 11But they also had a a new free chlorine um I guess it what do you call it, uh, analyzer?
Speaker 8Yeah, it's a tester, so it doesn't have a probe as such, it's actually testing the water and then adjusting the chlorinator, wasn't it?
Speaker 2Yeah, so a replaceable reagent that would last approximately 12 months, screw it in the bottom, and yeah, it will to uh communicate with the chlorinator.
Speaker 8And that's like that's fantastic, the fact that it's actually drawing a sample. So it's doing a true chlorine test on the water and then turning the chlorinator up or down to actually adjust the water. So like a probe, but um without the costs, without the cost and without the um interferences that come that come with probes.
Speaker 11So uh I mean free free chlorine probes, from my understanding, are probably double the price of YP center.
Speaker 8Oh wow.
Speaker 11So yeah, they're very expensive. So I think to have this reagent, you know, it's a very good, it's it's a good selling point as well to the client.
Speaker 8Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Shari was a star. She she helped us out. All the all the guys on that stand all booked, none of them wanted to do it. So kudos to Shari for actually joining us. And she was an absolute star, so thank you. Um, what else did we look at?
Speaker 2The eye wash.
Speaker 8Oh, yes, and we don't mean eye wash here, guys. Not like an eye wash station. Yes, you need those in your service vehicles for work health and safety, but no, eye wash.
Speaker 2The automatic backwash contraption. What would you call it?
Speaker 8Yes, yes, an A MPV, automatic. Yes, yes. So this valve actually attaches to the top of the multi-port head of this filter. It is connected to the pump, um, variable speed pump, and it actually you can backwash from wherever you are in the world. How smart is that? Like, seriously. Yeah, it it is it is crazy. So clearly, this is another thing that I need on my pool when I go caravanning. Um, but yeah, it was actually um great. You can do it from your phone, you could actually just put it in auto mode and it will actually do it itself. So it um obviously is not watching the sight glass though to do that. It's just doing a set three minutes.
Speaker 11Three-minute backwash, I think it was.
Speaker 8Yeah, but Brad said you can actually alter it. So if you only want to do a two-minute backwash or um whatever, um, you can actually change that. But it actually changes the speed of the pump. So it changes it from a hundred percent speed down to 30% speed so the valve can actually change without um too much flow flowing against it. And then once it's in set position, it would actually ramp back up to 100%, run the pump at 100% to do the backwash. Again, once that timer had counted down, change the um speed of the pump down to 30%, change it to rinse and go through the cycle as usual. So a very, very smart device. Didn't see that on any other stand.
Speaker 2No, that's the only one I've seen whole show.
Speaker 8Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 11So this is years ago that pool like were kind of inventing something like that, like in the day.
Speaker 8I don't know that they ever got that far. Ross Ross Palmer wasn't that far advanced. Um but no, he like there was a very weird contraption that he designed it, looked like an egg shape. Um, but no, it didn't have an automatic backlog shelf, I can recall.
Speaker 2I do remember hearing stings, different things back then, but yeah, no, I don't think ever anything was ever actually solidly made. No.
Speaker 9I am joined now by a good friend of mine, Russ from Water Armour.
Speaker 10Look out for the coffee stains.
Speaker 7Russ has been a longtime uh industry friend of mine, and I actually have to say, if you listen to the Talk and Paul's podcast, I actually looked after or helped Russ look after one of his businesses for a while a couple of years ago.
Speaker 10So Russia And she did a good job too.
Speaker 7Thank you. Um tell me why do you come to Splash?
Speaker 10To see you.
Speaker 7Oh, I too sweet.
Speaker 10And Scotty's not here, is he?
Speaker 7No, he's been at least.
Speaker 10Sorry, Scotty.
Speaker 7He's been left at home. So, but no, you've been coming for years. Yeah, yeah. And you bring your whole team.
Speaker 10I do. Yeah. Yeah. So we work it out over a couple of days. Some people stay and look after the shops and things, and uh we split it up and we get a couple of units on the coast, and yeah.
Speaker 7And you always get something out of it. You've got bags full here.
Speaker 9So he's taking his freebies and he's running.
Speaker 10There's lollies, there's um stubby coolers, yeah, you know, hats.
Speaker 9If he could fit a pump in there, he would.
Speaker 10Um, it's it's great. It's a good chance to see the latest on display. Yeah, and of course, often the big guys have all got uh their new released product that we haven't even seen yet. So you get to see it before it's actually available in your shops and that sort of thing. So yeah.
Speaker 8Thank you.
Speaker 10So very good.
Speaker 8Thank you very much, Russ. There was some a couple of great releases that people need to know about that were in um or that took place over Splash. So there was the actual um, have we got that nearby? The sanitization sanitization booklet. So uh yes. So this is sanitization marketing claims. Um, this is the guide by swimming pool and spa association guides. So this is talking about all things sanitization. So it's explaining the differences, and they brought in uh this was great. They actually brought into this board, this took a year for this document to be written. A lot of work went into it. So hats off to everybody who contributed to it. I know quite a few who were in that group, and they worked long and hard and tirelessly to get this, and many of them in opposition to one another. So they were all suppliers. Um, so they were opposition, but when they actually came into that room, they become, they just took on the hat of industry expert and discussed how to make this as transparent as possible so that all products are making claims that can be upheld. And so gone are the days where we claim that a pool is fresh water when it actually has a chlorine residual in it, or a chlorine um manufacturing or let's say saltwater chlorination cell on it, um, can't claim that it is a freshwater system because it is creating a chlorine residual. So things like that. It also um talks about ionized pools, mineral pools, all of those. Um, talks about uh what is um breakpoint chlorination, what is um uh super chlorination, all of those um things. It has a wealth of information. I am very honored and I gifted the boys' copies. Thank you.
Speaker 11Uh huh. You mean so we're all we actually missed it. We didn't realize it was on.
Speaker 8So we're all going to read this.
Speaker 2You've given us homework.
Speaker 8I've given them homework. And uh next week we're actually going to um talk to you more about this. So we won't go into this too far, but it is a great document for our industry. You're going to make things a lot clearer. Um, for us as retailers and service technicians, so that we can actually um stand by the claims of the marketing teams and and the manufacturers um and know that um when they say that it's freshwater, that it is a freshwater system, or when um yeah, we'll go into it for the next slide.
Speaker 11It is a cnoring pool.
Speaker 8Yeah, that's exactly that's exactly right.
Speaker 2I'm sure we've both had all had those conversations with customers in store. Yes. So no, no, it is actually this, it is actually that.
Speaker 8So yeah, yeah. So um, yeah, making it nice and transparent for everyone. The other thing that was released, and I don't know actually if you guys know this, so I might be telling you that you don't know. Yeah, we can say it, because it was actually released there, and that is the Australian Standard 3633 was released as a draft. So that is the Private Water Quality Act. Um, and that actually does cover over into commercial space and includes water uh water parks, uh cold plunge, um, hot plunge, those sort of things. So um make sure that you go to the Australian Standards website, and I will get um Rudy to pop a link in uh the show notes for this. And you can actually go to the Australian Standards, you can register to get a draft copy, and then you could provide feedback and they want feedback. And they have actually said that everybody that gets feedback or gives feedback will get a response. So make sure this is our opportunity to actually have some input into the Australian standards. So make sure that an Australian and New Zealand standards. Um it's it's 3633. It hasn't been written, rewritten since 1989. So when were you born, Nick?
Speaker 386.
Speaker 8There you go. He was three. Um, it's actually quite funny because there was testing pools then. You probably won't know. Um there was actually people in the room that hadn't even been born when the Australian standards had actually been released. So uh yeah, it's been a long time coming and um a lot of work again by some um great industry colleagues of ours, and my appreciation and hat goes off to them all. Um, poor Chris Smith and I think Blake from AIS. Um, I know uh they were both on this one and uh the chlorinating one and also on the um Australian standards. So I um Chris has worked tirelessly, Chris Smith from Waterco Davey, and Chris has agreed to come on the podcast too. So we've been lining up some great interviews for you guys that will come up in in coming weeks. So we have loads for you. Um we hope that if you went to splash, you got a lot out of it, um, other than sore feet, like I did. Um, and we hope that you come back again in two years' time, like we hope to come back.
Speaker 3Yeah, most definitely.
Speaker 8I haven't missed one in 28 years, like I want to start now. Really? Um, yeah, yeah. I was saying I remember when it was actually held in a hotel foyer um with trestle tables and and tablecloths. Um I think wheelies are there as well. But no, and it was owned back then by a husband and wife team. They own Splash Magazine and the Splash Trade Show. It later sold to Intermedia and Intermedia then sold um to Sparzaw. So I've been through the the the years with it, yeah, and so it's great to see what it is now. Um it's a fantastic trade show. So I hope um, as you as we all did, yeah, most definitely that you guys got a lot out of out of it too. And if you didn't get a chance, hopefully by our podcasts last week with the um the the intro to to splash, and then this week with actually telling you what splash has all been all been about. A few product intros as well, that um we gave you a bit of insight, and it really is a great couple of days. So I still have my heart set on getting to Leon. Maybe Leon, I want to get to Leon, and I'd like to get to um the US trade show as well. So um, yeah, have to do that as attached. Gotta work that one out. But anyway, thank you very much for joining me, guys.
Speaker 2It's that's great to be in the same room. It's fantastic. Yes, I know. Simon factionally made a problem. I want the cat fished, you are real. So my mum always warned me about seeing people online, meeting people, but it's glad to glad to finally meet.
Speaker 8So we're no, we're not three separate heads on a screen today. We are three heads in one screen. So we hope you have enjoyed today's podcast. Remember, if you have any topic suggestions, any questions, drop us a line at talkingpools at gmail.com. Oh no, yeah, no are you. I've got to say that. Talkingpools at gmail.com. And Rudy will send those uh questions out to the most applicable host.
Speaker 11And maybe as well, if any of the listeners were like a specific um company to actually come on to the show as well, by all means let us know and see what we can do.
Speaker 8Yeah, absolutely. We all have contacts far and wide.
Speaker 11So not today.
Speaker 8So um, and we can always reach in into those. And uh actually, even Spiros said he wants to come back and Christian Kristen, I keep saying Christian, it drives me insane. Sorry, Kristen. Christian Kristen Brookfield, we are going to um get um on the podcast as well at some point. So um, and look, uh another shout out that I want to do before I sign off is yesterday I had the pleasure of doing the Waves event or being a part of the Waves event. The Waves event is the women in industry um through empowerment um and power. I can't get the, I can never get the the analogy of the numbers. What do you call that? Um anagram. Yep, maybe and of the letters correct, but it's women in our industry. And this year's topic was all about finding your voice, and I'm so glad that mine actually held out. Um, but yeah, it was a fantastic morning. We had a guest speaker, um, Annalise, and she was all about finding your voice. But it was a wonderful, wonderful morning, and I would yeah strongly encourage women in our industry to speak up, have a voice. We are an important part of the industry. It sometimes can feel a little male dominated, but we've got a female CEO girls. So, girl power, let's go for it. Um, but thank you all for listening and um great to have you on board. We look forward to having you join us again next week on the Talking Pools podcast. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us. See ya.
