14 January 2007

Pool industry crisis

| johnboy
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The swimming pool is an iconic point of reference for the failure of water restrictions to fairly address the competing water requirements of the population.

Under the current iniquitous system people with a swimming pool can splash about, while other parents can’t choose to pay for some water to run the kids under a sprinkler.

Today the Canberra Times is worried that the 150 odd people in the swimming pool business are in danger of losing their jobs as no new pools can be built. The ABC has promises from ACTEW that they consulted in the finest traditions of the ACT Government.

That still leaves us with a situation of the very special sort of socialist privilege where those who already have pools get to keep them and fill them with dirt cheap water, but no-one else can use smaller amounts of water recreationally and can’t even choose to invest in the facility to do so (other than by buying a house with a pool, very handy that for existing pool owners).

And meanwhile businesses go bust and lives are ruined due to an administrative whim.

Great policy!

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Link to class A recycled please.

But hang on. Many pools go off in winter. All solved by liberal doses of chlorine. So why not in “class A recycled”?

OK Andy – except their own website capitalises the name ACTEW, it’s only in the marketing slogan gimmick ‘ActewAGL’ (TransACT is similar, same bloke probably). Pedantic I know. However I will bow to your higher knowledge.
Sammy, you’ve got me there!
Hey Pandy no worries.

If this is class A recycled then its use should conform to Australian standards. ie purple pipes, meters etc and is not deemed suitable for swimming pools.

So why was this said in yesterdays sunday Times?:

“Mr Baria said Actew advised the industry against the direct use of recycled water available from the Lower Molonglo in the December meeting, with the water not considered suitable for drinking or swimming pool fill use. He referred it to ACT Health for further information.”

The people that work at LMWCCC have happily drunk the water that comes out the end of the process. It’s cleaner than the river water flowing in the top.

They’ve probably already been claimed by ‘other’ businesses in Fyshwick

There is already a business in Fyshwick running under:

Fyshwick Head Services

Possible business names: Pool Out Pty; Stuff Your Pool; Fill Yer’Ole; etc etc.

They’ve probably already been claimed by ‘other’ businesses in Fyshwick….

yeah, more like a small bunch of people pooling their resources…

Does 150 odd people make an ‘industry’ as such as opposed to calling it say a niche market ?

The CT reports that the water from the Lower-Molonglo is unsafe to be placed in pools.

I recall years ago that ACTEW portrayed some guy holding a glass of water from LM saying it was good enough to drink. And now there is talk of placing the water from LM back into the Cotter dam.

So what has changed? Oh thats right, the scare about the water from the LM is to discourage new pool installations I bet.

why do CT persist in treating the acronym ACTEW as a word

Isn’t that the purpose of an acronym?

Surely domestic pools could be filled with non-potable water, of the type extracted from Lower-Molonglo, and used on the GDE? An appropriate charge would of course be attached.

Anyone who has seen a pool after six-months of neglect, and then a few weeks later after chemical treatment and filtration, could see that using drinking water initially is madness.

Miz – you’ll find it is a name. ACTEW (A C T Electricity Water) became Actew Corporation…

OK miz. Mia culpa.

I waz getting a bit peeved with pool envy.

Presumably there is now a profitable business to be made in filling in / covering over swimming pools. Perhaps the 150 personnel could be employed in such a venture?
-Possible business names: Pool Out Pty; Stuff Your Pool; Fill Yer’Ole; etc etc.

Pandy I wasn’t actually being sarky, merely having a sook about the non-existent upkeep of local parks (seeing you brought it up), and a bit nostalgic for the days when you could actually have some water play. Don’t have a pool. Kids go to the local public pool often though.
My backyard is still kinda useable, so you’re right about the backyard knockaround games, though yard size is a factor for me.

So miz, engage with your children in some backyard cricket. Oh thats right, for 6 weeks in the year it is better to let them have their fun and splash arond in a pool.

Semantics – why do CT persist in treating the acronym ACTEW as a word (Actew)?

Pandy wow, do you have a local playground that gets maintained and is useable?! All the little local neighbourhood parks near me are shadeless weed havens at the best of times, unpleasant in any weather due to neglect, unfortunately. And one even has a ‘Future Development’ sign, though I doubt they are going to actually improve the playground.

I really miss those backyard plastic water slides. They were the bomb.

with some paint and creativity that could either turn into a basketball court for some 1 on 1, or with a few bricks and some mortar somehwere to hit a tennis ball.

Great ideas, however you must admit in 40 degree heat a pool is a more attractive option.

Your “right” to have a pool has been extinguished.

No, the right to build a pool and to fill up an existing pool has been extinguished. To own one isn’t against the law…. Yet.

Walk your kids to the local playground. Or drive them to the local pool like I was when I was a tadpole.

Your “right” to have a pool has been extinguished.

Funnt hat not a few months ago I thought I saw something in the CT where the pool industry was saying that the restrictions hadn’t affected them, and it was a boom time for pool building.

I wonder what changed or, like the HIA and LJ Hooker Auctions, was it really just a ‘paid’ whinge by the industry to drum up business? A lot of ‘ads’ masked as journalism in the CT

10×5 concrete slab J Dawg?? with some paint and creativity that could either turn into a basketball court for some 1 on 1, or with a few bricks and some mortar somehwere to hit a tennis ball.

Woody Mann-Caruso7:33 pm 14 Jan 07

Under the current iniquitous system people with a swimming pool can splash about, while other parents can’t choose to pay for some water to run the kids under a sprinkler.

I’d never thought of it that way. Policy madness indeed.

Because kids can have all kinds of fun on a 10x5m slab of concrete! Yay!

Excuse the sarcasm, but when you go hosing your concrete garden this evening, just think about how much better it would be if there was a slight dip in the ground for recreational use on hot days.

I don’t cry one iota forpool owners and the pool industry. Fill your frog swamps in and convert it to a paved area.

How likely are ACTEW to give said exemption?

Yet more special interest whinging.

Like they couldnt see this coming – weve been under water restrictions for several years now.

I know its unfortunate but sometimes hard decisions have to be taken. In any case, with teh labour shortage im not so sure the 150 jobs lost will really be lost at all.

My understanding is you can still apply to Actew for an exemption to allow you to fill your new pool (3 hours morning/night for as long as it takes), which would at least explain why people are still getting them installed…

I was wondering about this, especially because you still see pool ads on tv, in newspapers ect.
In QLD I noticed a number of pool stores but wondered how they were still in business as the area was in stage 3 restrictions and had been for sometime.
Wonder what the deal is in other parts of Australia regarding the industry?

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