…Says Eddie O’Neill of Port Talbot pool contractors, Pioneer Maintenance Services. Eddie has been installing Certikin’s market leading Accu-Tab system for the past 12 years and says its unique performance outstrips all other chlorine feeder water treatment systems.

“It is no exaggeration to say that Accu-Tab has totally transformed the business of pool water maintenance and safety. It is super user-friendly and simple to maintain,” says Eddie about Axiall’s calcium hypochlorite system, exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by Certikin. “There’s little or no maintenance issues compared to other water treatment systems so there’s few service costs.

“The beauty of Accu-Tab is that it can cope with any workload – from a hospital hydrotherapy pool to a 50-metre Olympic pool. The system really shows its true colours considering there is free summer swimming and heavy loads in most pools in Wales. When a bus trip arrives, some conventional systems cannot cope which is a worry for the manager and public health.”

Eddie should know having installed the Accu-Tab system at the prestigious Wales National Pool in Swansea. The 50-metre competition pool was used for training in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics and was, at the time, the subject of a Certikin case study. Five years on the system is still going strong and the pool maintenance staff are more than happy with its performance.

To cope with the needs of the 50m and 25m training pools, Pioneer installed an Accu-Tab 3075 PowerBase chlorination unit. The system consists of a PVC base, 4ft by 2ft, with a 20-gallon polyethylene tank mounted on the base. The Accu-Tab dry tablet chlorinator, holding 25kg Accu-Tab tablets is mounted on the specially designed tank. The tank has built in level switches and is connected to a special Burkert solenoid valve, all of which is operated on 24 volts which is very safe. The system is wired to the chemical controller, which also controls a Lowara 240 volt, booster pump. All the electrical controls are wall mounted at eye level for ease of access and the whole system is corrosion resistant.

The Wales National Pool Sports Manager for Facilities, Richard Akers says: “Accu-Tab replaced an outmoded method of chlorinating water which was costly, both in terms of chemical consumption and maintenance and service repairs, and we are as happy with it today as when it was first installed.”

“It saves such a huge amount of time. The duty manager simply has to refill the chlorinator with the large 3-inch Accu-Tabs, which take about 10 minutes a day. With the old system we had to gown-up in overalls and face masks and go through the messy daily ritual of hand dosing the granular calcium hypochlorite into the mixing tank (which caused a lot of dust and fumes) and mechanical agitation to dissolve the granules before injecting the solution into the pool water.

With the Accu-Tab system staff wear an apron, gloves and small facemask. It is also a much cleaner procedure. It has eliminated all hazards and, furthermore, blockages are non-existent and it is very economical!”

Richard concludes: “This safe and reliable dosing method has made the workload of the pool maintenance staff so much lighter and I am delighted to report that the water quality is superb. We are complete converts to the Certikin Accu-Tab system!”

Eddie adds: “With no corrosion on the system, no chlorine dust, no overflowing of chemicals, no bund, no mixing tanks and equipment, no injectors to block, no metering pumps to default, no hoses to block/burst or blow off, no danger of chemical splashes – using Accu-Tab really is a no brainer! We have installed the system on every school pool in Swansea and have recently received an enquiry to supply a unit at TV and film Bay Studios in Swansea.”