It’s Time to Turn your Pool GREEN?
 
The rapidly-rising costs of energy are driving municipalities, management companies, and owners to become strongly interested in lowering energy consumption and protecting the environment.  While these can be two completely different goals, they are very connected in terms of long-term success. Going GREEN can be defined as any technology that produces a favorable impact on our ecology either with low emissions, minimal noxious by-products, or significantly-reduced energy consumption. At CES, going GREEN can also mean saving money at the same time as you save the ecology.
 
Can you save money on your Pool operation while protecting the environment?....Absolutely! Here is an overview of the different ways you can save energy, how you can implement these programs, and what type of payback potential you can expect. These technologies will be reviewed in more detail in upcoming issues of CESWaterQualityNews. The major forms of energy savings can come from:
 
Circulation Pump & Feature Pumps:
Circulation pumps account for a significant portion of the energy costs consumed by larger pool operations. While state and local codes require circulation pumps to operate most of the day, there are several energy saving options available to your organization.
TIMERS: The DOH codes allows you to shut down the circulation system 3-hours after closing as long as it is re-started at least 3-hours before opening. While this will save you approximately $xx per month per horsepower of pool motor, they are many facilities that cannot take advantage of this feature. That is because many facilities rely on nighttime circulation and filtration periods to “recover” their water quality from a heavy previous day’s use.
New CES total pump-room control technology now allows “smart” energy savings mode that will trigger a shut down if all the pre-programmed limits for clarity, temperature, chemical levels, etc. are within range. This provides the best of both worlds- energy savings without negative consequences.
VFD: Variable frequency drives are electronic control devices, that are attached to a circulation or feature pump. They are then programmed to maintain a certain GPM flow rate and will automatically “ramp up or ramp down” the RPM of the motor to maintain that flow rate. This saves considerable energy as the motor will operate only with the needed amperage, thus saving Kilowatts and Money. They are also valuable as they can be programmed to reduce “demand charges” that determine the rate that the facility will pay for ALL their electricity. Ask your CES rep for more information on these valuable, yet relatively-unknown devices.
 
Filtration Systems:
Filter system are available in a wide variety of technologies and styles:
DE (diatomaceous earth) is most environmentally sensitive media, and is also the most labor intensive and most “temporary” of all medias. Since DE is simply put “pre-historic skeletal remains” which is mined and packaged, the proper disposal of DE is critical to any environmentally-conscious facility. Unfortunately an alarming number of DE sites improperly dispose of their media and illegally send it back into the environment. A quick and GREEN solution of this problem is to switch to Purifiber® media, which is a wood-fiber DE alternative that has been tested and certified by NSF to be more efficient than DE. Purifiber costs more than DE, but many CES customers have reported overall savings due to the longer filter runs, and ensuing savings in labor and DE media.
Hi-Rate Sand is probably the most efficient and ecologically-friendly filter media in the industry. CES filters utilize a specially graded sand “permanent media” to filter out pool-water particulates. They are the most popular form of filtration over the past 20 years of municipal & water park pool construction. Labor savings are spectacular with less frequent backwashes that take 2-3 minutes per tank, depending on the brand of filter. Reliable fully automatic versions have also been very popular since 1989. Don’t listen to rookie pool companies that tell you that sand filters are inferior to DE....some CES filters are rated as equivalent to EPA-approved drinking water filtration. More details upon request. By the way, hundreds of CES customers have upgraded their DE systems to Hi-rate Sand.
 
Water Consumption:
Water savings is one of the key components of the CES “Go Green” program. It is important to minimize water consumption due to pool leaks. Professional operators install influent water meters on all make-up water lines to quantify pool-related consumption and to deduct this from sewage bills. If a pool leak is detected, it should be resolved immediately as water loss not only hurts the ecology and the pocketbook, but it also will compromise the pool structure as well.
 
Chemical Savings:
Direct chemistry control was one of the first CES programs. These are simple, inexpensive, and permanent ways to reduce chemical consumption 30-50% by using only the chemicals required to do the job. CES control system programs are available from under $85 per month, and pay their own way from the savings that they generate.
ALL-IN-ONE chemicals can also provide tremendous overall chemical savings. The CES Pulsar program is the ONLY sanitation system in the industry that chlorinates, removes organics, particulates and metals, boosts calcium and alkalinity, continually shock-treats, and requires 1/10th the acid requirements of standard bleach.... all in a single, safe, and convenient tablet.
 
Chemical Avoidance programs:
Over and above reducing chemical usage there are several ways to avoid the use of chemicals:
SALT CHLORINATION: As a popular GO GREEN strategy, new CES industrial grade saline chlorinators produce chlorine from a mild saline (salt) solution in the pool water. These units have a great track record, a fantastic on-site warranty program, and perform reliably for years. Residential-grade saline systems work in the same manner, but cannot make the same claims. CES units generally pay their own way out of the savings they generate.
OZONE: These supplemental systems produce a high-strength on-site oxidizer that dramatically reduces the amount of chlorine required to operate a pool. When properly administered, they produce “Bottled-water” quality pool/spa water with no noxious by-product.
UV: Another form of treatment which treats the “Full Flow” of pool water and positively kills Giardia and Crypto in a single pass, with no noxious by products. These are now required to be installed in EVERY wading pool and splash pad in some US states. UV is also extremely popular in indoor applications, as it reduces the noxious odor-causing chloramines.
CES Hybrid Programs: CES’s patented NON-CHLORINE hybrid treatment systems help reduce traditional chemical consumption by up to 50% by using an EPA-approved NON-CHLORINE treatment  system in conjunction with a traditional Pulsar chlorination system. Call for information on this great new package.
 
Heating Systems:
There is a wide variation of heater types, fuels, and efficiencies, each with its own set of positives and negatives. The most energy efficient heaters are water-source (Geothermal) heat pumps, followed by air-source heat pumps. These are more costly to install and have slower recovery times than gas models, so they aren’t are widely used. Among gas heaters, Natural gas units costs less to operate than Propane (LP Gas) models, but distribution of Natural gas in Florida is still spotty at best. Gas heaters vary widely in efficiencies from 65-70% in older models, to newer Lochinvar fan-assisted models reaching 88-89% efficiency. It is much cheaper for a customer to pay more for an 89% efficient Lochinvar heater, as they can save many times the cost difference on an annual basis in fuel savings.
 
From the environmental standpoint, Gas heaters emit noxious fumes that are harmful to the environment and contribute to the global warming problem. Some heater companies have invested more money in R & D and manufacturing (thus have a higher price) to produce a “Low NOx (oxides of nitrogen)” heater. Low NOx heaters have much lower emissions than standard heaters, and many US States (California, Texas, Indiana, etc) require that all new heaters meet Low NOx designation. Although Florida has yet to adopt this environmental standard, we are proud to announce that CES will ONLY SELL AND SERVICE Low NOx heating systems such as Lochinvar. Lochinvar heaters have an independent laboratory rating for NOx less than 20 PPM, corrected to 3% O2.
 
Heat Retention:
Last but not least.... heat retention is simple. Install a floating T-Star/MacBall cover and traditionally save 66% of your annual heating costs, Period. Heat retention covers have been used in many municipal operations since the late 1970s, and CES has successfully installed and maintained millions of square feet of covers with well-documented results. Covers are comprised of insulated custom-fitted and trimmed, lightweight sections that float on the pool surface. They are stored on and deployed with multi-tubed stainless steel storage reels-winders.
 
Not every pool can utilize a pool cover. Why? Large free-form pools, sites with exceptional wind conditions, or sites with NO on-site labor staffing may not be able to manage the use of a cover. They will be missing out on the #1 money saving device in a pool operation, according to the AFO course.
 
CES is proud to assist customers in identifying, evaluating, and implementing energy-efficient programs on their sites. Not every strategy will work in every application, so it is important to carefully select which technologies best suit your organization’s goals.
 
It is no accident that CES is so involved with GREEN strategies. As you can see, we are not newcomers, nor are we “riding the wave” of this this newly-popular trend. We’re just happy to see it come back.  Commercial Energy Specialists (CES) was founded in 1983 as the industrial division of one of Florida’s largest ALTERNATIVE ENERGY companies. That core philosophy was, and remains one of our core goals in the overall circulation, filtration, and treatment of pools.
 
After all.....ENERGY is our middle name.
 
 
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Supplemental Ozone water treatment systems produce “bottled-water” quality pool & spa water with no harmful byproducts.
CES complete pump room controllers maximize energy savings by controlling pumps, filters, heaters, chemicals, and more.
CES permanent media sand filters automatically backwash and can be configured to produce drinking water quality filtration.
CES pool cover systems will reduce pool heating costs by up to 66%, period. Many satisfied owners, and millions of sq. ft. installed since 1983.
CES LOW Nox heaters will save you thousands of dollars in pool heating costs while helping protect the environment.
CES industrial-grade saline chlorinators produce pool water chlorine from a mild saline solution.