Canadian General-Tower Limitedwww.cgtpoolliners.com(800) 265-7872 One of Canadian General-Tower’s (CGT) most popular vinyl-liner patterns, Black Granite, is now the 2011 Golden Cylinder award winner for technical innovation. CGT met the standards for technical innovation because printing on a flexible vinyl substrate requires an enormous amount of work at the color separation stage, the company says. AquaPillwww.aqua-pill.com(866) 995-5327 AquaPill introduces the AquaPill Phosphate 1500, which offers a patented, pre-measured chemical-release ...

Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool In Southern California Photography 1945-1982Edited by Daniell Cornell ISBN: 978-3-7913-5176-6 Backyard Oasis is an astounding display of full-page photographs depicting the history of the swimming pool in California. However, this book goes beyond the visuals. Six essays, along with an introduction written by Cornell, give the reader an insight and historical background to the meaning of the swimming pool in California. Let’s ...

Rick Lockett • HaloSource, parent company of the SeaKlear brand of premium water treatment products for pools and spas, has promoted Rick Lockett to president and general manager for all of the company’s businesses in the Americas. Lockett has been with HaloSource ssince 2003 in regional management, national sales management and most recently leading the company’s water clarification and water purification businesses as senior vice president of ...

I have received calls from numerous pool service companies over the past few months lamenting their low service rates. They find increasing service rates extremely difficult or nearly impossible. They just cannot get their customers to break open the piggy bank and pay a few more dollars.   Many service companies are also experiencing rate difficulty when bidding new customers. They have a very low conversion ...

For those of you who believe, as I do, that solutions to big problems reside in our younger generations, you’re going to love this story!  A group of high school students in San Jose, Calif., recently unveiled a design for an inventive application of thermoelectric technology in which swimming pools can be used to generate electrical power using heat energy from the sun.  The concept centers on ...

Workers’ compensation insurance, long a burr under the employer’s saddle, is gaining new prominence in the drive to protect profits. Business owners are getting hit with premium increases for the first time after years of virtually level costs for the nation’s oldest social program. “We are entering a new environment of rising workers’ compensation costs,” says Peter Burton, Senior Division Executive for State Relations at the ...

Workers’ compensation insurance, long a burr under the employer’s saddle, is gaining new prominence in the drive to protect profits. Business owners are getting hit with premium increases for the first time after years of virtually level costs for the nation’s oldest social program. “We are entering a new environment of rising workers’ compensation costs,” says Peter Burton, Senior Division Executive for State Relations at the ...

The California Spa And Pool Industry Education Council (SPEC) has prevailed in its efforts to protect the state’s pool service professionals from a law requiring them to collect sales tax for their services. California’s AB 2540, a bill introduced by Assembly member Mike Gatto, seeks to impose a sales tax on certain services. It listed “pool maintenance” as one of its targets. SPEC took an immediate and ...

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently extended the deadline for compliance with the Virginia Graeme Baker Act’s interpretation of an “unblockable drain” from May 28, 2012, to May 23, 2013. CPSC Commissioner Nancy Nord said the agency’s September 2011 revocation of the original interpretation of that term caused problems for pool operators who relied on the initial guidelines, which stated that affixing an unblockable drain ...

Matt, you always have great information to share, and I think that adds weight to your arguments ("The Importance Of Educating Your Pool And Spa Customers," a blog posted March 14). If we, as professionals, appreciate your education — why wouldn't our customers, the consumers? As a manufacturer, I feel responsible for educating all corners of the industry — from distribution to retailers, service professionals and ...