If you have a stainless steel frame on your pool fence or pool cover reel, at some point it is likely you will notice a slight brownish spotting or discolouration on the surface. Don’t panic though – chances are, it’s only cosmetic, and will not affect the structural integrity of the steel. Called “Tea Staining” or ”Coastal Corrosion”, it occurs mostly within about five kilometres of the ocean and can become progressively worse closer to the water’s edge. In high wind and exposed areas, it could affect stainless steel up to twenty kilometres away! In the case of a saltwater pool, you have your ..read more

As a pool owner, it’s important to keep your water ‘balanced’. The best time of day to test your water is first thing in the morning, and after the filter has been running for an hour or so. The correct chemical balance varies depending on your pool interior finish. For domestic purposes, for a vinyl-lined pool or Aqualux Pool finish, we recommend the following levels: pH: 7.4-7.8 Total Alkalinity: 100 – 150ppm Calcium Hardness: 200 – 400ppm Free Chlorine 1 – 3ppm (Non-Heated Pool) or 2 – 4ppm (Heated Pools) Stabiliser 30 – 50ppm Saturation Index -0.1 – + 0.4 When collecting a water sample fro ..read more

In Australia, we measure solar pool cover thicknesses by micron – and micron is just a measurement. A micron is very small – one-millionth of a metre in fact. To put it into real terms, a human hair is about 50 – 70 micron. In Australia, a 200-micron pool cover would be considered lightweight, and 610 is currently the heaviest that we are aware of. Anything over 610 would start to get very heavy and difficult to roll on and off of a pool. At ABGAL, our thickest solar pool cover is 610 micron – Triple Cell. The next thickest and most popular selling solar cover is 550 micron from our Oasis Sola ..read more

An Aqualux pool finish is a specialist, flexible pool interior which is designed for Australia’s harsh climate, to out-perform other similar pool finishes. The Aqualux difference starts with the chemistry. Some products perform well under certain conditions, and others just don’t make the grade – and it is all in the chemistry. First we need to understand a little about the conditions, and that’s why Aqualux was developed here in Australia, specifically for Australian conditions. By studying the environmental conditions, we have been able to see over the years how small adjustments to the ch ..read more

We started our journey with Drought Angels back in 2019, when many parts of Australia were in severe drought, and we pledged to donate 40L of freshwater to Drought Angels, for every Oasis Solar Cover we sold. Over the last couple of years, Drought Angels have evolved. While their mission has always been to support Australian farmers, their public focus was those who were specifically drought-affected. However, bushfires, plagues and now flooding have also affected our farmers – so while Drought Angels are still Drought Angels, and our pledge of 40L for every Oasis Solar cover remains the same ..read more

Had extra people in your pool lately? You may have noticed a ring of grime around the waterline. If it’s a yellowish colour and feels a bit greasy to the touch, it is more than likely a combination of sunscreen, moisturisers, dead skin cells and body oils etc – it sounds gross, but they can float on top of the water and stick to the walls. If you have a vinyl-lined interior such as Aqualux or a fibreglass shell, you can usually just wipe it straight off with a microfibre cloth. Get it while it’s fresh and you won’t need any chemicals – just a quick wipe will do it. (It’s even easier if you can ..read more

Once you’ve made the decision to build a pool (or renovate your existing pool) with an Aqualux pool finish, the next difficult decision to make is ‘Which colour or pattern do I pick?’. When we started making pool liners back in the 1970’s, it wasn’t a difficult choice – light blue or dark blue! Now, there is always at least 14 Aqualux colours to choose from- often 16 or even more. Most people will start their decision-making process online – looking at photos of pools. And while that can be a terrific help, it can also be a little overwhelming, as the same colour can look completely different ..read more

If your Fibreglass pool is over ten (10) years old it is probably starting to show some signs of surface degradation –  both above the water level and below the water level. Fading above the water level is just weathering from the sun constantly beating down on the plastic resin surface of the Fibreglass gel coat. The UV in the sun’s rays attack the plastic and cause it to degrade and fade over time to the point where the surface becomes rougher and may start to attract stains and even develop osmosis. Often, when a fibreglass pool is being emptied for renovation, as the water level ..read more

If you’re putting a solar pool cover on for the first time, chances are, you’re also putting a reel (roller) together too. So where do you put it? Ideally you should make this decision before you install the cover, because some positions will require you to leave the cover slightly longer than others. Don’t worry if you have already cut the cover to size. It’s not a big deal. If you have a rectangle shaped pool, the standard approach is to place the reel at one end of the pool – slightly straddling the pool, so the blanket rolls easily on and off the tube without dragging across the coping. Pe ..read more

Love them or hate them, there’s no denying that a pool cover can save massive amounts of water. Just how much varies depending on a number of factors (such as the surface area of the pool, the amount of wind, shade, water/air temperature). Anywhere between 2mm and 10mm of water every day is seen as an acceptable water loss – but this all adds up – and without rain or top ups, a pool can easily lose its entire volume of water – every year! The single most effective thing a pool owner can do to save water is to buy (and use) a pool cover. To be honest, it doesn’t even have to be a proper pool co ..read more