DOSING PUMPS & CONTROL SYSTEMS
Automatic And Balanced Water Organisers As dosing pumps and control systems go quietly about their business of applying regular and accurate chemicals to pool and spa water, it’s easy to overlook the fact that they have become essential pieces of equipment that have made the lives of their owners infinitely easier. In fact, the latest innovations mean ensuring perfect leisure time water has never been so simple and this issue, we roundup the increasingly high tech options on offer By Karen Witney
M
anual dosing of pool or spa water sounds very old hat these days and thankfully the days of just chucking in a cup full of chlorine granules and hoping for the best are a thing of the past. Today sensibly priced dosing and control systems are available to domestic pool owners and those who want the best for their pools will see the benefits of letting the controllers take the strain and simplify water treatment. In commercial facilities automatic systems are a must both for health and safety and monetary reasons. The facilities can be assured that their valued customers are swimming in healthy, balanced water and that the necessary chemical treatments are being used in a cost effective manner. Many systems can be monitored and controlled remotely so easing the burden of operators. All in all automatic water treatment and pool controlling equipment is the sensible option for well managed pools.
WIDE-RANGING PERCEPTIVE CONTROL WITH A DIFFERENCE Tornado’s Pool House Controller systems
are designed to be simple, intuitive and straightforward to use, even for clients who don’t like computers. Whilst the system is built on established powerful computerised process controllers and the latest technology, the user needs no special skills to operate it. The design is clear, simple, bright and uncluttered. All user interfaces are simply provided by LCD colour touch screens. One of these is located inside the pool plant room on the controller cabinet, and is the Master controller at the heart of the system. It provides access to the more technical functions required to maintain and fine-tune the operation of the complete system. Although Tornado Systems is principally a software house with a background in automotive systems and military avionics (hardware and software), having no previous encounter with the swimming pool world turned out to be a big advantage. Several key points were required in the new design. It had to be fully-integrated with every component in the system, with ability to handle any system failures safely. Central to this is the need to include full selfdiagnostics for each individual pump, valve, and other components in the system. As an example, there was an incident last year where the plastic housing of an electrolytic chlorinator cracked in routine service. Since the Tornado system has flow sensors both at the exit from the circulation pumps and the return to the pool, it was able to detect that no water was going back to the pool. Therefore it shut down the circulation pump to prevent a flood in the plant room, and raised an alert. Whilst the main touch screen is located on the control panel in the plant room, remote control and monitoring screens are Tornado’s Control System interfaces simply provided by LCD colour touch screens
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Topline’s TEC4000 colour touch screen chlorine and pH controller
located in the pool house, and another in the main house. To provide remote access Tornado chose a web browser-based interface, since this is available on any device with a web browser. PC based management is also implemented, allowing simultaneous remote monitoring of several installations.
TOPLINE’S ADDITIONAL FEATURES Topline Electronics Limited, have been providing equipment safe clean water for swimming pools and spa’s for over 20 years. From their base in Hailsham in East Sussex,
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