India To Host Pool And Spa Show
The North American market for pools and hot tubs may be soft, but internationally there's strong demand for the industry's products. That's the hope, at least, of organizers of the 2011 WAVES Pool | Spa | Bath International Expo in New Delhi, India, slated for Aug. 10-12.
According to a release from WAVES, demand for swimming pools and hot tubs there has surged over the last 10 years. An Indian trade group estimated the country's construction market at over $50 billion, adding that new homes, hotels and resorts are springing up and that the pool and spa industry can "hardly keep up."
"Our Indian division is very excited about the launch of the country's first focused event and actually, we have been waiting several years for this," said Pere Ballart, director of AstralPool International, a division of Fluidra Group. "I view India as the fastest-growing pool and spa market in the world, and with the help of WAVES, it certainly has tremendous potential to become a global player in the pool and spa industry."
For more information please visit www.wavesexpo.com or email [email protected].
Hayward: Record Heat Will Lead To Arizona Rebate
Arizona's notoriously hot summers are a boon to the pool building industry there, but can be a real burden on the state's residents. Hayward Pool Products has announced a program that will have some Arizonans actually cheering for the mercury to rise to ridiculous levels. If the temperature reaches 118 degrees Fahrenheit on July 4, a record originally set on July 4, 1989, Hayward will give qualified pool buyers up to a $15,000 rebate.
The "Beat the Heat" campaign applies to every new Arizona in-ground pool sold between Feb. 18-28, 2011, by a qualifying Totally Hayward pool builder. Under the terms of the promotion, anyone purchasing a new in-ground pool from an authorized and participating Totally Hayward Pool Builder in Arizona, whose purchase includes a Hayward brand pump, a Hayward brand filter, and one additional Hayward branded product, such as a heater, heat pump, controller, salt chlorinator or cleaner, is eligible to register.
"While Arizonians don't need to be reminded how hot it can get there, this is our way of drawing some attention to the importance of being prepared to beat the heat with a new pool. And it's our way of potentially rewarding those forward-thinkers who consider that there's a real possibility that the temperatures could top that historic 118 degree mark," says Hayward's Kevin Potucek.
For more details of the "Beat the Heat" promotion, go to www.haywardpool.com and click on "Beat the Heat."
Pool Accessibility Pioneer Passes
John E. Nolan, a pioneer in swimming pool and spa lifts, died at home in November, surrounded by his loving family in Louisville, Kentucky. He was 91 years old.
Nolan was born and raised in Somerville, Mass., attended Rindge Tech High School, served as an apprentice at the Boston Navy Yard, was an Air Force Cadet during WWII, and then graduated from the industrial arts program at Western Kentucky University.
Nolan had a varied career, including establishing an auto mechanics program, designing and building furniture, developing faucets for Delta, and developing the first bathtub lift for American-Standard.
Then Nolan began the longest and most important part of his life's work - inventing products to make life easier for the disabled. He established J. E. Nolan & Company in the late 1960s, and went into production in his very large garage making an improved version of the bathtub lift, which became known as the Nolan Tublift.
As the benefits of aquatic therapy became more widely apparent, Nolan introduced the Nolan Poolift, an independently operated, water-powered swimming pool lift, at the International Pool and Spa Show in Los Angeles in 1981. According to daughter Linda, who was there with him, "We thought that everyone would be very impressed with this new device, and we would be swamped with orders, but the disability rights movement was in its infancy, and most dealers responded that they didn't know anyone who would need such an item. Only if they had a personal need for someone in their own family would they be interested. At that time, I would never have believed it would take 30 years for such products to be required at public pools."
Rights to manufacture the Nolan Tublift and Poolift were sold in 1985. Two years later, John and Linda founded a new company, Aquatic Access, and introduced the first water-powered Spalift to help people into aboveground pools and spas.