A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words
Last month's AQUA Choice column, "Seashell," featured a British Columbia-based project that required the builders to float the fiberglass pool to its final destination.
While transporting the shell by truck is par for the course, the driveway at the residence was too steep and the passageway too narrow for that to be an option.
By the looks of this photo, they seem to have it under control.
All In A Day's Work
Sometimes all you can do is laugh
"And when I hit the brakes, the straps broke and this thing flips out of the back of my pickup truck, lands upside down, slides 15 feet down the street and slams into the back of a Jeep Cherokee, totalling the back of it.
"Thank God for insurance."
- Benito Testini, Catalina Pool & Spa
Continuing Education
Getting through to customers and adding to the bottom line
The book quizzes an owner on pool chemistry and also features a glossary of important pool terms. The book's writing strays from standard manual jargon and reads in an easy-to-understand manner.
"After over 30 years of hearing the same questions and giving advice and reassurance to my pool store customers, I decide to write it all down in an easy, personal and comprehensive fashion for you to refer to as a guide," writes Wise.
Not only does Wise include the book in all new- build sales, she also sells it in her retail stores, making a little profit along the way - an opportunity she's willing to extend to dealers and service retailers throughout the country.
"It sells at the distributor level for $12, and the retail prices is $20 (the magic $19.99)," says Wise, "so a dealer makes a healthy $8 profit per book. If they move 200 per year, that is an extra $1,600 profit for just selling the book. In a small business, that is a big help."
For more information, visit www.poolcarebook.com.
All Crabbiness Aside
SeaKlear keeps waste out of landfills
"We are pleased to say we kept 900,000 pounds [of waste] out of landfills," says Rick Lockett, vice president of water treatment. "We look forward to recycling even more waste in 2009 - and we are already headed in that direction as demand for our products has increased as consumers look for more eco-friendly product alternatives for their pools and spas."
Water Safety Month
SoCal APSP chapter hosts successful events
- The local Red Cross chapter sponsored a Health and Safety Fair, where representatives from Blake Sales, Maytronics, Mohr Power Solar and Inland Empire Fencing displayed water safety information with games, brochures and mini-seminars.
- Chapter representatives attended community church and homeowner's association events, as well as local racing and home show events to promote water safety.
- The local newspaper ran a water safety PSA.
- Jeff and Peggy Mitchell of Dynasty Pools arranged a safety booth at a minor league baseball game, and the APSP PSA featuring Olympic swimmers has been playing on the Jumbotron during games.
"We are all hoping that our effort has helped to save lives and create more water safety awareness in the Inland Empire Southern California area," says Rick Jones, director. "It has been hard work for those of us involved, and we couldn't have done such a great effort without the generous help of our local suppliers and manufacturers.
"At the end of these events, we all agreed that we have found a formula that works to create interest in the safety message."
Sharing His Story
60 Minutes covers subject of past Waterfront
This past June AQUA wrote about U.S. Army 1st Lt. Brian Brennan (Waterfront) receiving a pool from the Metro Chapter of the APSP after losing both legs during his recent tour of duty.
60 Minutes recently caught up with Lt. Brennan and shared his story of survival with the country. Visit www.cbsnews.com and search "Lt. Brian Brennan" to see the video.
