Stainless steel swimming pools are a great commercial solution to integrate in your project’s space”. Thanks to their lightweight and sustainable material, as well as the ease of maintenance and care, they are the top choice for many commercial pool businesses.
What are the top benefits of having a stainless steel swimming pool? What are its main applications? What is the best way to maintain your pool?
In this article, we’ll cover the key facts you need to know about these pools and the most frequently asked questions about their maintenance and care.
Made from lightweight and sustainable materials, the structure of stainless steel swimming pools allows them to be easily adapted to any space elegantly, while facilitating their maintenance and cleaning. This is why they’re the pools of choice for wellness spaces, gyms, sports clubs, boutique hotels, resorts, etc.
Stainless steel provides a great ergonomic appeal to pools wherever they are located. It also creates a mirror effect in the water, which gives swimmers the unique feeling of swimming over a mirrored surface –– a one-of-a-kind experience that will attract them to the venues using these pools.
Stainless steel pools offer a lot of benefits to commercial operators, such as, primarily:
- They are adaptable to any space, shape or project. Stainless steel allows designers & constructors to create custom-made solutions so that each project becomes unique. Moreover, pools are customizable, with the option of adding hydrotherapy accessories inside, sun loungers and other furniture around them, among other options.
- Ease of installation. For a commercial project, stainless steel pools are ideal as they require minimal on-site work. Due to lightweight, prefabricated solutions that can be slotted into place quickly, construction times are optimized and the site can start making profit soon enough.
- Great aesthetics and environmental choice. Stainless steel swimming pools are elegant, minimalist and sleek. Made through low environmental impact processes and from recyclable materials, with components that don’t contaminate, they are easy to clean and maintain.
- Versatility and hydrotherapy. One great advantage of stainless steel pools is the ability to introduce different water therapy elements to enhance the use of the pool for its users. These include waterfalls or massage water jets.
- Water jets and massage facilities add an extra feeling of relaxation and exclusivity for users, as well as the health benefits of hydrotherapy.
- Hydrotherapy offers your customers an opportunity to fight against psychological conditions such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, as well as to stimulate blood circulation, eliminate toxins, and exercise to prevent illnesses and muscle injuries.
- Sustainability of stainless steel. Thanks to being completely reusable and recyclable, these pools offer a high level of sustainability credentials. Thus, this choice reduces the environmental impact of your construction project.
- Stainless steel swimming pools can be placed indoors or outdoors with great malleability and durability. They deteriorate less rapidly and require less maintenance than their counterparts from other materials.
- The hygienic properties of stainless steel pools, together with the sealing and recycled water that remains clean for long periods of time, contribute to reducing the use of chemicals. This therefore prevents the end users from exposure to their harmful effects.
Swimming pools made from stainless steel are found in a multitude of environments thanks to their elegant looks and versatile nature. Here are some of the top applications for these types of pools.
Hotels and sports clubs exclusive pools
Stainless steel adds a unique, exclusive appeal to hotels and clubs. It also has great hygienic qualities and is resistant to corrosion, which makes it an attractive material for high-volume use and for making the space look stylish with simple maintenance requirements.
Wellness centres
Stainless steel pools fit perfectly in spa and wellness centres. Designed with the latest software technologies, they provide excellent ergonomics, great appearance and incredible functionality. They are a top choice for featuring extras like hydromassage beds and jets.
Therapeutic and treatment pools
Given its extreme cleanliness, stainless steel is ideal for therapeutic aquatic spaces, and provides additional elegance to the venues as well.
- Lap pool: a standard-type pool with bespoke dimensions. Usually found in sports clubs, lap pools are long and narrow, designed primarily for swimming laps.
- Vitality pool: a bespoke luxury pool which typically operates at 38ºC and is equipped with air and water jet features for hydromassage and relaxation. It’s ideal for wellness spaces.
- Cold plunge: a small pool kept between 7 and 12ºC, typically used for sports and physical therapy by immersing the body under cold water. The cold water stimulates blood flow, reduces swelling and releases endorphins.
- Hot tub: a large freestanding tub full of heated water that can be used for hydrotherapy or relaxation by multiple users simultaneously. Some have powerful massage jets. Hot tubs are sometimes also known as “spas”.
- Recessed spa: a small water pool, usually square or rectangular, with multiple hydromassage jets for the relaxation of one or more people. It is assembled or recessed in-ground on the floor with an efficient overflow channel.
- Baths: an individual bathtub made of a single piece of stainless steel with water features.
The exceptional material of stainless steel requires specific maintenance, especially in a commercial swimming pool environment in which hygiene becomes even more important.
To reduce the deterioration of stainless steel against elements (like corrosion or rust), here are the top things to know that will give your pool a long and healthy life.
Elements requiring maintenance
There are specific parts of the pool that need to be treated regularly to prevent corrosion or other deterioration: pool basin, stairs, outdoor showers, railings, cascades, skimmers, water jets, filters, overflow channel, grills, lighting elements.
Cleaning: choice of tools and products
Special brushes need to be used when cleaning, so as not to scratch the steel. Cleaning should not be done with sandpaper, scourers or harsh chemicals such as bleach or ammonia.
To remove rust stains and calcium buildup, use a special polish and a brightener in this order. First wipe off and remove accumulated dirt; then wash with a neutral soap solution with tap water and, finally, rinse with clean water and dry with a cloth.
Frequency of manual cleaning of stainless steel
Cleaning should be done weekly at the beginning, and then an assessment can follow to estimate how long should be left between cleans to optimize the maintenance intervals.
In winter or when not in use, it’s advisable to disassemble the different parts and accessories, clean them and store them until the next bathing season.
How to avoid stainless steel corrosion
There is a mistaken myth that stainless steel does not rust: despite being tough, steel will also rust if not cared for properly. To avoid corrosion, keep the water clean with a good pH balance, either by using chemical products, automatic dosing equipment or saline chlorinators.
Optimal parameters to control
We advise the following:
- Ph: 7,2 – 7,6 with a weekly/daily maintenance
- TA (total alkalinity): 100 – 175 ppm with a monthly control.
- TH (Calcium hardness): 150 – 300 ppm twice a year
- TDS (only electrolysis): < 6.000 ppm weekly
- Residual chlorine: 0,5 – 2,0 ppm (Cl) daily or weekly
- Stabiliser (C & A): max 30 ppm when ORP regulation is used / up to 75 ppm by manual chlorination with chemicals (twice a year)
To maintain these optimal water parameters, it is ideal to have an automatic control system such as Fluidra Connect, as well as an automatic water treatment system like Freepool2.
Thanks to its versatility, ease of maintenance and great looks, stainless steel makes a wonderful choice for commercial pool solutions. Whether for a hotel swimming pool, a wellness center, sports clubs or other options, choosing a stainless steel pool will help you offer a unique solution to end customers, with great functionality and reduced maintenance burden.
* This information contains general recommendations that must be taken into consideration on a case by case basis. This information is not an instruction manual and can not be considered as such for any purpose. Any implementation or installation to be made must be made by a professional and under the appropriate guidelines. In this regard, each user is responsible for the application it makes of the information contained herein. Fluidra will not be responsible for its use. Consequently, Under no circumstances will Fluidra be liable or responsible for any claim, damages or loss that may arise as a consequence of the use of this information.