Alan Shearer Activity CentreWhen the Alan Shearer Activity Centre in Newcastle Upon Tyne approached pool specialist, Whitewaters Ltd, to replace an old hydro pool with something bigger and better, they turned to Certikin and, in particular, their trailblazing new filter media – OC-1.

 

Founded by the retired English footballer, the Alan Shearer Activity Centre situated on the outskirts of Newcastle is a specialist recreational, sensory and social centre for disabled people catering for a wide spectrum of need. It is the only short break centre in the North East with its own on-site activity centre, set within acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. It is a beacon of excellence in more ways than one  as it has just scooped Gold in the Special Requirement Pool of the Year category (sponsored by Heatstar) in the recently held SPATA Awards 2017.

Having seen better days, Whitewaters set about stripping out the old hydrotherapy pool, replacing it with a £500,000 state-of-the-art facility. Six months in design, the construction took a further six months to complete. Twice the size of the original hydrotherapy pool, it offers a mix of fun and relaxation with interactive mood lighting and water and music features. A distinctive full-length window looks out onto the beautiful grounds and turns opaque at a flick of a switch. The pool features an array of water features including a Certikin water cannon, and fluvo air pad and swimjet.

MD of Whitewaters, Mick Guthrie says: “The new hydrotherapy pool offers all the grandeur of a top quality spa, but it also plays a serious role in providing therapeutic benefits to disabled people of all ages.

 

The Alan Shearer Activity Centre

 

The Alan Shearer Activity Centre



Water quality is, of course, of vital importance and at the heart of this pool’s filtration system is the ground breaking new OC-1 filter media for which Certikin is the world’s exclusive distributor. Unique in its methodology and performance, OC-1 works through settlement as opposed to entrapment, and harnesses the recent advances in pump technology and variable speed pumps/controllers.

Mick reports: “The pool has been running for over a month now and the water clarity is crystal clear. Being extremely lightweight, OC-1 is so much easier than any other filter media to handle and work with. Although it’s early days, I am highly impressed with OC-1 and its distinct benefits.

OC-1 gains momentum in the marketplace

OC-1 filtration mediaSince the launch of Certikin’s OC-1 Filtration Media® earlier this year sales have been growing steadily.
Its benefits:
Reduced energy consumption – OC-1 maintains constant flow rates, even when the media is dirty, so pumps can run at lower speeds. No downtime required for heating/salt chlorinators/heat pumps going out on low flow.
Huge capacity for debris collection – over 20 times the capacity of sand or glass.
Reduced requirement for backwashing and a more efficient backwash - reduces water consumption, chemical usage and heating. No need to backwash on start up with new installations.
Lightweight - can even be shipped inside a filter, easy to handle, super quick and easy to install.
Filtration quality Removes 80% of 10 micron particles on one turnover and even removes particles as small as 1 micron.
• Suitable for – domestic, commercial, outdoor or indoor, new installs or existing filters.
Recyclable at end of product life.

Good chemistry


The pool features a CertiDos LCP dosing panel which features a twin channel controller for Free Chlorine and pH and a Closed Amperometric Chlorine Probe for the most accurate Free Chlorine measurement available.
For chemical storage, external foot mount pumps have been mounted to day tanks for sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulphate. Proportional dosing pumps have been used for further control at the point of dosing.
For peace of mind, a CertiDos engineer carried out the full installation and commissioned the system to work to its optimum. Training was also carried out for the on-site operators.


www.whitewaters.co.uk