For families who love outdoor leisure activities as much as we do, there are few other luxuries that can compare to have your own private pool at home. However, as yards in Hamilton, Mount Gambier, and all over Australia tend to be on the smaller side for most homeowners, the issue of space is always a question. Do you have room for a full-size pool? Will your whole back yard be taken up by the pool? If these are concerns for your family, the lap pool might be a fantastic solution for you.
In recent years, lap pools have become increasingly popular. Historically, these large pools originated in Greek and Rome, where citizens utilised them for exercise, aquatic games, and military training. In a more recent era, lap pools were made popular in California, USA due to their convenience, luxury, and sharp design. Now, the love of lap pools has spread to Australia. If you’re one of the many Australian families wondering whether a lap pool is right for you, this article will walk you through everything you need to know about lap pools and their growing popularity.
What is a lap pool?
Lap pools aren’t altogether terribly different from a regular swimming pool, except in size and dimensions. Lap pools are (typically) long, narrow, rectangular pools designed with the purpose of swimming laps for health and fitness purposes. They also typically contain a bench seating area for simply relaxing and cooling off in the water. They allow for the same quality workout that a swimming pool would, but only take up a fraction of the space, making them ideal for would-be pool owners with smaller back yard spaces. Sizing and depth for lap pools varies quite a lot across the board. One of our most popular lap pool models, the Fast Lane Lap Pool, comes in standard sizing of 2.78 metres wide by 10.3 metres or 12.3 metres long. However, we include options for length customisation up to 30 metres, so your lap pool truly can be almost anything you want it to be.
Why should I choose a lap pool over a full-size swimming pool?
Choosing a lap pool over a full size swimming pool is often an issue of space. As noted before, modern Australian yards tend to be on the smaller, more compact side, and they only seem to be getting smaller in urban and suburban areas where our populations continue to rise. Installing a lap pool is a great way to ensure that you have a private place where you can exercise and relax away from the crowd if that’s important to you. Lap pools are ideal for people with narrow yards that may not work well for typically wide, sweeping full-size pools.
Another reason why someone may choose a lap pool over a full-size pool is to cut back on maintenance. A pool that is one-third the size of a full-size pool takes much less time to clean, fewer chemicals to maintain, and requires less water to fill. Especially for single people or couples who don’t plan on using the lap pool as a large family pool, choosing a smaller size may just make more practical sense in terms of compatibility with one’s lifestyle.
Lap pool prices and installation
Lap pool prices and the lap pool installation process both tend to be very similar to full-size swimming pools. You can choose to either have your pool installed above ground or in the ground. People could think that above ground installations tend to cost less, while in fact to get a high-quality fibreglass pool install above the ground can be more costly compared to an inground pool, especially considering the other cost regarding the pool landscaping. In-ground installations. Inground pools provide that classic, sleep, sophisticated, streamlined silhouette that most people associate with modern lap pools. While both options will increase the value of your home, a high-quality in-ground lap pool adds significant value to your property. Future prospective home buyers will be wowed by a well maintained, landscaped private pool area.
When you purchase one of our Compass Pools Fibreglass Pools, we make your entire pool buying process and installation a breeze. You start the process by choosing from some of the most popular fibreglass pool designs in Australia. Once you’ve decided which model of pool you prefer, selected for customisation options, and decided whether the pool will be above ground or in-ground, we can get started setting your new pool up for you to enjoy.
Installing an above ground fibreglass lap pool almost couldn’t be simpler. Fibreglass pools are prefabricated and delivered to your home by road in one cohesive unit. When the pool arrives, all we really have to do is set it up and ensure that it’s properly supported. In most cases, your pool builder will need to fashion a deck or some other weight-supporting structure to help reinforce the fibreglass pool and support the weight of the water and people inside the structure. From start to finish, the above ground pool installation process typically won’t take more than between a few hours and a couple of days, depending on whether the support structure needs to be implemented.
Alternatively, installing an in-ground lap pool does require a bit more work. The installation process starts with an excavation in your back yard to make room for your new pool. Once the excavation is complete, your new fibreglass pool can be delivered, installed in the ground, recovered, and set up for use. This process typically takes several days to complete. You should also consider other cost involved in the overall pool project budget i.e. pool fencing, landscaping etc.
Lap pool maintenance
One thing to make note of when shopping for a new pool is the amount of maintenance each type of pool requires. Lap pools are a fairly basic, classic pool design, but they do still require some effort to keep them looking great and functioning well. When installing a lap pool, you’ll need all the normal pool care equipment that you’d need for a full-size pool: a pool pump, a cleaning device, chemicals for the water, pH testing strips, etc. Lap pools are not known for being extremely high maintenance, but that doesn’t mean there’s no work at all involved.
If expending time and effort on cleaning your pool doesn’t sound like something you’re interested in, consider choosing a smart lap pool. Smart pool technology can be added to almost any pool, including both new and already existing structures. You can choose the level of automation that makes sense for your budgets and interests. A few different components of your pool that can potentially be automated include:
Self-cleaning mechanism: Our Compass Fibreglass Lap Pools are suitable for use with the Compass Vantage system. The Vantage self-cleaning pool system allows your pool to take care of its own cleaning, so you won’t ever have to spend hours out in the hot sun scrubbing algae off the sides of your pool with long hoses. The Vantage system works via a series of nozzles installed on your lap pool’s floor. The nozzles encourage water circulation and create jet streams of water that regularly scrub the whole pool from the floor up. Then, these jets push all debris into your pool drain, leaving you with a clean, healthy pool every time. Self-cleaning pools can be controlled from your pool management system. You can even schedule your pool to clean itself overnight so that you’re met with a fresh pool of water each morning when you wake for a swim.
Automated salt chlorination: Checking pH levels and adjusting chemicals is a nightmare for some pool owners. In the best case, it’s a tedious and stressful task. In the worst case, getting your measurements wrong can lead to bacterial growth or chemical burns and irritation for anyone using the pool. Choosing smart pool technology that automates your pool’s salt chlorination process is a great way to make sure that the chemical balance in your pool’s water is right every single time. Many pool owners find that they save money on pool chemicals when using an automated salt chlorinator because the pool never accidentally adds too much chlorine to your pool water.
Automated pool pump: Using your pool pump correctly is one of the most important things you can do for the health of your pool, and yet, most pool owners are imperfect with their pool pump usage. Traditional pool pumps can be quite inefficient and expensive to run all day, so many pool owners choose to only run their pool pump for a few hours on sporadic days of the week. This practice creates water stagnancy and encourages bacteria and algae growth, as well as inconsistent water temperature. Automated pool pumps, on the other hand, use up to 85 percent less energy than traditional pool pumps. This means you can safely leave your pool pump running 24/7 with no need to stress about how much energy you’re using or what your energy bill will look like each month. Automated pool pumps ensure that your pool water stays healthy, that your pool chemicals are always distributed evenly, and that your pool water is an even temperature throughout.
More information about lap pools
For more information about lap pools or to hear more about the lap pools for sale at our facility, please contact our team at Donohue’s Leisure. We’d love to work with you, answer all your questions, and help you start your fibreglass lap pool installation process.