You’re looking to add a bit of fun, a bit of fitness and a bit of luxury to your backyard. You just need to decide the form that this aquatic addition takes. Should you choose a swim spa or a more traditional backyard swimming pool?
Backyard pools, like pets, aren’t just for Christmas. Key factors in your purchase decision should be swimming pool cleaning, pool maintenance and the ease of swimming pool repair, because if your chosen option serves up more work than play, it can turn from a backyard luxury to a millstone around your neck.
So which is easier: swimming pool maintenance or swim spa maintenance? Let’s find out.
Swim spas vs swimming pools
First things first: how does a swim spa differ from a traditional swimming pool? Well, in a lot of ways, these clever machines represent the evolution of the backyard pool.
Despite their compact dimensions – a couple of metres wide, a few metres long – swim spas offer an infinite swim-in-place experience, thanks to powerful propulsion systems that send a strong, consistent and fully adjustable current down the middle of the spa.
By adding exercise accessories, such as a treadmill, an aquabike, a rowing kit or a swim tether, a Fastlane Pools swim spa can turn into a total fitness solution. These machines can also be used for gentle hydrotherapy, and come with dedicated spa sections lined with hydromassage jets for relaxation and relief.
Swim spas are also self-contained, portable units. Compared to traditional pool maintenance, including above-ground pool maintenance, swim spas are easy to install (and if required, repair), and can even be taken with you if you ever choose to move.
5 reasons why a swim spa is easier to maintain than a pool
In essence a swim spa is a far more compact and feature-packed pool. But how does that affect the ease of maintenance? The short answer: in almost every way, a Fastlane Pools swim spa demands less upkeep from its owner.
Here are just five examples of how a swim spa offers less work and more play.
1. Hands-free water care
In a Fastlane Pools swim spa you’ll enjoy a suite of automated water care systems designed to keep your water clean, clear, soft and fresh, without you needing to lift a finger.
The Fastlane Pools E-Series, for example, comes with ozone systems that reduce your reliance on chemicals to sanitise your water – they instead pull ozone (O3) out of the ambient air and pump it into the water, where it acts as a natural sanitiser. As a result you’ll use as little as a tablespoon of sanitiser every couple of days, testing the water once a week using a simple test strip.
Traditional backyard pools, meanwhile, use far more chemicals, and are far more difficult to balance. If you want a similarly high-end water care system, you’ll pay thousands for the pleasure. And if your pool water turns, it’s far harder to bring back to life when compared to a swim spa, which can simply be drained and refilled.
2. Easy filtration
Dirt, leaves and general debris are a swimming pool owner’s worst enemies. You’ll likely spend long days swishing the pool net to collect invaders on the water’s surface, while watching a pool vacuum fight an uphill battle on the bottom of your pool.
Fastlane Pools swim spas, meanwhile, are fitted with no-bypass filtration systems that ensure 100% of your water is filtered 100% of the time. And if any unwanted debris settles at the bottom, it’s easy to collect, thanks to the small footprint and shallow water (all our swim spas are less than 1.5m deep).
3. An easy-to-handle cover
The best way to deal with debris falling into the water is to prevent it from doing so in the first place… but that’s easier said than done with a traditional swimming pool. Sure, you’ve got a cover, but it’s a heavy and cumbersome thing to move – a time-consuming job that requires two or more people. As a result most owners simply do so twice a year, covering their pools in the cooler months then uncovering when warmer weather returns.
There are no such issues with a swim spa. Fastlane Pools covers are far smaller, making them quick and easy to remove and replace. This keeps both debris out and warmth in, which is another major selling point for swim spas: you can enjoy a swim in idyllic water 12 months of the year, turning the temperature up in winter and down in summer!
4. Less to clean
One of the more obvious benefits of a swim spa is that it’s simply smaller than a swimming pool. If you want to keep the spa sparkling, there are far fewer surfaces to scrub. If you want to keep your water glistening, there is far less to care of. An occasional spray and wipe is all you’ll need to keep these machines looking like the backyard showpieces they are.
The same can’t be said for traditional pools, particularly in terms of salt water pool maintenance, which sees your surfaces needing a regular, deep scrub.
5. Lower ongoing costs
Between the endless features – the current generator, the hydromassage jets, the water care systems, the lights and water features, the optional entertainment systems – you might presume that a Fastlane Pools swim spa would be a comparatively costly machine to run. But they will often cost less than a traditional swimming pool, thanks to their size and efficiency.
Traditional pools require a lot of power to heat, as they lose that heat quickly. Our insulated models are designed to keep heat in. Traditional pools use many times more water and chemicals than swim spas. And if something goes wrong, swimming pools can be expensive to repair. For a Fastlane Pools swim spa it can be as simple as switching out a part.
We have created a guide that looks at a broader comparison of how swim spas compare vs swimming pools.
The Fastlane Pools difference
All in all, swim spas can demand a fraction of the maintenance that a traditional pool requires – particularly if you choose a Fastlane Pools model. Made from the highest quality materials, fitted with the most innovative and efficient technologies, and offering an experience that will see it in almost constant use, an investment in a Fastlane Pools swim spa is one that can deliver all manner of returns.
Keen to experience the Fastlane Pools difference? Get in touch with your friendly local dealer today.
