In the lead-up to World Water Day 2021 (22 March), each of us is being encouraged to stop and consider the value and importance of water in our lives by answering the question: what does water mean to me? Water is one of our most precious resources and the need to protect and value water is deeply etched into our psyche.
For Elena Gosse, the CEO of Brisbane-based AIS Water, which designs and manufactures water disinfection technology for commercial and residential swimming pools, water conservation is a passion, a calling and her livelihood.
“Water wastage in commercial and residential swimming pools, can be much higher than people realise which is why it is so vital to use water-saving water disinfection technology such as ours,” Ms Gosse explained.
“Independent university research has shown that just one, 50 metre can waste as much as 1.6 million litres of water every year, through water dumping when granular or liquid chlorination methods are used.
“In Australian dollar terms, for a city with 100, 50 metre pools, this equates to annual water savings costs of some $4 million.
“Most of us understand the need to conserve water by having shorter showers or turning off water taps but many people don’t think about water saving in swimming pools.
“It has become a passion of mine and I am spreading the message globally.”
AIS Water’s technology is in use across 55 countries. Its AutoChlor and EcoLine commercial pool chlorinators have been awarded Climate Care Certification through the national peak industry body, the Swimming Pool & Spa Association of Australia (SPASA) and Smart WaterMark accreditation through the international body of the same name.
The first World Water Day was held in 1993 and is an initiative of UN Water. The organisation hopes that by considering the question, what does water mean to me, it will “create a more comprehensive understanding of how water is valued by different people in different contexts so we can safeguard this precious resource for everyone”, it said on its website.
“We are urging people to stop and consider what water means to them,” Ms Gosse continued. “How much do we value our backyard swimming pools and public aquatic centres? They are a part of who we are as a country, a meeting place where refuge is sought in searing summer days.
“I think if swimmers understood how much a standard swimming pool wasted water because of old chlorination systems, they would be truly appalled.
“Audit your own backyard swimming pool system or check with your local council about what water disinfection and chlorination systems they are using and whether those systems have been designed with environmental protection and sustainability in mind.”
