Tour de Piscine: foreign pool industries often are an enigma to U.S. companies. Here's why the European market is abuzz with activity—and business prospects

Pool & Spa News, August 6, 2004 by Shabnam Mogharabi

In fact, it is in the commercial market that most innovations flourish. High-tech enclosures with retractable roofs allow year-round use. Public pools with movable floors can give a smaller city a facility for competitive swimming and diving, as well as handicapped access and toddler classes.

Even with pool equipment and maintenance, Europeans take a different approach. An affinity for a more organic lifestyle may explain why. Unlike the U.S. practice of maintaining chlorine levels at about 1 part per million, many homeowners in Europe refuse to use more than a dash of chlorine to sanitize their pools (some estimate as low as 0.25 parts per million).

Others decline the use of chlorine systems at all, preferring ozone or salt electrolysis methods. This occurs especially in countries such as Belgium, where bromine is banned. "Alternative energy forces and savings such as solar panels or cogeneration are becoming more common and favored by governments all over Europe," Maestrami observes.

The variances are endless, though many believe the discrepancies will disappear in a few years as the European Union of Swimming Pool & Spa Associations standardizes its industries. As one portable spa manufacturer points out, "Right now, there's no magic formula for Europe."

One nation at a time

Not surprisingly, each nation's pool and spa industry has its own nuances. Here are the latest trends in some of Europe's largest countries and regions, presented in the order of their market size:

FRANCE

* Largest market in Europe, with more than 750,000 swimming pools.

* Gunite is the preferred method in southern France and along the coast.

* Fifty percent of the country's inground pools are built with prefabricated or one-piece fiberglass molds.

* Many spas are built into an enclave inside the pool.

SPAIN/PORTUGAL

* Largest market of nonmanufactured pools in Europe--at least 60 percent of inground pools are concrete.

* Huge commercial and competitive market, which plays host to numerous athletic events through the year.

* Rise in do-it-yourself chains with direct-to-consumer prefab pools, accessories and chemicals.

GERMANY

* 28 percent of the pool market is aboveground--the highest rate in western Europe.

* Complex commercial regulations make building pools here more difficult.

* Spas and hot tubs tend to be geometric and modern; solid white or black are popular.

* Stainless steel pools are a popular feature at many health dubs and hotels.

UNITED KINGDOM

* European leader of prefab and fiberglass pools, which make up 75 percent of the inground market.

* Leader in technical innovation, with regulations and standards similar to ANSI/NSPI codes.

* Pools are generally small, not much longer than 14 feet.

* High percentage of pools with covers and heat-retention panel systems.

ITALY

* Design innovations such as perimeter-overflow pools and beach entries tend to flourish here and in the French Riviera.

* Ponds and other "biopiscinas" are increasingly popular.

* Excessively strict regulations keep the number of new pools built each year as low as 7,000, though that may change soon.