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Pool equipment has changed. Water testing has changed. So why has Australia’s pool water quality standard taken so long to catch up?
On this episode of Mondays Down Under on the Talking Pools Podcast, Lee Salisbury and Nick welcome Chris Smith from Waterco for a look inside the proposed rewrite of Australian Standard AS 3633.
With 42 years in the industry and a seat on the technical committee, Chris explains how the draft came together, why its scope is expanding beyond private pools, and which proposals are generating debate. The conversation tackles filtration, testing, supplementary sanitizers, and the challenge of creating consistency across state health requirements.
There’s also a question for every pool business owner: Have the people recommending your products actually used them?
In this episode:
- Chris’s journey from building equipment to chemical training and research.Why retail staff need hands-on experience with green pool cleanups.Reading product labels and catching changes to instructions.Expanding AS 3633 to address residential and public pools.How working groups, technical review, and public comments shape the draft.Australian Standards versus state and local requirements.Professional water testing and the tools technicians use.Proposed testing frequencies, including total alkalinity.Chlorine dioxide and the discussion around supplementary sanitizers.Proposed chlorine limits and the practical challenges of heavy bather loads.Accounting for cold plunges, warmer water, filtration, and equipment response.
Episode chapters:
00:12 | Welcome to Mondays Down Under
02:14 | Meet Chris Smith: 42 years in the pool industry
07:05 | Research, product trials, and asking why
08:46 | Get your retail staff out into the field
09:58 | Read the label, even when you know the product
12:35 | Why AS 3633 needed a rewrite
18:49 | Expanding the scope to residential and public pools
24:43 | When standards and local requirements differ
28:22 | What counts as professional water testing?
31:23 | Public comments and evidence behind the proposals
33:24 | The alkalinity testing discussion
34:26 | Chlorine dioxide and supplementary sanitizers
44:27 | Proposed combined chlorine limits
45:25 | Temperature ranges, cold plunges, and sanitizer targets
47:23 | Chlorine limits, bather loads, and equipment capacity
About the guest:
Chris Smith of Waterco brings experience across pool equipment, water chemistry, training, and product development. He joins the conversation as a participant in the AS 3633 technical committee.
This episode discusses draft proposals under review at the time of recording. Proposed values should not be treated as final requirements.
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