Bpools

A piece of paradise in your own back yard

TEXT: MICHIEL STOL | PHOTOS © BPOOLS

For many holidaymakers, having a swimming pool at the hotel is the ultimate paradise. So what if you could have your own swimming pool in your back yard? Bpools Swimming Pools wants to make that a reality. “Everybody deserves to have their own paradise at home,” says Bas Hendriks, owner of Bpools, who still personally works on every project and at every on-site installation.

A swimming pool is still a luxury item, but it only used to be attainable for the lucky few. “I realised that myself, when I was thinking about putting in a pool in my own back yard about eight years ago,” explains Hendriks. They all seemed very expensive, so Hendriks looked into the actual costs and found a way to lower the prices without compromising on quality. This led him to starting his own swimming pool company, Bpools. “I began looking at swimming pools from an economical point of view, rather than just from the aesthetic side of it. There are a lot of expensive options, but the question is: do you need them all?”

It is a question that Hendriks and his team ask all their clients. “People contact us mostly via Facebook. When they do, the first thing I ask is: ‘What do you know about swimming pools?’ Some have done research, but others have not. So we first talk a lot about what they want, how the pool will fit in their garden and so on.”
There are a lot of misconceptions about swimming pools, especially about the maintenance. Hendriks continues: “That is a fear from the past that keeps lingering on; that maintaining a pool is a lot of work and comes with a lot of extra costs. That is not the case anymore. The regulating systems do almost all the work now – they check the pH-levels, salt levels and other important parameters – and you can let a robot clean the pool for you. Today, all you have to do is take off the pool cover, turn the lights on and go for a swim. The rest is automated.”

Bpools builds swimming pools mostly throughout the Benelux and France. They make rectangular swimming pools from concrete with an average size of ten by four metres. The walls of the pools are 30 centimetres wide, so the pool will last ‘several lifetimes’, as Hendriks puts it. “No matter where you live in the world, or on what soil your house is built, our pools can be installed in any type of ground, just as long as our crane can reach the garden to dig the hole needed.”

The best time to build is in autumn or spring. The groundwater levels are low and most people do not use their garden as actively as in the summer. “Installing a pool takes up to four weeks, and afterwards, you probably have to plant new plants or grass.”

The first metre of the pool is usually very shallow, about 25 centimetres below the waterline, so that people can lounge at the edge of the pool. “People do not want to swim continuously, they also want to relax in a pool and be able to stand or lie down, especially children. The wet lounge, as it is called, is perfect for this,” explains Hendriks. Hidden underneath the wet lounge is the system for the rolling shutter cover. “The cover makes the pool safer in the dark. It will not keep your clothes dry when you fall into the pool, but you have a better chance of getting out of the pool. Besides that, the cover helps to maintain the water temperature. It keeps about 80 per cent of the heat inside.”

A new trend are solar rolling shutters, which generate heat from the sun. It makes the water temperature rise between four to eight degrees Celsius. “It extends the swimming season from March to October. During the winter months, the pool goes into ‘hibernation mode’, so you do not have to worry about high energy costs.”
A swimming pool is still a large investment, so Hendriks wants to make sure that clients get honest advice before making this important decision. “We want to make swimming pools as affordable as possible. Because everybody deserves a piece of paradise in their own back yard.”


Web: bpools.be

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