The ultimate automated pool cover

SSL Distributors knows the pool industry like the back of its hand.

When it was first established in 1981, it focused primarily on pool products — like pool plaster, covers and more. It’s since diversified to offer natural stone, porcelain, mosaics and a host of other pool construction materials.

It was this ability to innovate and evolve in tandem with the market that cemented its continued success in New Zealand’s pool industry throughout the decades — and one of the prime examples of SSL’s innovation was its investment into automated pool covers.

Described by SSL Distributors’ managing director Clive Pegden as a ‘natural progression’, the company ventured into automated pool covers in 2007, which were imported from Australia and had hollow slats.

But then Clive attended a trade expo in Lyon in the early 2010’s, and discovered a solution that had some serious potential.

“I stumbled across Covrex’s automated covers, which had solid slats,” says Clive. “And as it turned out, solid slats have a much better insulation factor than hollow ones.”

The system uses a foam-filled slat with a flexible connection — and the manufacturer, Covrex, is the only company with a patent for such a technology. Clive met with a representative from Covrex, one thing led to another, and now SSL Distributors is the sole distributor of Covrex pool covers in New Zealand.

The Covrex solid slat is manufactured under licence to Covrex by German Company Rehau, a global leader in plastic and extruding of materials.

This solid foam filled slat has enhanced insulation over more conventional hollow slats, with no glued or welded end caps, which can be prone to leaking over time.

Clive says the insulation advantage offered by the Covrex system is one of its primary benefits. But to be fully effective in its function as a heat retention tool, the cover must be fitted precisely to every corner, curve and shape of the pool.

“Pool covers don’t just protect pools from the elements and debris — one of its main functions is to control heat loss, evaporation and chemical loss,” says Clive. “And since these slats aren’t hollow, they can be cut to whatever shape without risk of filling with water.”

Of course, this is to say nothing of one of the highlights of the product: the ability to automatically extend and retract the cover. One of the most remarkable installations of Covrex’s system involves the cover emerging not from a pit on the side of the pool, but from the bottom of the pool itself.

“We are increasingly doing custom-fit installations where the pit is concealed under the bottom of the pool, and when a key is turned, the cover emerges from the water itself, heading to the surface and then spreading to cover the rest of the pool.”

This installation, he says, is the ultimate pool covering system, because it doesn’t require a bulky, separate pit or box to store the cover — it’s all concealed under the pool.

“This is especially valuable for people who don’t have the extra room to put an external cover pit next to the pool, which can be a metre wide,” says Clive.

It’s for all these reasons and more that the Covrex automated pool cover system delivers value. Its high-quality materiality and solid slats ensure high heat retention and can be cut to any shape and size, and the automation makes use of the most advanced pool cover technology on offer today.

“And all it takes is the turn of a key or the push of a button on a remote, and you can cover or uncover your pool,” he says. “It can’t get much easier than that.”

Learn more about SSL Distributors and its pool cover offerings.