Ed and Helen purchased one of the first 100 Endless Pools built and used it daily for arthritis and back pain for 25 years. They chose to install their second Endless Pools Original model to take advantage of its upgraded technology. Ed calls it "absolutely wonderful" for both of them.
"When it was installed," Ed says of his first Original pool, "it was 1993. We had it until 2017. It worked very well – well until we bought this new one. That's a pretty good recommendation for Endless Pools' longevity! I expect the same thing out of this new pool."
The earliest Endless Pools model design provided Ed and Helen with 25 years of therapeutic use. "That's a pretty good recommendation for Endless Pools' longevity," Ed says. They installed an upgraded model in 2018
PLANNING FOR POOL #1
"My wife read about Endless Pools, and she thought it sounded like a very good idea. We were building this house that we live in now, and we changed our contract with the excavator to allow for a pool in one-half of the garage.
"We thought about having an outdoor pool," he recalls. Of course, they had to take into account that their house would be in northern West Virginia and that, as Ed notes, "we were close to 60.
"My wife in her infinite wisdom said, 'It's pretty dumb having a pool that you use maybe three months a year. We're not going to have a 30-foot by 50-foot pool and all the effort that takes.' So it didn't take much to talk me into an indoor pool."
DAILY USE FOR 25 YEARS
"I'm in one hour a day," Ed says of his Endless Pools aquatic therapy routine. "I have a set regimen, and I look forward to it. It's nice being able to float and flex your muscles.
"I don't swim. I use a floatation device, so I sort of dog paddle for 45 minutes, kicking and stroking both, so I do get the swimming exercise.
"I have balance problems, so I do specific heel-and-toe exercises and arm-twisting and bending and back exercises in the pool. I'm able to do other things that are good for neuropathy, so the pool's good for that too."
While Ed doesn't swim against the Endless Pools current, he still finds it useful for added resistance during his water workout. "I use the current for back and stretching exercises. It is nice having it wash over you.
"I think it does help very much with arthritis," he reflects. Of his wife's 45-minute daily routine, he says, "She's got back problems, and it helps her a great deal.
"She's a better swimmer than I; she does that for probably half an hour. Then she does extensive exercises, advised by her therapist. She spends 15 minutes doing that, primarily for her back.
"We keep the pool at 92 degrees F, which is very fine for our arthritic bodies. I hope it's added years to our lives."
After 25 years, Ed and Helen retired their early Endless Pools model and replaced it with an upgraded version.
SOME THINGS CHANGE…
At Endless Pools, we're constantly working to evolve and improve our designs. So it's not surprising that Ed would notice some significant changes after a quarter-century!
"I like all the innovations that you've done over the years," Ed tells us. "The old pool had a very large hydraulic power unit. It must have weighed 300 pounds. This new one is probably about one-third as large. It's a wonderful thing, and it works very efficiently."
Of course, efficiency isn't just measured by time but by cost as well. "I think the electric cost is considerably less" than with the nearly 30-year-old pool, Ed is finding.
He's also seeing firsthand that pool maintenance is "a lot simpler. We have one of the UV lamps" for water purification; the optional ultraviolet system augments our standard mineral-based sanitizer. "I test the water every couple of weeks, the chlorine balance and also the pH balance. I rather enjoy doing the testing.
"So what else do I do for the pool? Very little!"
…AND SOME STAY THE SAME
Ed shared his praise for our customer service, then and now. He and some friends installed the two pools themselves. Based on both experiences, he reports, "Your installation manuals are excellent. When in doubt, consult the instructions, and your instructions are so good that everything goes fine."
"I chlorinated it, but even when you were near it, you could not smell the chlorine like you could in a commercial pool," he's observed. Both pools, he finds, are "essentially chlorine-free as far as odor is concerned."
With Endless Pools' low-chlorine system, you can smell the difference, and you can feel it too. Note how Ed describes his daily routine: "We only use it in the morning; it's a good wakeup. I shower and get in there. Sometimes I shower after I get out, though I don’t need to." Have you ever heard anyone say that they didn't need to shower after exiting a public pool?
COMMITMENT TO LAST A LIFETIME
"You were basically a start-up," Ed recalls from his initial pool installation. "I think the man that talked to me was president at the founding." That's likely true. James Murdock invented Endless Pools' core technologies, founded the company, and stayed involved with daily operations for almost 30 years. Our commitment to our customers stems directly from his dedicated leadership.
"I think your relationship with customers is very good and I congratulate you for that," Ed tells us. Admittedly, his use of our Customer Service is not as extensive as you might expect after 25 years. "I've never really called Endless Pools for any technical advisement that I recall. Because the pool causes so little effort, I just don't give it that much thought. It's just there; it's always there."
"We miss the times when we've gone away," he adds. "My wife particularly misses it." And it's that effortless convenience, that no-hassle access to warm water for pain relief, that leads Ed to report, "I'm probably one of your greatest boosters."