How to make a home hydrotherapy pool installation easier

Hydrotherapy has a huge range of benefits to improve physical and mental wellbeing, whether that is helping with pain management, rehabilitation following a traumatic injury or promoting overall relaxation. However, with the rising cost of energy and a worrying lack of public aquatic therapy facilities, access to hydrotherapy is becoming more difficult for those who need it.

Increasing travel time to use public facilities isn’t an option for many families. That’s why home hydrotherapy pools are becoming more of a viable alternative, enabling consistent access to a private aquatic therapy facility, as well as giving the freedom to customise the pool according to your specific needs.

To help facilitate this demand and make home hydrotherapy pool installations a less daunting prospect, we’ve put together a handy blog. As hydrotherapy pool specialists, we’ll be giving our advice on what to think about before installing a pool into your home, helping make the process less stressful, time-consuming and costly.

 

1)    Work with an experienced hydrotherapy pool provider

 

Home hydrotherapy pool installations are complex and require a huge amount of planning. By working with an experienced pool provider like Innova, you’ll receive the support you need to ensure your pool meets your specific healthcare needs.

With the help of experts, you’ll be guided through the design and specification stages, helping you to understand and select the correct setup for your hydrotherapy pool.

 

 

During the planning stages, you’ll have discussions on general considerations such as recommendations on the location of your plant room. These can then evolve into more care-focused considerations, such as avoiding ceiling lighting in your pool room, and instead having lighting on the side walls to avoid glare when users are having therapy treatment.

With any home adaptation, you want piece of mind that the project will run smoothly and every detail has been taken care of. Choosing an experienced supplier like Innova can ensure that the pressure of the project is taken off your shoulders, with every install carefully mapped out, communicated and delivered with speed and precision.

More often than not a pool installation is for somebody’s ‘forever home’. So, it only makes to choose a supplier that you can trust, but will also work with you to create a home hydrotherapy pool that is personal you.

 

2)    Getting the right-sized hydrotherapy pool

 

One of the most critical factors to consider when installing a home hydrotherapy pool is the size. All hydrotherapy pools must have at least 2.7m2 space per person, ensuring that the pool can accommodate the number of users you intend to have at any given time. Typically the smallest size for a domestic hydrotherapy pool is 5.4m2. That allows for enough room for two people, usually one user and one therapist.

However, when it comes to family homes, there is undoubtedly a need for a larger pool so that is can be used for both recreational use and aquatic therapy. This is to help with social interaction and have a facility that the whole family can use and enjoy.

 

 

If we take the example of four people wanting to use a pool at the same time, you would need a minimum pool size of 10.8 m2.

By increasing the size of your pool, you also need to factor in the impact it will have on size of the surrounding pool room and the size of the neighbouring plant room. Not only does this see a rise in cost, it could also mean you may need to look into an external modular option for your home hydrotherapy pool installation, as opposed to housing it within an existing building.

 

 

3)    Choosing the right type of hydrotherapy pool

 

Hydrotherapy pools are all the same right? Wrong! There are two different designs to choose from to filter a hydrotherapy pool – a skimmer design or an overflow design.

Skimmer pools see the water sit slightly below the pool’s edge, with a few skimmer devices placed around the edge of the pool to remove water. This is then directed into a filter system, before being pumped back. For overflow pools, the water sits level with the pool’s edge and the drainage system sits all around the pool’s edge. The water that overflows into the drainage channels will be filtered and pumped back into the pool.

 

 

So which one is best for a home hydrotherapy pool installation? We’d recommend a skimmer pool for your home as they don’t require a separate balancing tank. This means that from an installation point of view, skimmer pools are cheaper and quicker to construct.

 

4)    Access considerations

 

By having a hydrotherapy pool installed in your home, you want to make sure that it works for you and your family.

Whereas commercial hydrotherapy pools have stringent accessibility guidelines to comply with, such as having 2m access on both sides of the pool, domestic installations have much more flexibility, enabling you to really personalise your pool so it meets your needs.

Of course, you always want to maximise access, but having fewer fixed guidelines helps on home projects where there’s less space and fewer resources available.

We’d recommend that before you finalise any designs, you should first discuss the primary pool user’s strengths and challenges with their care team, family and chosen pool supplier. By working collaboratively, you have a much better chance of delivering a bespoke and personalised specification that meets your exact needs.

 

 

For instance, if the primary user needs to be hoisted into the pool, you need to think about whether you need an X-Y overhead hoist system so the user can be safely transferred from a changing room into the pool room, and vice-versa.  Likewise, for those who have suffered brain trauma, it is worth looking at including sensory equipment for your pool, such as underwater lights, that can help with mental stimulation.

 

5)    Introducing HydroSpace

 

A common barrier that many people face when wanting to have a home hydrotherapy installation is space and having the correct planning permission in place. However, to help reduce delays and avoid incurring additional costs, modular hydrotherapy pool buildings can provide a quick and cost-effective solution.

Modular hydrotherapy facilities such as the HydroSpace, are built off-site to achieve quick installation and reduce disruption for your home.

Whereas a standard hydrotherapy pool installation requires complex ground work, planning permission and lengthy installation times, modular hydrotherapy pools are pre-fabricated, saving huge amounts of time in the lead process. This means that you don’t have rooms out of commission in your home, or dust and debris causing potential health risks. By choosing to go down the modular route, it takes that hassle away, with just the enabling works to be carried out in your garden before your pool is installed.

 

 

Subject to any permitted development already carried out, in most cases you do not need planning permission to build a modular hydrotherapy suite.

At Innova, we offer HydroSpace as a turnkey solution for clients who want to install a hydrotherapy pool and other wellness facilities but have limited space or budget. Delivered ready-made to your garden, it provides an excellent option for homeowners who want to create a hydrotherapy space without the need for extensive construction.

 

Summary

 

Any home hydrotherapy pool installation can be challenging, but with the right approach and guidance, it can be an enjoyable and rewarding process. Here at Innova we are committed to providing personalised solutions that meet your needs and preferences. Our team of experts are available to answer any questions and provide guidance throughout the process of getting home adaptations for your hydrotherapy needs.

Completed our enquiry form to discover how we can make it easier for you to install a home hydrotherapy pool.