DEL G-Class Still Tops

As CMP, once strictly a pool and spa plastics company, began to focus on technology-based products, it found itself in the commercial pool equipment business. Its purchase of DEL Ozone in 2017 brought with it a portfolio of commercial products.

As CMP pivoted, Rob Thill, who joined CMP as a quality manager, was tasked with starting the company’s technical division. Thill, who was an electrician in the U.S. Air Force and a lead mechanic for Delta Airlines, now also oversees CMP’s commercial sales.

While CMP released its first commercial AOP and UV systems this year, Thill says the G-Class ozonator, released in 1975, is still the company’s “powerhouse.”

One of the features that drives the G-Class’ popularity is its serviceable corona discharge cell. “You’re able to take it apart, clean it annually and it extends the life of that cell immensely,” Thill says. The company’s residential ozone units, in which the cells are sealed and unable to be serviced, typically have a five-year lifespan. “The commercial cells, as long as you’re taking care of them, will last way longer than that.” G-Class Systems are also NSF-50 certified for secondary disinfection and are the only ozone sanitizers with third-party validation per NSF requirements.

CMP works with its G-Class customers to ensure each unit is properly sized for the gallonage and usage of each public pool it’s placed on, producing custom systems for each job. “We make sure we have the proper contact time in the properly sized tanks, proper amount of destruct of the unabsorbed ozone gasses and proper amount of ozone being generated depending on the situation — whether it’s heated water or standard water,” Thill says. “We do all those calculations in-house and it comes out as basically a turnkey system for whoever is ordering.”

When installing or servicing these larger ozone units, Thill says to take electrical safety precautions. “Higher voltages are involved in the production of the ozone in a commercial system, so [pool pros] want to be very mindful of the electrical safety when working on the systems,” he says. Also, Thill says to note that all ozone is produced in a vacuum and is either delivered, mixed and diluted in the water and that any leftover gasses are properly removed. “They need to have a good ozone destruct system involved.”

Whereas its residential ozonators typically use ambient air, CMP’s commercial ozonators supply a feed gas through an oxygen concentrator, which turbo charges the ozone output supplying much more ozone feed per hours than residential units. The G-Class can offer anywhere from 2 grams of ozone per hour to up to 130 grams per hour, depending on the needs of the pool.

In addition to sending a CMP technician to inspect each installation and do the initial startup and training, the company also offers repair service, before and after the warranty period.

“We specialize in our systems,” Thill says. “A lot of people look at us as the subject matter experts and appreciate the fact that we’re out there supporting the units even far into the non-warranty period.”

Though some new commercial projects were delayed at the beginning of the pandemic, Thill says many are now restarting construction. “A lot of the existing pools in the market are using this as a time to do major maintenance on their systems [and] replacing older high-hour systems,” Thill says.

Because of the coronavirus, CMP also used its UV expertise to make a handheld UV sanitizer, which can be used to clean any hard surface. “We have been working behind the scenes to make a weapon against harmful bacteria, microorganisms and viruses, including those similar to the coronavirus,” says Vic Walker, director of product design and marketing for CMP. “This type of technology literally breaks apart the DNA and RNA of contaminants, which prevents them from reproducing and making people sick.”

“We wanted to do our part to help the communities that were still needing to be at work in the office so they could have a safe work environment,” Thill says. “We are providing a product that addresses current health concerns,” Walker says. “This was accomplished with an incredible team effort from CMP staff to help those in the community who need a way to make personal and work environments safer for everyone. We are very happy to be a part of it all.”