A Look at H2Flow's New LevelSmart Wireless Autofill

On this episode of Pool Magazine podcast, we discuss one of the hottest new products to come along recently, the new LevelSmart Wireless Autofill by H2Flow. To learn more about the product and the company that manufactures it, we connect with Sean McDermott, VP of Sales, and Gavin Hackett, President of H2Flow Controls. Their Sylvania, OH-based firm specializes in producing water management and control systems for various applications, particularly in the aquatics and water treatment industries. Listen in on our conversation and learn more about this revolutionary new product this is empowering pool professionals with greater control over the bodies of water they manage.

Read in Pool Magazine: H2Flow Controls Introduces Game-Changing LevelSmart Wireless Autofill

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Transcript

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining us on another episode of Pool Magazine podcast. I'm your host Joe Trusty, editor of Pool Magazine, and today I'm joined by Sean McDermott, VP of sales, and Gavin Hackett, president of H2 Flow Controls, a company out of Slovenia, Ohio, that specializes in water management and control systems for various applications, particularly in the aquatics and water treatment industries.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: It's a pleasure to have you both with us today on the show. 

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Thanks, Joe. Thanks for having us. Thanks, Joe. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: You know, guys, I thought a good starting point for today's discussion would be to have you give me a little overview of how your company got started as one of the leading manufacturers in the sector, and perhaps more of an in depth look at some of the core markets that you guys serve.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Sure. Yeah. Just want to say, first of all, thanks so much for having us today. So something Sean and I have been looking forward to. So, yeah, so we, we got started in 1999, actually my, my dad, Paul Hackett started the company [00:01:00] and we started out as a master distributor in North America for a Swedish company called Emotron.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Emotron make products, mostly in industrial sectors, variable frequency drives, soft starters. Uh, and power monitoring devices. And that's kind of where we got started distributing their products in the U. S. and Canada. And it wasn't until about 2008 when the VGB, the Virginia Grand Baker Act, came around that we got involved in the pool and spa market.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: And we did that with a product called the PSB20. It was a great solution, secondary shutoff device to prevent drain entrapment. And that product really took off, uh, gave us a great springboard for really for the future of the company and, and helped us gain a pretty solid reputation in the market. And from there, we introduced the flow vis flow meter, which [00:02:00] a lot of your listeners might be familiar with.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: We launched that in 2012. And it would just continue to grow from there. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: I know there's been some exciting developments on your guys. And I saw a press release recently that said your firm had just opened up a new facility. 

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Yeah. So that's, that was pretty exciting. We have a lot of. A lot of exciting stuff, really, in the last couple of years, uh, we've made a couple of e hires within the company, Sean, Sean has been one of them, and you're right, yeah, we, we put up a new building, purchased a piece of land back at the beginning of 2022, and we completed the build and opened the doors to the building just earlier this year, in, in March, actually.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: And, you know, we've had a couple of different buildings over the years, we've always rented and, you know, never had the space we needed to allow for the growth that we thought we were capable of. And that's what we've got here. We've got a beautiful new building [00:03:00] that's got spaces for manufacturing and R& D and sales and training and it just allows us so much more flexibility.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: On top of that, we've got unused land as well. So when the need arises, we can grow, we can put up more space. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: Well, I know your firm services a lot of different verticals, but tell me, where does the swimming pool industry factor into the equation and the overall scheme of things for H2FLO? 

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Yeah, so the pool industry today accounts for about 65 or 70 percent of our business.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: We do still serve those markets that we discussed a few minutes ago. various different industrial markets, water and wastewater, food and BEV, oil and gas. But because of our product mix and the direction that the company's taken with product development, it's really, it's in the forefront of our minds.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: It's where we see the growth. moving forward. So that's certainly it's [00:04:00] where we're heavily focusing a lot of our resources. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: I know your firm produces a range of products including automated water fill systems, flow meters, variable frequency drives, and water safety equipment designed for residential, commercial pools and spas, water parks, and other aquatic facilities.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: Can H2 Flow has become known for? 

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So as Gavin mentioned previously, the business was started based on the master distributorship of a variable frequency drive, a VFD, or some listeners might associate it with a variable speed pump that evolved into a product. That's very well known on the commercial side of the pool business.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: What H2 flow is able to do is take an extremely complex setup procedure, which with VFDs, and this is true for all VFDs and simplify it into a few different steps that a pool [00:05:00] operator that has never set up a VFD before can do. So that was one of the things that we did as a company to bring something unique to the market that really benefited the market.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: And then from there. the development of the PSP 20. With the experience that the founders of the company had in developing industrial products, load monitoring equipment, variable frequency drives, we were able to develop a product that monitored the load on the motor. And rather than using other methods, vacuum release systems and that type of monitoring, we, we could tell from the, the load on the motor, what was happening if there was an entrapment.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So that was another very unique device that was very problem free and, uh, easy to install. And then the product that really allowed us to, to be in a new home this year would be FlowViz. FlowViz is an extremely unique. Flow meter that solved a lot of the [00:06:00] problems that existed in mechanical flow meters, basically durability, longevity, and accuracy.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So they were able to develop a flow meter that was originally based on a check valve, a common check valve that was in the industry. And when people look at flow is it's kind of like when people look at Velcro, it's one of those things where people think. How the hell didn't I invent that? Right? It's just one of those products that just makes sense.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: It's extremely durable, reliable. It's the product that people replace other flow meters with. And, uh, so that represents a large portion of our business. And really that previous to the mandate with variable speed pumps and residential. It was primarily a commercial product because as most people know in the pool industry, you have to have a flow meter on a commercial pool.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So what's happening now though, and the growth that we're seeing now is on the residential side. You install a variable speed pump on your [00:07:00] pool, one now because you have to, but really the reason that you're installing a variable speed pump and the reason they're mandated is to save on electrical costs, save on electricity, right?

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: You don't really know. what speed to operate it at. The pump will tell you how fast the motor is turning, but it's not telling you if you're maintaining your pool correctly. Speaking of turnover rates and filtration rates and these sorts of things. The only way to know that is with a flow meter. So since most residential pools are being installed with check valves, it's kind of a no brainer.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: to install a flow viz instead of a check valve because you have a check valve and now you also have a flow meter to really optimize the filtration, the electrical consumption, you know, everything that you need without spending a ton of money. These things are under 200 bucks retail. Um, it just makes sense.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So a lot of the growth that we're seeing now in the past year or two has been on the residential side with flow viz. [00:08:00] 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: Yeah, I think I've seen this product at one of the shows. I was definitely getting the elevator pitch there on how easy the installation was. Upside, downside, horizontal, vertical. What I liked, yes, definitely doubles as a check valve, but I was looking at some of the documentation.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: There's a digital upgrade for this model, right? 

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, thanks for mentioning the ease of installation on the models up to, uh, up to three inch, so two and a half inch and below, you don't need any straight pipe before and after. It doesn't matter if it's on a level plumbing line or anything like that.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So yeah, installation is super easy. The digital upgrade, again, another product that you kind of scratch your head and go, wow, how did I not think of that? It's simply a sensor that mounts on the outside of the FlowViz. And can detect where the indicator arm is. So by doing that, we were able to take an analog electrical signal, turn it into a display.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: There's a number of things that you can do with the display itself. [00:09:00] You can set alarms that will. You know, change the screen, allow the screen to flash. You can do this if you're moving too much water, if you're moving too little water, if you want to set up a point that tells you when you should backwash the filter, a number of different things that you can do with that.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: And even, I think, On the commercial side, more importantly than that is the ability to take a, a four to 20 milliamp signal out of that and run it into an automation system or a chemical controller. Once you've done that, you know, there's a lot of different things you can do with that information. You can base your chemical pump speed on that.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: You can stop your chemicals from injecting into the plumbing for safety reasons. Obviously, there's a lot of issues with. Chemical systems that continue to run, even if a pump shuts off, that's very dangerous. So the flow of his digital allows all of that. And then even, you know, beyond that, if you have a specific application where you need [00:10:00] to run a constant flow rate, for example, in commercial pools where you have to maintain a turnover rate.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: And, but you don't have a pump that can go much higher than the turnover rate. You can use the flow data to run your variable speed pump at a constant flow rather than a constant speed. So as the head increases from a dirty filter, Or whatever other environmental factors might exist, your system is always going to run at a constant flow rather than just a constant speed.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So really interesting things that we can do with FlowVizDigital. Uh, we're also developing some alternatives, I guess. I don't know if I'd call an alternative, but another way to do this process where you're turning the, the non linear signal of the FlowVizDigital into a linear output. We're, we're creating a, Sort of a decoder box that will go between the flow is digital sensor and your automation system.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: So we're making the flow is digital universally [00:11:00] compatible with all automation systems with that new box that we're going to be releasing 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: some very cool tech there, Sean. Thanks for sharing. I mean, I know that. The new level smart wireless autofill is a hot product that you guys have out on the market.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: Can you tell our readers and our listeners a little bit more about this product and what it brings to the table? 

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: Sure. So autofills have been around for a long, long time. There's the style that uses a float that's mounted in a separate small vessel on the side of the pool. There's wired sensors that use various.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: Different ways of sensing where the water level exists. Both of those systems have to be installed during installation, or if they're installed after the pool is installed, they require a, uh, quite a bit of destruction of the pool deck, installation of the sensors and reconstruction of the pool deck. So it's very costly, time consuming.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: Generally, if someone has a pool installed without an [00:12:00] autofill, They're not going to go back and have one added to it. That's where LevelSmart comes in. LevelSmart, instead of using a wired sensor, uses a wireless sensor that mounts inside the pool. It's got a battery inside of it. So, installation is extremely simple.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: You simply mount the sensor inside the skimmer or in an applicable spot in the pool, and it's going to sense the water level, communicate via radio frequency to the valve controller that's located near the equipment, and And allow you to add water to the pool as needed. One of the hurdles that LevelSmart overcame with this sort of configuration is being able to average the water level.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: You know, we're mounting this thing on the inside of the skimmer. That water is not still. It's constantly moving. There's waves. The algorithm inside LevelSmart allows it to calculate the average water level and maintain a water level within one eighth to one tenth of an inch in the pool. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: So [00:13:00] it accounts for that water turbulence from swimmers in the water and stuff like that.

Sean McDermott - H2Flow Controls: Exactly. Exactly. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: I'm eager to check out this product. I haven't seen it firsthand, but I'd see that it was rated one of the top 50 hot new products by Pool and Spa News for this year. You guys are going to be doing the trade show route this year, right? 

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: We are, yeah. So, we have plans to be at a few shows this season.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: We have, uh, the Northeast Show, which is a great show. We're there every year. We'll also be in Orlando. We'll be at the Western Show in Long Beach. We'll be at the Southwest Show, which I believe is in Houston this year. Uh, I'm sorry, next year. Uh, it's the, the 25 Show. And then also at the Midwest Fool and Spa Show.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: Oh, nice. Well, I'll be at least a couple of those things. So I'm hoping to have the opportunity to check it out either in Orlando or at a Nespas show. The H2 flow name is definitely out there on the market. I mean, I know I've [00:14:00] seen you at various trade shows over the years, tabletops and events all over the country over the past couple of years.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: I know market penetration is about telling that story again and again, but you have some great case studies on your website that get to the very part about why pool pros are gravitating towards H2 flow. And one of the big reasons is the energy savings. I was hoping that maybe you could share some of those success stories with our listeners.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: so much. 

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Yeah, that's a, that's a great question. One that comes to mind right off the bat is, and I think this one might be featured on our website, you may have seen it up there, but it's one we did a few years ago at Kilauea Landings Resort in Hawaii. The resort had, just because it's in Hawaii, they had just incredibly high energy costs.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: I think that, you 50 cents per kilowatt hour. And this customer had something like 16 or 17 pumps that were used for filtration and water [00:15:00] features and, and just, yeah, super high energy costs. And they came to us and we provided them with a solution. They used our EcoFlow variable frequency drives, and they use these to reduce the, they would, they were reducing the speed of the motor by, I think, like 10%.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: And they experienced significant energy savings because they. They use the affinity laws and and what that basically is is if you drop the speed of the motor by 10 percent for example, and I think in this case they did that and they ended up with 29 percent energy reduction. And anyway, Kiloa landing and ended up saving something like 100, 000 per year just in energy costs.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: And that's where the rubber really meets the road about why you guys have experienced the kind of growth that you guys have. I think a lot of great information today, but before we go, if you had a given minute long elevator pitch to pool pros, how do you [00:16:00] think H2 flow controls help pool pros take better control over their pool applications?

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: So H2 flow is focused on developing unique solutions, which improve full system inefficiencies by reducing the amount of energy, water, and chemicals that are otherwise wasted in the operation of the customer's pool. Our products are being used by customers worldwide to better control, protect, and measure their motor driven equipment.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: The data that these products provide help the user better understand inefficiencies, areas of concern, and where they can make improvements. As an example of our, how our products have been adopted over the past 13 years, We've altered the way the industry views flow meters. 13 years ago, many people didn't understand the need to have a flow meter.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: And we frequently use the analogy of flow meters like a speedometer for your [00:17:00] pool pump. And when we describe it this way to someone who's never used a flow meter before, it's like they suddenly get it. That's kind of like Sean just said a few minutes ago, it's like Velcro. A lot of people have that reaction.

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Why didn't I think of that? Um, and this is the reason that the product has won multiple pool and spot news product of the year awards. And why 13 years on from its launch, we're still achieving record sales every year. And now we're working towards achieving the same thing with LevelSmart. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: Sean, Gavin, thanks so much for coming on the show to answer some questions we had about your brand and your products.

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: I really enjoyed our conversation and appreciate you taking time out to connect with our readers and our listeners. so much. 

Gavin Hackett - H2Flow Controls: Thanks so much for having us, Joe. This was a pleasure. Absolutely. Thanks, Joe. 

Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine: Well, that's all the time we have left today. Make sure to like, subscribe, share, and follow, and we'll catch you next time on another episode of Pool Magazine Podcast.