Advertisment
The advertisement was seen on the advertisers’ website and promoted “Dublin’s most luxurious swimming pool”.
The website wording stated:
“Unlike normal swimming pools in Dublin, our Sandymount swimming pool does not use heavily chlorinated water. Instead, the pool is continuously filled with only natural seawater.”
Complaint
The complainant considered the statement that the swimming pool was only filled with natural seawater to be incorrect and misleading as no mention was made that the water contained chlorine. The complainant believed that chlorine was used as they suffered a reaction after swimming in the pool.
Response
The advertisers clarified that West Wood Club had six fitness clubs in Dublin, all of which had swimming pools. They said that five of these pools were ‘normal’ 25 metre or 50 metre pools, however, the West Wood Club at Sandymount had a 25-metre heated saltwater Thalassotherapy Pool.
The advertisers explained that thalassotherapy was the use of ‘seawater’ as a form of therapy and that this was an alternative form of therapy which harnessed the soothing properties of the sea. For context, they said that the term came from the Greek word “thalassa,” which meant ocean. The advertisers explained that the saltwater for the thalassotherapy pool at Sandymount came directly from the sea on Sandymount strand into a natural spring buried deep under the West Wood Club in Sandymount.
The advertisers highlighted the following wording included in the advertisement on their website:
“Our Sandymount swimming pool in Dublin 4 is different than normal 25-meter swimming pools in Dublin City. Our Sandymount swimming pool is a luxurious 25 metre ‘thalassotherapy’ pool.
Unlike normal swimming pools in Dublin, our Sandymount swimming pool does not use heavily chlorinated water. Instead, the pool is continuously filled with only natural seawater.
The saltwater for the thalassotherapy pool at Sandymount comes directly from the sea into a natural spring buried deep under West Wood Club.
To clean the natural sea water, the first step is to pump it into huge balance tanks. Secondly, the water then goes through a large manganese filter. Next, we send the sea water through four filters. And then finally, the seawater is pumped into the swimming pool at Sandymount.
The thing you notice as you step down into Sandymount swimming pool is the lack of any chlorine smell. Why? Because you are swimming in saltwater from the sea. Instead of large amounts of chlorine, our Dublin 4 swimming pool uses ….a pool filtration system designed exclusively for ‘thalassotherapy’ saltwater pools.
Our Dublin 4 swimming pool offers another benefit for people who cannot swim, or people who are afraid of water. The salt in the seawater makes your body more buoyant. This makes it easier for you to float.”
The advertisers said that the above statements from their website were correct. They said that they did use some chlorine, but that it was not heavily chlorinated water like a normal publicly funded swimming pool.
The advertisers pointed out that the content on their website did not say that the pool had no chlorine whatsoever.
The advertisers said that there was also signage in the pool area itself that said:
“As chlorine is used in the plunge pool and main pool it may discolour or bleach the colour of some swimwear.”
For more information on the history of thalassotherapy pool, the advertisers invited readers to review their website(1).
(1) Dublin’s Favourite Swimming Pool | Heated Saltwater Swimming Pool (westwood.ie).
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.
The Committee noted the line in the advertisement that “unlike normal swimming pools in Dublin, our Sandymount swimming pool does not use heavily chlorinated water. Instead, the pool is continuously filled with only natural seawater.” The Committee considered that the use of the adverb “instead” and the description of “only natural seawater” implied that as an alternative to heavily chlorinated water, the swimming pool only contained natural seawater which, by its nature, would not contain chlorine.
In light of this, the Complaints Committee therefore considered that the advertisement had the potential to mislead consumers and therefore breached the Code at sections 4.01, 4.04, 4.09 and 4.10.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement must not reappear in its current form.
