Stigmatized, the private swimming pool market is affected but not destroyed

2023-11-22 09:32:00

Disturbed by inflation and episodes of drought, the French market for private swimming pools is swimming in troubled waters. The turnover of the sector fell by 11.5% over the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same period of 2022, explained during a press conference the Federation of swimming pool professionals FPP, which did not provide figures on its profitability. The market had already marked time with an 8% decline in turnover in 2022 compared to 2021. The number of swimming pools built fell by 15% over nine months, compared to the same period of 2022.

Public swimming pools threatened by the energy crisis

A sector ” stigmatized »

Besides inflation, the unprecedented drought situation had a strong media and negative impact on our profession », Regretted Stéphane Figueroa, president of the FPP, assuring that his sector was “ stigmatized » in the context of water restrictions this summer. Touched, but not sunk. The market for individual swimming pools – numbering 3.4 million in France today – remains ” carrier “, despite ” these cyclical effects », According to Laurent Montserrat, treasurer of the federation.

The level of construction saw a sharp increase during the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of swimming pools built between January and September 2023, however, remained up 8.6% compared to the same period of 2019, according to the FPP.

On the defensive regarding their water consumption, the sector mentioned “ advances in equipment and products » – like shelters and swimming pool covers to limit water evaporation and maintain a constant temperature. They allowed a “ drastic reduction » of water consumption, defends Joëlle Pulinx, general delegate of the FPP.

This consumption is equivalent to approximately 20 million cubic meters of water » used annually, she added, i.e. “ 0.06% of all annual water uses » in France (drinking water, industrial water, water for agriculture or energy, etc.). »Related to domestic consumption alone (54 m3 per inhabitant per year in 2021 according to the Observatory of Public Water and Sanitation Services, Sispea), this represents 0.5%.

A communications campaign in preparation

The federation also indicated that it was preparing for next year a “ powerful » awareness campaign on the proper management of swimming pool water. Objective, to promote “ good practices » among users, in order to conserve the water in the pool for as long as possible. It will be all the more anticipated as tensions arose before the summer around the issue of private swimming pools, targeted by many elected officials.

At the end of May, the mayors of Elne, near Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) or Brando (Haute-Corse), prohibited the construction of swimming pools until further notice. Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine) underlined similar measures and, in the Var, the nine municipalities of the Pays de Fayence have banned new private basins until 2028. At the beginning of May, the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu had , he announced a ban on the sale of above-ground swimming pools in the Pyrénées-Orientales, then affected by an exceptional drought. “ Climate change is happening now; we need to get away from the culture of abundance », he thundered, reviving the image of swimming pool owners who consume large amounts of water.

« We are the scapegoats in this story. It’s unfair to talk regarding a culture of abundance. We are economical with our water », assured Jean-Louis Desjoyaux, president of the eponymous company, European number one in in-ground swimming pools.

« Having a swimming pool does not mean being subject to ISF. It has become democratized. We have first prizes at 15,000 euros “. According to the FPP, 44% of in-ground swimming pool owners are employees, workers or farmers.

(With AFP)