How it began
The Kreepy Krauly was designed in 1974 by Ferdinand Chauvier, a hydraulics engineer from Springs, a town east of Johannesburg. According to the company history, he built the first prototype out of wood, rubber and plastic. The first South African production cleaners were made from vacuum-formed plastic, which struggled to withstand the pool environment and the effects of the movement of the flow valve.
How it works
The cleaner is a suction device. A flexible hose runs from the pool's skimmer box to the cleaner, so the suction of the pool's own pump draws water, sand and debris through it. A flow valve inside the cleaner moves as the water passes, and the unit travels around the pool without anyone guiding it. The company notes that the hose has to be flexible enough for the cleaner to move independently of it, and that the correct level of vacuum must reach the cleaner.
How it spread
In 1975 Chauvier met Terry Jackson, an above-ground pool manufacturer in Australia. From 1976 Jackson's company, Sherwood Overseas, designed and manufactured Kreepy Krauly cleaners in Perth out of injection-molded plastic, and in the early years supplied components around the world. The brand later extended to New Zealand.
Where it stands today
A South African newspaper described the cleaner in 2025 as one of the country's most successful exports and a household name worldwide. The brand is still sold in several countries, and later versions use silicone seals, rollers and tracks in place of earlier plastics.
