BioLab Inc was established in the USA in 1955, beginning as a small family business. Initially it made cleaning agents and disinfectants for the poultry industry but Founder/CEO Leon Bloom, soon realised the products could be used for other industries.
As early as 1962, Atlanta-based BioLab Inc had expanded and the BioGuard brand of pool and spa maintenance chemicals was created.
By Exploring microbiology and chemical processes, BioLab Inc also realised that the traditional one-cure-fits-all approach to swimming pool care wasn’t enough. Consumers wanted a program that made their pool chemicals work together, with the outcome of a sparkling pool. Thus, the three-step system was born, overcoming many traditional pool care problems.
Leon Bloom sold the company to Swedish chemical supplier Lonza Group in 1979 and retired to Florida shortly thereafter.
By 1980, the business had become the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of pool and spa chemicals. In 1983, Alex Chandler of BioLab Canada, led the push into South Africa and Australia with the BioGuard brand. In 1993, the BioGuard brand expanded into New Zealand. In 1996, Great lakes Chemical Corporation purchase BioLab from Lonza Group.
In 2013, BioLab’s global business was purchased by KIK Consumer Products, one of North America’s largest independent manufacturers of consumer products. BioGuard pool and spa chemicals are sold in hundreds of stores across Australia and New Zealand, making us one of the largest retail networks in pool and spa chemicals in Australasia.
Key Milestones
1955 Self-taught chemist, Leon Bloom, founds BioLab Inc in Georgia, Atlanta USA, creating quaternary ammonium algaecide.
1950s Bloom targets burgeoning USA poultry industry, developing a system to use his algaecide to cleanse eggs and sanitise chicks’ drinking and bathing water.
1962 Bloom establishes BioGuard range of swimming pool and spa chemicals, creating the 3-step system (sanitise, oxidise, algaecide) to optimise water chemistry.
1979 Bloom sells his pool chemical business to Swedish chemical supplier, Lonza Group.
1980 BioLab becomes the leading manufacturer and marketer of pool and spa chemicals throughout the world.
1983 Swim Chem (BioGuard) launches in Australia.
1993 BioGuard brand launches in New Zealand.
1996 Great Lakes Chemical Corporation purchases BioLab from Lonza Group.
2004 BioGuard Poolside retail stores launched.
2005 Great Lakes Chemical Corporation merges with Crompton Corporation to form Chemtura.
2007 Biolab office moves from Melbourne to Adelaide
2013 KIK Consumer Products (Canada) acquires BioLab from Chemtura, expanding its pool and spa treatment business within the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
2015 BioLab Founder, Leon Bloom, dies aged 96.
2019 KIK Consumer Products (Canada) acquires Natural Chemistry Brands, pioneers of naturally-based enzyme technology.
2020 BioGuard Retail Lynx launched – pool store platform comprising instore water testing, pool servicing app, point of sale and accounting.
2023 Celebrating 40 years in Australia and 30 years in New Zealand.