The Brand Story
Speck: A Nuremberg Workshop That Learned to Move Water
In 1909 a master mechanic named Daniel Speck took over a small machine workshop in Nuremberg, Germany, and set to work with his five sons. Electricity was still new to most German homes and farms, and the need to move water without a hand pump was everywhere. The company dates its first plunger pump to that same year. More than a century later, the Speck name is still on pumps, and some of them are running quietly beside pools in Florida.
Chapter 1 · 1909 to 1960s
A family business built on pumps
Daniel Speck & Sons began with a plunger pump fitted with a draining device. As electric power spread across Germany after World War I, demand for electric pumps grew quickly, and the Speck family grew with it. Daniel Speck died in 1947 at age 83, and his children carried the business forward. In 1964 the company launched its swimming pool technology line, the products that would become known around the world under the BADU name, from circulation pumps to counter-current swim units.
Chapter 2 · 1967 to 2008
Plastic pumps and a new home
In 1967 Speck introduced a corrosion-resistant plastic pump for private swimming pools, the first of its kind, at a time when pool water was quietly eating through metal pump housings. The company moved from Nuremberg to Lauf an der Pegnitz in 1976. In 1994 Hermann Speck, Daniel's great-grandson, took over, and at the end of 2004 he moved the operation to a 36,000-square-meter site in Neunkirchen am Sand in Bavaria. In 2008 assembly of BADU Block and Normblock pumps began there.
Chapter 3 · 1983
Speck comes to Florida
Speck's American subsidiary, Speck Pumps-Pool Products, Inc., began manufacturing operations in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1983. It gave the BADU line a manufacturing base in the United States, and it supplies Speck pumps and BADU swim jets to pools across North America.
The Work
Swimming in place
Speck's BADU name is closely tied to counter-current swimming. A counter-current unit pushes a strong, steady stream of water across the pool so a swimmer can swim against it without ever reaching the wall. For a backyard pool too short for laps, or a spa with a small swim area, it turns a place to cool off into a place to train. At the other end of the scale, Speck's Normblock pumps are built for the heavy, continuous circulation of large commercial and public pools, where a pump may run around the clock on three-phase power.
The Lineup
What Speck builds today
Speck makes circulation pumps, counter-current swim systems, filters and blowers for residential and commercial pools. Here is what HVAC365 carries:
- Single-speed residential pumps: the BADU Pro single-speed pump at 1 hp on 115/230V, and the 21-80 GS single-speed pump at 4 hp on 208 to 230V.
- Commercial pumps: the Normblock Multi 100/250, a 20 hp three-phase TEFC end-suction pump for large public and commercial pools.
- Two-speed and multi-speed pumps: for pools that need a low speed for daily filtration and a high speed for heavier tasks.
- Spa jets: BADU Jet Super Sport II counter-current units that create a steady current to swim against.
At a Glance
Speck by the numbers
- Founded
- 1909, Nuremberg, Germany
- Founder
- Daniel Speck and his five sons
- Pool technology since
- 1964
- Pool pump brand
- BADU
- German pool pump base
- Neunkirchen am Sand, Bavaria
- U.S. operations
- Jacksonville, Florida, since 1983
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Speck
Where is Speck from?
Speck is a German pump maker founded in Nuremberg in 1909 by Daniel Speck and his sons. Its pool pump business is based in Neunkirchen am Sand in Bavaria.
What does BADU mean on a Speck pump?
BADU is the brand name Speck uses for its swimming pool products, including circulation pumps and counter-current swim units, a line that dates to 1964.
Does Speck have a U.S. presence?
Yes. Speck Pumps-Pool Products, Inc. began manufacturing operations in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1983.
What is a BADU Jet?
A BADU Jet is a counter-current unit that pushes a strong, steady current across a pool or spa, so a swimmer can swim in place against it.
Is Speck still family-run?
Speck's pool pump business has been led since 1994 by Hermann Speck, the founder's great-grandson.
