This Public Swimming Pool in London Is Part Art, Part Laboratory

The new eco-friendly pool uses plants, not chlorine, to clean.

Rendering of London’s new temporary pool

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Urban public pools often serve many purposes — from cool-down spot to community gathering place.

That ethos is what two architects and an artist had in mind when they conceived London’s new natural pool, which opened April 1st.

According to Fast Company, Slovenia-based artist Marjetica Potrč, and Dutch architects Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg see the art project as a “way to interact with a changing neighborhood — a new building will be constructed next to the pool as people swim — and also a way to literally immerse visitors in nature and help people think about the connection between their own health and the health of the environment.”

Once the temporary pool is closed, the area will be turned into a park.

The chlorine-free pool relies on plants like pondweed and water lilies for cleaning. Fast Company notes that the plants “absorb nitrates and ammonium and release oxygen, while microorganisms reduce algae and germs. Another section of the pool uses a gravel bed to host another layer of microorganisms for more cleaning. Throughout the day, pumps push the water from the swimming area through the filters.”

Those cleaning powers are limited however, so there is a daily limit on the number of people allowed to swim.

The project has something of an American cousin in New York City’s +Pool, which could open this year. That project envisions a pool floating in the East River that would actually help improve the water quality of its aquatic setting.

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Jenn Stanley is a freelance journalist, essayist and independent producer living in Chicago. She has an M.S. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

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Tags: public spacewaterlondon

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