Whether indoors or outside, swimming pools are great additions to the home or garden, but we believe that natural pools are a superior alternative to conventional, chemical-dosed pools. However, there can be a bit of confusion about what a natural pool actually is, and whether or not they’re safe to swim in.
A natural swimming pool does not require any chemical cleaning or additives to keep your pool clean or balanced. The goal is a pool of mineral water for a safe swim experience that is gentle on the skin, hair, and eyes, with no negative impact on the body. In this blog, we’ll take you through some of the major benefits of natural swimming pools and some frequently asked questions we often receive.
What Are the Benefits of Natural Swimming?
There are two key reasons why many people are choosing to opt for natural pools over those that rely on a chlorine-based filtration system: the environment and your health.
All too often, after a day of swimming, we’re left to deal with the consequences of chlorinated water: itchy skin and dry hair are common complaints! Not only this, natural pools are shown to improve the immune system, increase circulation, and provide mental health benefits to regular swimmers.
When it comes to the environmental impact of natural swimming, one of the key benefits is that natural pools don’t need constant emptying and refilling. Occasional top-up aside, they only need to be filled once, whereas filling and refilling conventional pools uses roughly 80 million litres of water in the UK every year. This makes natural swimming pools a much greener option for the eco-conscious swimmer, especially as no hazardous chemicals, run-off water or waste water will end up in the environment – unlikely in chlorine pools.
How Do Natural Pools Stay Clean?
Despite being 100% chemical-free, the water in our natural pools remains crystal clear as it is filtered by our state-of-the-art, cutting-edge technology. Simply put, we use micro-organisms to break down organic compounds and impurities, alongside a nutrient absorber that naturally extracts phosphorus, a building block of algae’s DNA, creating a stressful and inhospitable environment for pathogens to survive or multiply.
Our natural pools do not need any aquatic planted zones, as all of the filtration is done by our packaged filter technology. This package filter technology is then stored in a standard swimming pool pump room, connected to the pool via pipework. You can include planted zones in your pool design as an aesthetic feature, however, they won’t be relied on to clean the water, so you aren’t hindered by the normal swimming pond design rules.
Our filtration method can save you time when it comes to pool maintenance, too. Although traditional swimming pools require regular chemical dosing and water testing, our system takes care of water quality without the need for any chlorine, bromine or water testing. The addition of a pool robot (included as standard with any Clear Water Revival pool) will reduce the amount of manual labour associated with cleaning your pool.
Can Natural Swimming Pools Be Heated
There is a general belief that heating is not possible in natural swimming pools. In our pools, this simply isn’t the case. The industry standard temperature for natural swimming pools is 27°C. However, this can be adjusted depending on personal preference up to a maximum of 30°C. At Clear Water Revival, our bespoke pools are designed with thermal efficiency in mind, allowing them to retain natural heat with the assistance of insulation and heat-retaining covers where possible to conserve energy.
There are two main heating options we offer:
- Air Source Heat Pumps are a popular way to heat outdoor pools, and are easy to install and reliable.
- Ground Source & Biomass Boilers can be used to provide a primary supply of hot water to your pool plant room, where the heat can be exchanged into your pool water via titanium plates.
Can Chlorine-Free Swimming Pools Save Money?
Although filtration system costs may be higher than those of conventional pools, with less maintenance and lower running costs, a chlorine-free, natural swimming pool can often result in greater savings over time when compared to traditional, chemical-based pool systems. We use slow/medium rate filtration, which means that our variable speed pumps will typically use less energy than a standard chlorine pool with high rate filtration. In addition to this, you won’t have to purchase any chlorine for ongoing upkeep.
We try to design our pools from the ground up to be as sustainable as possible. The thermal efficiency of the pool is something that will be factored into the design process to maximise heat retention and solar gain, again helping keep energy bills low.
These pools can be built indoors or outdoors, they can be covered and heated either naturally or with renewable energy.
Ready to Talk Natural Swimming?
If you’d like to get started with adding a natural pool to your home or garden, our team is ready to help! All you need to do is get in touch for a quick quote from our experts!