7 Natural Swimming Pools That Are Completely Chlorine-Free
Summer is a season best spent outdoors—and preferably by the water. But conventional pools are laden with chlorine, which smells nasty and can irritate eyes and damage hair. Fortunately, there's a growing trend towards natural swimming pools, which are treated with aquatic plants and other biological filters instead of chemicals. These chlorine-free pools offer a serene back-to-nature experience that's hard to beat. Read on for seven of our favorites!
1. Naturbad Riehen
Riehen, Switzerland, has a naturally filtered pool with a contemporary design courtesy of acclaimed Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. Inspired by the traditional wooden pools found within the Rhine River, Naturbad Riehen replicates the experience of bathing in a lake by using aquatic plants and other biological filters to keep the water clean.
Recently sold for nearly $20 million dollars, this contemporary Miami Beach house designed by Brazil–based Studio mk27 features a naturally filtered manmade lagoon where residents can swim surrounded by fish and aquatic plants.
Austria–based natural pool pioneer BIOTOP has created natural swimming pools around the world for the past three decades. Pictured is one of their case studies: A spacious natural pool in a Vienna suburb with over 2,000 square feet of swimming space, floating lily pads, and stepping stones.
From 2015 to 2016, the first man-made natural public swimming pool in the UK surfaced briefly at a King’s Cross construction site in London. Designed by OOZE (Eva Pfannes & Sylvain Hartenberg) and Marjetica Potrč using a BIOTOP & Wasserwerkstatt water system, the chlorine-free pond admitted a limited number of daily bathers to give the natural filtration system time to clean and regenerate.
Located north of London in Gringley on the Hill, the award-winning Ellicar Show Pool is a permanent and private natural pool that serves as a showpiece for Ensata. Built in 2010, the pool stretches 92 feet long and features a large shallow end and a crystal-clear deep end that descends to nine feet.
Having completed nearly 70 biologically filtered pools across Australia, Natural Swimming Pools Australia was recently commissioned to convert an existing chlorine pool into a natural pool for a large homestead at the iconic Detroit Station in New South Wales. The team converted the pool just in time for the visit of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
In July 2015, Minneapolis welcomed the first chemical-free, public swimming pool in the United States. Designed by local firm Landform, the 16,800-square-foot natural swimming area and lap pool (and the 4,500-square-foot wading pool) are naturally treated by a 16,250-square-foot "regeneration basin" with over 7,600 plants of 36 different species.
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