We are your experts for swimming ponds and natural pools
with purely biological water treatment following the example of nature.
We plan, build and maintain your biopool in the Balearic Islands,
planning and cooperation internationally.
Bathing fun in natural, healthy water free of any chemistry and life-hostile equipment.
Member of the Iberian Professional Association GIABN www.giabn.org
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Swimming ponds and natural pools are artificially created bathing waters with purely biological water purification.
The bather dives into living water, free of aggressive chemicals.
The bathing water is gentle to the skin and eyes, refreshing and healthy.
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Depending on the construction, they can look completely natural, like a small lake, with lush, blooming vegetation on the bank, which is completely integrated into nature.
They are important step-stone habitats that serve as habitats for many endangered plant and animal species.
The user can observe frogs and dragonflies, as well as bees and birds that come to drink and bathe.
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It is also possible to equip pool-like tanks without plants with a biological filter.
But they have one thing in common:
biological water purification based on nature's example!
In principle, this distinguishes them from chemical disinfection in the classic chlorine bath or in the hybrid pool.
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Swimming ponds and natural pools are therefore part of the nature-based solutions, NbS.
They are defined by the International Union for Conversation of Nature, IUCN, as "actions for the protection, sustainable management and restoration of natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, while ensuring human well-being and biodiversity".
“A biological swimming pool is a nature-based solution that approaches bathing water safety and health from an ecosystem approach.
It applies natural processes as a basis to keep pool water in optimal conditions for bathing, while reducing any impact of standard treatments, helping to preserve freshwater biodiversity by restoring aquatic ecosystems. Despite its size, spreading this model across the hotel and resort business community would have a major short-term impact on water use, pollution, and reduction of ecosystem-bound carbon emissions.”
The IUCN has published a booklet in which, among other things, swimming ponds are presented as exemplary NbS.
https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/towards_naturebased_solutions_in_the_mediterranean.pdf
The European Union is also involved in this area and wants to become a pioneer for NbS (EU Green Deal).
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The International Society for Natural Bathing Waters IOB and all its affiliated associations have defined the "common essentials", the minimum similarities of biological baths. ( IOB Common essentials )
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The water treatment is purely biological-mechanical based on the model of nature.
The food pyramid in the bathroom with biological water treatment.
The water quality must be achieved through nutrient management in order to reach the planned trophic level using the natural food chain.
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Chemical disinfection by chlorine.
The standard method for keeping swimming pool water clean is chemical disinfection, mostly with chlorine. This can be added to water in the form of gas, liquid, powder or tablets. However, it can also be obtained by electrolysis in the pool's water cycle, often referred to as "salt water pool".
Chlorine and other disinfectants are toxic and aim to kill all life in the water.
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Chemically disinfected water doesn't mean clean water, it just means DEAD WATER.
As soon as the disinfectant is missing or the pH value shifts outside of the necessary range, algae and bacteria start to multiply exponentially, the water turns green and shows its degree of pollution.
The picture shows the same pool 7 days before (blue, transparent) and after failure of the disinfection (green and cloudy).
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Chemical disinfection in the hybrid pool (often wrongly sold as a bio or eco pool)
Hybrid pools use a different form of disinfection that allows resistant aquatic organisms to survive.
This allows for the use of hardy riparian plants to create a natural look. But biology is not the basis
of water purification, as most live is killed by the disinfectants. Plants are just decoration.
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Something about history
Bathing in natural bodies of water such as lakes, rivers and coastal waters has a long tradition.
At the beginning of the 1980s, garden ponds were booming in German-speaking countries and the first ideas arose to use these biotopes for swimming and refreshing.
Initially, the swimming ponds were species-rich artificial ponds with a separate swimming area, underwater vegetation and lush, richly flowering banks. The water was mostly still cloudy and a bit muddy at the bottom, as you know from natural lakes.
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A lot of research has been done in over 30 years of swimming pond construction. We understood and copied nature's purification mechanisms and exchanged knowledge. Today we know the active principles of nature and the corresponding technical solutions.
In 1999 the first national swimming pond associations were founded in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
In 2001, swimming pond experts from all over the world met for the 1st International Swimming Pond Conference. These conferences are now held every two years.
Over the years, other national associations joined and in 2009, at the 5th International Congress, they jointly founded the international umbrella organization IOB, the International Organization for Natural Bathing Waters ( www.iob-ev.com) .
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Water quality requirements increased rapidly. A major development was public swimming ponds, which grew in popularity. The "hygiene performance", i.e. the rapid breakdown of pathogenic germs, became indispensable.
In Germany alone there are over 200 public baths with natural water treatment with up to several thousand visitors per day. The rest of the world follows with the first realized projects in the USA, Canada, the Philippines and China.
The performance of the filters and the biological and chemical balance are checked regularly. The results flow into DANA (database for natural outdoor pools), a web-based database for public swimming ponds.
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From "naturally cloudy" to crystal clear
In the private sector, more and more solutions were in demand that corresponded to the appearance of traditional chlorine baths: simple geometric shapes, absolutely transparent and colorless water, without frogs and water lilies, everything like a normal pool but without chemicals and aggressive water.
Over time, biological filtration has been perfected and the nutrient content has been reduced to such an extent that the biology of the tanks is barely visible. Specially developed robots keep the surfaces clean.
This category is commonly referred to as NATURE POOL. Their biology corresponds to that of oligotrophic watercourses with gravel banks.