You know, I never thought much about what was in swimming pool water until my arthritis started acting up worse after swimming laps at the community center. The chlorine smell would cling to my hair for hours afterward, and my skin felt like sandpaper no matter how much lotion I slathered on. At 68, I figured this was just part of getting older, but then my neighbor Helen mentioned something that changed everything.
"You should see what they've got over at the botanical gardens," she said during one of our morning walks. "They've put in this swimming pool that looks like a pond, but the water's cleaner than anything I've ever seen. No chemicals at all."
I thought she was pulling my leg. A swimming pool without chemicals? How does that even work? But curiosity got the better of me, and the next week I drove over to take a look. What I found there completely upended everything I thought I knew about swimming pools.
The pool – though calling it a pool doesn't really do it justice – looked like something from a fairy tale. Crystal-clear water surrounded by cattails and water lilies, with actual fish swimming around the edges. Not in the swimming area, mind you, but in what they called the "regeneration zone." I stood there for probably twenty minutes just watching dragonflies skim across the surface, trying to wrap my head around how this could possibly work.
The groundskeeper, a young man named David who clearly loved talking about this system, explained that it was basically like a natural pond that you could swim in safely. "The plants do all the work," he told me, gesturing toward the marsh marigolds and water iris growing along one side. "They filter out the bad stuff and keep the water clean naturally. Same way a healthy lake stays clean without anyone dumping chlorine in it."
That conversation sent me down a rabbit hole of research that lasted months. I checked out every book the library had on natural swimming pools, spent hours online reading about biological filtration, even joined a forum where people shared photos of their backyard swimming ponds. My daughter thinks I've lost my mind – "Mom, you don't even have a yard suitable for a regular pool, why are you obsessing over this?" – but I couldn't help myself.
What I learned fascinated me. These natural swimming pools, which have been popular in Europe for decades, work by creating a balanced ecosystem where plants and beneficial bacteria do the job that chemicals do in conventional pools. You have your swimming area, usually with smooth walls and a flat bottom just like a regular pool, connected to a planted area where all the biological magic happens.
The water circulates constantly between these two zones. The swimming water gets pushed into the planted area where cattails, rushes, and underwater plants soak up nutrients that would otherwise feed algae. Beneficial bacteria living on plant roots and gravel break down organic matter. The clean water then flows back to the swimming area. It's like having a natural water treatment plant right in your backyard.
I started visiting every natural pool I could find within driving distance. There's one at a private residence about an hour north of here – the owners were kind enough to let me see it after I contacted them through that online forum. Their system has been running for eight years now, and the water was so clear I could see every pebble on the bottom at six feet deep. No chlorine smell, no red eyes after swimming, no chemical residue on your skin.
"We'll never go back to a chlorine pool," the wife told me as we sat by their swimming pond watching goldfish dart between lily pad stems. "Our grandkids love it here because there's always something interesting to see. Last week we had a family of ducks visit for three days."
The maintenance is completely different from what most people expect. Instead of testing chemical levels and adding chlorine, you're managing a living system. Trimming plants when they get overgrown, removing fallen leaves before they decompose in the water, maybe adding some beneficial bacteria if the system gets out of balance. It's more like gardening than pool maintenance.
I'll be honest, the initial cost made me gulp. These systems typically run 10-20% more than a conventional pool of the same size. But when you factor in the ongoing costs – no chemicals to buy, lower electricity usage, no need to drain and refill periodically – they actually save money over time. Plus, you're not constantly purchasing chlorine, algaecide, shock treatments, and all those other chemicals that I now realize were probably making my arthritis worse.
The environmental benefits really got to me, though. Think about it – conventional pools dump hundreds of gallons of chlorinated water into the storm system every time they're backwashed or drained. All those chemicals end up in our waterways eventually. Natural pools create habitat instead of destroying it. They use a fraction of the electricity because simple pumps are moving water slowly through biological filters instead of powerful systems forcing water through sand filters under pressure.
I started talking to more people about this, sharing articles on social media, bringing it up at our book club meetings. The reactions were mixed, I'll admit. Some folks were intrigued, others thought it sounded unsanitary or too complicated. "What if you accidentally swallow some of that pond water?" my friend Martha asked, wrinkling her nose.
But here's the thing – properly maintained natural pool water is actually cleaner than most chlorinated pools. The biological processes remove bacteria and other pathogens more effectively than chemicals, without creating the toxic byproducts that form when chlorine reacts with organic matter. You know that chemical smell at public pools? That's not clean chlorine, that's chloramines – compounds that form when chlorine breaks down organic waste. Natural pools don't have that problem.
The wildlife aspect took some getting used to in my mind. Yes, you might occasionally share your swim with a frog or see a water beetle cruising around the plant zone. But the swimming area itself stays relatively creature-free because of the water circulation and the fact that the planted area provides better habitat for aquatic life. Most owners I talked to consider the wildlife a feature, not a problem. Their kids learn to identify different species of dragonflies and understand how ecosystems work.
I've become something of an evangelist for natural pools, I'll admit. When neighbors complain about their pool maintenance costs or how the chlorine affects their skin, I launch into my spiel about biological filtration. My granddaughter rolled her eyes last time I started explaining plant selection for aquatic systems – "Grandma, you don't even have a pool" – but she's right that I've gotten a bit carried away with the research.
The truth is, I may never build one of these systems. My yard is too small, and at my age, taking on a major construction project doesn't make much sense. But I love knowing that these alternatives exist, that there are ways to swim and enjoy water features without constantly battling against natural processes with harsh chemicals.
What really strikes me is how this represents a return to working with nature instead of against it. My mother's generation understood this better – they knew you could harness natural processes instead of trying to overpower them with artificial solutions. We got seduced by the convenience of dumping chemicals on problems, but it turns out the old way of working with biological systems is often more effective and certainly more sustainable.
I still swim at the community center sometimes – my arthritis needs the exercise – but I've found a private facility about fifteen minutes away that maintains their pool with far fewer chemicals. The water doesn't assault your senses the moment you walk in, and I can actually open my eyes underwater without feeling like I've poured acid in them.
Maybe someday I'll downsize to a place with enough land for a small natural pool. Or maybe I'll just continue being the weird lady who knows way too much about aquatic plant filtration and biological water treatment. Either way, I'm convinced this is the future of swimming – working with living systems instead of constantly fighting them with chemicals that are hard on our bodies and terrible for the environment.
Every time I see someone posting on social media about their pool maintenance headaches or complaining about chlorine costs, I want to tell them there's a better way. A way that creates habitat instead of sterile water, saves money over time, and lets you swim in water that actually feels good on your skin. But I've learned to restrain myself – most of the time, anyway. Nobody likes the person who turns every conversation into a lecture about biological filtration systems.
Still, if you're ever thinking about a pool, do yourself a favor and look into natural systems. Your skin will thank you, your wallet will eventually thank you, and you'll be creating something that adds to the environment instead of depleting it. Plus, there's something magical about swimming in living water that no amount of chlorine can replicate.
Donna’s retired but not slowing down. She spends her days gardening, reusing, and finding peace in simpler living. Her writing blends reflection with realism—gentle reminders that sustainability starts at home, in daily habits and quiet choices.
