If you are looking for ideas for a green business to start in 2012, maybe designing and building swimming pools is right up your alley. When you think of swimming pools, blue is the more likely color that comes to mind, but with the right planning you can green them right up!
It’s a relatively new concept that like most “new concepts” has been around in nature forever. Self-cleaning pools utilize the natural water cleansing of sediments, plants, and algae to keep the water clean and fresh. Rather than dumping harsh chemicals into the water, or relying on expensive and unnatural filters, mother nature has provided all we need for beautiful and healthy swimming pools.
How Green Swimming Pools Work
The key to green swimming pools is what is referred to as the “regeneration area”. This is a portion of the pool that is kept separate from the swimming area, and essentially looks like a water garden. Reeds and grasses and other plants which thrive in aquatic environments are planted here, and help to remove particulates in the water.
This regeneration area is build on a thick bed of aggregates, which the water much filter down through before being pumped back into the swimming pool area. Beneficial microbes that live in the sediment further help to filter the water.
For further protection, or to reduce the area needed for the regeneration area, ultraviolet light can be used to kill any microbes in the water after filtration. It is possible to build a green swimming pool without this UV treatment, but in those cases the regeneration area should be roughly equal to the swimming area.
Green Swimming Pool designed by Bioteich Baignades Naturelles (www.bioteich.fr)