Hotel towels are washed only on request, the breakfast buffet includes freshly baked organic bread, and pre-dinner cocktails are infused with herbs from the kitchen garden.

Most hotel welcome packs now include elaborate details about how your stay is helping to save the planet, but when it comes to the pool, the eco-claims start to sound more like greenwashing.

Typically, a wildlife-friendly garden habitat will have been transformed into a sterile pond filled with gallons of water. Keeping such a mass of water warm throughout a season can consume thousands of kilowatts of energy, especially outdoors where the water must be continuously heated to overcome the cooling effect of evaporation. .

In addition, a pump is needed to drive a filter; this collects debris such as leaves and hair, circulates water to prevent stagnation, and disperses disinfectants (to treat harmful substances such as sweat and urine, as well as personal care products personal care and sunscreens). Not only does this sap energy, but people are starting to wonder about the impact of these chemicals on our bodies and the wider environment.

“We call it the ‘wellness paradox,'” says George Ingledew of Origin Aqua, a company that specializes in making pools more sustainable. “Visitors spend a lot of money on holistic health and wellness treatments, but then are ready to jump into a pool full of chemicals.”

Ingledew says it has become easier to reduce carbon emissions from swimming pools thanks to more widely available energy-saving measures and developments in in-floor and air-heating technology, but that the use of chemical disinfection systems is still widespread. His company offers a solution in a biodigestion filtration mechanism that harbors billions of beneficial microbes that outcompete aquatic pathogens. A process of microbial magic, known as biological “predation”, and negates the use of chemical disinfectants.