Necessary upgrades
Any new pool structure in Borden Park would need to include several essential features, such as renovated plumbing, a modern and innovative pool design to attract patrons of various ages and backgrounds, ecological sensitivity and long-term viability.
Not only would a NSP meet these renovation requirements, it was also evident that it would integrate well with existing visions for the city’s park and recreation plans, which focused on innovative aquatic opportunities, environmental sustainability, accessibility and year-round operation.
Some of the main concerns the committee addressed to BioNova included climate compatibility, health and water quality, government regulations, design possibilities and cost. In addressing these concerns, BioNova took these variables into account in order to ascertain the feasibility of such a project in Edmonton.
Climate concerns
Climate was the first concern on the list, not in terms of system functionality, but how often people would want to go swimming in a city with a 9 C (48 F) yearly average temperature.
Given the success of Borden Park’s outdoor pool since 1925, however, it can only be presumed that Canadians are more adventurous than their southern neighbors, at least when it comes to outdoor aquatic recreation. Incidentally, the first NSPs were constructed in the mountainous Austrian Alps, with cold weather climates similar to Edmonton. This made it easy to acquire appropriate references to public pools with comparable freeze/thaw cycles, average temperatures, precipitation levels and daylight hours.
By studying two popular and thriving NSPs in climates similar to Edmonton, (e.g. Maria Einsiedel in Munich, Germany and Naturerlebnisbad Sigtuna in Sigtuna, Sweden), it was concluded that climate conditions would not be an issue. Although winter temperatures in Edmonton are slightly colder than the two cities cited above, it would not carry any significant influence on a NSP’s microbiological functions. It is perfectly fine for a NSP to freeze, and once it is frozen it does not matter how much colder it gets.
Water quality concerns
The biggest concern about a public NSP is usually related to health and water quality, as it can go against modern sensibilities to equate sanitation with anything besides sterilization.
How can proper sanitation be ensured in a pool that does not use chemicals to treat the water? In the case of chemically treated pools, all bacteria are eliminated from the water. However, there are other methods to achieve high water quality besides sterilization. A NSP fosters the growth of what are considered ‘good bacteria,’ which are essential to a healthy, natural ecosystem.
Fortunately for North Americans, the history of European NSP construction and usage, which dates back more than 25 years, has provided excellent water quality records and research into natural water purification methodology.
The first NSPs originated in Austria in the early 1980s. They were fairly simple and incorporated few of the technological innovations used today. However, the pioneers of these natural ponds understood the biological principles behind water purification and used this knowledge to mimic and recreate natural processes in their own designs. By the late ‘80s the market for residential NSPs spread and soon led the way for public NSPs, with the first constructed in Herzogsdorf, Austria in 1990. This public NSP is still in use today and has been joined by more than 100 additional public NSP installations in Germany alone.
In such pools, patrons can number in the thousands during the height of summer. During this period, recorded data, which includes rigorous testing on bacterial indicators such as E. coli, Enterococci and Pseudomona, has consistently shown harmful bacteria levels well below stringent German standards.1 This proves the viability of the NSP concept and technology to create a safe swimming environment, even in a public setting.
