Comments on: puRE: Transforming Swimming Pools into Water Treatment Plants

By: landscape architecture

landscape architecture — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:01:45 +0000

Swimming for life.Really transforming swimming pool into water treatment plants is really a great idea.

By: Swimming Pool Enclosures

Swimming Pool Enclosures — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:51:16 +0000

Especially a good idea with a retractible pool enclosure that would allow all year round swimming.

By: Oakspar

Oakspar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:13:05 +0000

I have to agree on the cost benefit analysis. For the cost of a microplant for every five houses, you could BUY several houses and create a community septic/runoff reclimation area. Any wastewater treatment, particularly if it is treating to the point of human use (not just sterilized and released into the environment, as most wastewater plants do), requires constant monitoring, quality control, and some technical skills.

While I applaud taking the toxic chemical pool and naturalizing it, I think you would do better to just naturalize them. Most pools only need modification to use existing circulation systems to function as biologically stable ecosystems. Add in a sloped edge, and it becomes a natural pond and removes all liability issues (depending on where you like, the level and extent of grade necesseary to no longer need a fence or be a liability will be different).

I know when I do it (albeit, I’m not trying to make a living doing these – so material cost only, no labor), it cost me about $200 to take a pool and turn it into a fishtank (for raising trout or tilapia – still requires liability fence) and about $2,500 to convert one to an open (no fence – slope sided) pond. The best part is, you can still swim in them (if fish don’t freak you out) and they are still much cleaner than the local lake.

By: Wes

Wes — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:20:45 +0000

Interesting idea, but from a community point of view, swimming pools are one of the few great things that bring people together in the suburbs. Who doesn’t love the neighbor with the pool?

By: creid

creid — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 10:29:59 +0000

So.. we’re going to send guys with guns to tell people who own pools they will now become waste treatment plants. And i assume all of us rich taxpayers will be happy to pay for million dollar microtreatment plants in their pools. Oh and of course.. eat the food grown with human waste. I assume we’ll be doing that right after we tell every property owner in the suburbs that the state is simmply taking their land.. and we cant afford books for our kids but heres money for the land we’re going to confiscated, sell to developers who will then send your property value through the basement.

Yet another problem with these competitions. Everyone assumes we live in a benigh dictatorship. And a morally pure one at that. Thing is if we lived in that Brave New World.. we wouldnt have these problems. We’d have much much deadlier ones instead.

By: Durden

Durden — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:10:36 +0000

It’s worthwhile to applaud this design’s attempt to break down the suburban notions of what is ‘private’ and what could be ’shared’. Socially, I think this scheme is the most effective initiative to shake up the most troubling issue of the suburb – a sense of neighborhood + community! Just as one of the images illustrates, in an area where there are several homes with pools, sure, one neighbor’s pool will be used for the puRE while those benefiting from the system could volunteer their pools around it. This makes for new opportunities to grow a sense of responsibility and green consciousness within a neighborhood while getting to know the person behind the fence next door. Great work!

By: D.N.

D.N. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:28:34 +0000

Craig, you’re a madman.
Kind of reminds me of Barbarella and ‘Tasting the essence of man’. The storage tower wants to be a hookah pipe. Got my vote!

By: striatic

striatic — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:19:20 +0000

you’d be surprised how many people are giving up their pools, especially for insurance reasons mentioned by Rowan. the building i live in recently closed down its pool for this reason, and canvassed the people living here for options on what to do with the space instead.

we decided on a patio and garden space, but having more “ready to go” options like this one would be useful.

By: James Oeinck

James Oeinck — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:01:46 +0000

A nice solution, but I dont see a lot of people giving up their pools. I do see people adding this or building it into a new project.

I hope it catches on…very good.

By: Craig England

Craig England — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:33:22 +0000

Thanks for all the interest! In answer to the issues above:

Katherine: I’ve been developing a neighbourhood plan, but unfortunately I felt it wasn’t ready for submission at the time of deadline.

Dave: My approach to the competition was not to solve the disastrous financial crisis, but to suggest a method to begin re-inhabiting these places with a sustainable agenda. puRE being the beginning stages of a much larger sustainable network.

William: I’ve shown the system for a warm climate, but it can be adapted to a cold climate as well. It would require an enveloping structure though.

Steve & Guy: Sorry, but the pool would no longer be for swimming. My stance is that suburbia requires a drastic overhaul in systems, density, zoning etc. The proposal begins to broach the argument that current suburban lifestyle is an excessive waste of resources and land, a private swimming pool being the epitome of suburban luxury & waste(in my opinion – next to lawns of course). I actually had to reign in my vision to keep it focused on one aspect that would begin to foster change within suburban areas towards a sustainable lifestyle. This obviously is a contentious issue as it begins to blur the lines between public & private as puRE is utilizing a private element for semi-public/communal use. This is not to say that people should not be compensated in some form for the use of their land/property, just that our notions of land ownership needs re-evaluation.