A swimming pool can serve as a welcome mat for germs if it isn’t cared for properly.
Urine, sweat, food, and even stool—these are just a few of the items that can end up in a swimming pool due to accidents or just poor hygiene.
Keeping human secretions and other sources of germs out of the pool is of utmost importance. It’s shocking then that one city is using its sewers—you read that right, its sewers—as a heating source for its swimming pools. However, the end result is not what you may think.
According to an article on Reuters, “The Aspirant Dunand pool in Paris’ 14th arrondissement is the latest in a series of French public buildings to use heat pumps to recycle residual warmth from showers, dishwashers and washing machines in its sewage pipes.”
The article also says the company that runs the system uses this technology to heat other pools located in Paris suburbs; the goal of the technology is to reduce carbon emissions.
While hearing the words “sewer water” and “swimming pools” together in the same sentence is pretty unconventional and would typically be a cause for alarm, in this case, there is no need to fear. It’s just another example of how swimming pool technology has unlimited potential if applied the right way.