Filtration Proved Successful, We Swam in a Clean River

After 5 months of testing endless combinations of filtration materials, Greg Grzybowski getting a massive tan by being out on a pier all day, and all of our friends asking what was happening, it finally worked. The filtration system worked.

The 9th material combination we tested  finally showed the results we needed.  With this data, we were able to produce a final design that not only reduced particulates in the water, but zero-d out the levels of enterococci (bacteria from poop).

The data collected and research developed by the full team gave our design team a cohesive understanding of the material combinations that would support a full-scale pool in New York’s inner harbor, and proved + POOL’s technology was possible—we could filter river water to pool quality standards without using chemicals.

It took a few weeks of analyzing data to absolutely know that it worked, but once we knew, all we wanted to do was to jump in that river. Albeit a very small body of “swimmable” water, it was a massively emotional experience. After 4 years of work, the faith of thousands of Kickstarter backers, dozens of generous partners and collaborators, and against all odds: we had taken a massive leap forward.

The next big step was to find a home for + POOL, so we could study all the site-specific requirements that various locations had, in order to work towards permitting.