Environment
How the Chemical-Free Public Pool Came to the U.S.
“Natural” swimming pools are common in Europe, but the U.S. has its first public version at Webber Park in Minneapolis.
While on maternity leave, Nancy Waldoch, a 31-year-old production manager, brought her baby to Webber Pool in North Minneapolis, the first naturally filtered public swimming pool in the country.
“It’s just less chemicals to worry about ... not quite so scary,” she said, sitting on a blanket in the grass that surrounds the pool’s concrete edging. “Lakes sometimes have parasites,” she added.