New York City is not only the most populous city in the United States, but it is truly a global power city, having an incredible impact upon culture, media, art, fashion, technology, education, and entertainment. People from all over the world travel to visit and experience the Big Apple — for the views and leisure trips, to get a taste of the cultural groups that line each crevice of every borough, to pursue professional opportunities, and to see if they can make it in the famously competitive city.
However, New York City has one strange shortcoming—NYC’s inhabitants are unable to swim in the waters that almost completely surround the city.
Simple Idea: Instead of trying to clean an entire river, what if you started by just cleaning a small piece of it? And what if you could change how New Yorkers see their rivers, just by giving them a chance to swim in it?
Three years ago, friends Dong, Archie and Jeff proposed the + POOL — a floating pool for people to swim in, that would act as a water filter for the East river.
They have since been working with leading engineering firms, design offices, architectural and environmental organizations, as well as city and state private organizations that have stakes on the water, to further develop a plan to clean the river and enable New Yorkers to swim in the water for the very first time in over 100 years.
So, how would the filtration system work?
The layered filtration system in the + POOL is designed to clean up to half a million gallons of river water every single day, eliminating bacteria and contaminants incrementally to ensure that the water meets both city and state standards, and is suitable for people to swim in. There will be no chemicals or additives used, just natural river water.
Who is this pool for? EVERYONE!
+ POOL is designed as four pools in one: a Kids’ pool, Sports pool, Lap pool and Lounge pool. Each can be used independently, combined to form an Olympic-length pool or opened completely into a 9,000 square foot pool for play. Its simple and iconic shape will mark the return to clean rivers in New York City.
+ POOL by the numbers:
Pool Dimensions: 164′ (l) x 164′ (w) x 5′ (d). Each arm is 32′ (or four lanes) wide.
Pool Area: 9,300 sf
Pool Volume: 285,000 gallons
Deck Dimensions: 205′ (l) x 205′ (w) x 8′ (d)
Deck Area: 14,700 sf
Water Turnover Period: Every 6 hrs (2 hrs at Kids’ pool)
Water Turnover Rate: 707 gpm (259 gpm at Kids’ pool)
Max Daily Turnover Volume: 694,000 gallons/day
Crazy Idea: + POOL is driven by the supporters, backers and collaborators that want to see the pool in the river. What if the pool was broken down into bite-size chunks and everybody had the opportunity to have a tangible and measurable impact on building the pool?
+ POOL, including the deck, walls and floor, will be made up of 70,000 tiles. If every single tile is purchased, the entire $15 million construction budget of + POOL will be funded from front to back. Get one for yourself, for your mom, for your girlfriend or boyfriend, with an image of your dog or your favorite Gucci Mane quote. This is an opportunity for EVERYONE to make their lasting mark on a new landmark in New York City.
Check out the tile pricing options and associated perks of each purchase here.
+ POOL (www.pluspool.org) is a truly innovative #dotORG with an exciting mission: to clean New York City’s rivers and enable the city dwellers to swim in them for the first time in over 100 years. It’s a beautiful thing to see the power of a #dotORG organize people for a cause; in this case the cause will go beyond technological advances by creating a positive environmental footprint in a global power city. Who knows, maybe this initiative will prompt additional power cities and alternative ones throughout the world to follow suit. We can’t wait to see the development of the + POOL between now and 2016!