Cleveland Pools has just submitted its planning application for the the restoration of the UK’s only surviving Georgian lido. The application will include the world’s first naturally treated, heated, outdoor swimming pool.
Transition Bath is particularly supportive of the use of a water-sourced heat pump which will extract latent heat from the River Avon to heat the pool. This is a much better and more eco-friendly alternative than gas heating which most pools use, as it will have a lower carbon footprint, which will continue to reduce over time as the UKs national grid gradually de-carbonises. It is also a farsighted choice as it will avoid the requirement to replace a gas system if installed in about 2030 in order to meet the UK’s carbon commitments.
We wish that other developers in Bath, particularly those developing housing estates were just as far-sighted – unfortunately they appear to focus on short-term profits leaving new home owners having to install additional insulation and replace gas boilers within 15 years of them being built.
More information on the design and design choices of the heating system is available here.