A biopool is an ecosystem which sustains its balance thanks to the aquatic plants like mint, water lilies and lotuses, and insects like dragonflies. It’s a pool with water that maintains its clarity because of the creation of an ecosystem and by a filtering system that oxygenates the water.
How do you construct a biopool?
Constructing a biopool is relatively simple; why complicate life with artificial systems that are not ecological when nature can provide everything we need to complete the same task in an ecological way?
When constructing our biopool, the first thing we did was to dig a big hole, deeper than the swimming tank, to maintain the correct volume of water to keep the water fresh. Then a resistant rubber sheet was laid down and the swimming area was surrounded by aquatic plants that work together to keep the water clean. The wooden tank was then constructed above the protective sheet and then a little waterfall and the phytodepuration zone were set up to continuously filter, and oxygenate the water of the biopool.
For the tank we chose larch wood which is rich with natural oils and completely resistant to water; we also chose untreated larch wood to construct our own house and the two guest houses for its water resistant qualities.
The wooden swimming tank is completely immersed by water and surrounded by the phytodepuration zone.
Losing yourself in observation
In a biopool there are so many things to observe and with a bit of curiosity you will be amazed at how much life appears in a little ecosystem.
You will notice bees that come to drink between the rocks of the little waterfall, you can lose yourself in observing how a lotus flower floats or follow with your gaze the way a dragonfly flies between the stems of the aquatic flowers. Did you know that dragonflies flap their wings up to 20 times a second and can fly up to 60 kilometers an hour? Little and elegant, dragonflies are very territorial and if you watch closely you can see them fighting over their homes at our biopool.
The kids that come to Casa Viva spend hours in the pool catching and studying the little water insects that live there. That’s Casa Viva’s TV!
Stopping to contemplate the things that happen every moment in a natural pool rich with biodiversity helps us to reflect upon and understand how we are also connected with what is around us and how our choices and our thoughts really count. The biopool also helps us understand how in a way those who surround us make up our own ecosystem.
LEELA
Leela in sanskrit means divine creative play and that is exactly what happens in a biopool. It is enough for anyone to go for a swim to understand why we gave this name to our pool. Going for a dip in the pure, alive water rich with life makes you come back to life yourself.
Leela is an invitation to slow down and to return to the present, it’s an invitation to let go of things that are not needed, to come back to the feeling of being alive and free.
If it’s time to slow down a bit; come visit us as Casa Viva.