Plus Pool

Plus Pool, (often stylized as "+ POOL"), is an initiative, started in 2010, to create an innovative, floating swimming pool, located on the East River, in New York City. Two companies, Family New York and PlayLab developed the concept of a 9300 SF floating pool that would filter river water to supply clean water for the pool. As of January 2024, the first permanent location had yet to have been determined.

Concept
Plus Pool was conceived and designed to both clean the waters of the East River and provide a public space for water-based recreation. Plus Pool is designed to filter up to one million gallons of river water each day through its custom, chemical free, layered filtration system. Over 250,000 gallons of the river water surrounding the pool would become safe, clean, filtered water used to fill the pool. Originally, the goal was to raise a total of $15 million to fund a completely functioning pool by 2016.

2010 - 2013
Beginning in 2010, two companies, Family New York and PlayLab began a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise money for Plus Pool, a innovative pool design, utilizing a custom filtering system as a clean water source for a floating public pool on the East River.

In July 2011, the team raised over $41,000 on Kickstarter to test filtration materials using water from the East River.

In July 2013, with the help of a Columbia University feasibility study, over a quarter million dollars was raised to build a 35 square foot miniature version of the floating pool. The "test lab" was a working prototype to analyze its effectiveness in river conditions.

Since its inception, several independent companies have participated the project, including the engineering firm, Arup, design firm IDEO, environmental consultants from One Nature, and Storefront for Art and Architecture. The project also garnered interest from government officials, notably New York State Senator Daniel Squadron and New York City Council Member Brad Lander.

In November 2013, Time magazine named Plus Pool as one of the 25 best inventions of the year 2013.

2014 - 2019
Plus Pool was originally projected to open by the summer of 2016, but the project saw little development at that point.

In 2017, Plus Pool formed a partnership with the Heineken brewing company. The team created a promotional video for Plus Pool, narrated by Neil Patrick Harris, to revitalize public interest in the project.

In 2019, the founders of Plus Pool introduced a light sculpture in the East River. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Heineken and the Howard Hughes Corporation, the sculpture changes colors based on water conditions. The system and the algorithm behind it was developed by scientists at Columbia University and developers and designers at the tech firm Reaktor.

2021- present
In 2021, New York City approved a location for Plus Pool just north of the Manhattan Bridge on the Lower East Side. The team proceeded to work on regulatory thresholds for the river and pool bathers.

On January 5, 2024 New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that a joint effort by the state and New York City would fund a combined $16 million to Plus Pool project as part of the governor's NY SWIMS initiative. A 'demonstration' debut of the design was planned to be on display in the East River during the summer of 2024. If the test run was successful, Plus Pool would open to the public in 2025.