Frequently Asked Questions

+ What is the Origin Aqua mineral+biome® system?

Origin Aqua mineral+biome® is a living, biological filter system – in place of traditional disinfectants such as chlorine, we purify your water with beneficial microbes and enhance it with naturally occurring minerals. The result is a health-enriching, immunity-strengthening luxury swimming experience.

+ Does the mineral+biome® system work with heated pools?

Absolutely, providing a pool is well maintained the mineral+biome® system can function effectively up to 30 degrees celsius or 86 degrees fahrenheit.

+ How does the Origin Aqua mineral+biome® maintain healthy water without disinfection chemicals?

Our technology is inspired by nature and driven by science. To control algae, the good bacteria in our biological filters starve the water of key food sources – for example nutrients like phosphorous.

The mineral+biome® bacteria colonise and out-compete potentially dangerous pathogens within the filter, a process is called biological predation (only 0.0014% of bacteria are bad!). This ‘Living Water’, starved of nutrients, is a very stressful and inhospitable place for pathogens, viruses, or algal cells to survive or multiply. For this reason, we can far exceed EU bathing water standards without the need for disinfection chemicals.

Our mineraliser technology works to condition your pool water with thermal spa minerals, which nourish our biofilter and have proven benefits for your own microbiome, health and skin. This unique approach means we have no need to use chlorine, disinfection chemicals, salt, copper or silver ions, these are not bio-compatible with your own body’s microbiome, our filter or the environmet.

+ How does the Origin Aqua mineral+biome® system work?

The powerful combination of minerals plus beneficial microbes means the mineral+biome® filter creates water with similar immunomodulatory properties to some of the world’s most well-known healing thermal springs such as La Roche Posay in France or Baden Baden in Germany.

1. Nutrients like phosphorous, nitrogen and carbon can cause algal growth while aquatic pathogens like E. coli, enterococci which can make you unwell if ingested.

2. These nutrients and pathogens can enter pool water at any time via organic matter from swimmers (skin, sweat, urine) and / or environmental input (dust, birds etc).

3. The entire volume of pool water including nutrients and pathogens is circulated through our system many times per day via an energy efficient, variable speed pump.

4. Without the need for disinfectants, water is cleansed and renewed in two main ways:

   i) Mechanical filtration: within the (patent pending) filter, a fine granular media removes the majority of organic matter (> 5 microns) capturing with it nutrients and pathogens.

   ii) Biological absorption: The billions of beneficial microbes in our mineral+biome® out compete pathogens and sequester any other dissolved nutrients in the water column.

5. Pathogens and algae need these nutrients to multiply. Our continual and natural balancing of the water chemistry, denies them of the ability to survive in your pool water.

6. As a consequence of the water containing virtually no nutrients, new pathogens entering the pool are safely neutralised to levels which are typically well below (i.e. 10x) EU fresh water bathing limits.

7. For your complete peace of mind, the mineral+biome® system also includes a UV sterilisation filter, capable of neuturalising pathogens and viruses on contact.

8. In a final polishing stage, we dose oligo elements into the water. Oligo elements are minerals such as selenium, magnesium and zinc. These minerals have antioxidant properties that have proven benefits for the overall health of your microbiome, skin and hair.

9. To ensure optimal health of the biome filter, the system continually monitors itself and initiates as automated backwash (a filter cleaning process) when the flow reduces.

10. The above process is fully automated, we will install a web connected touch screen control panel which can be monitored remotely as part of our maintennace services.

+ Is this a new technology?

Bacteria began growing around 3.3bn years ago and most ancient civilisations were aware of the health benefits of clear water filtered through stone or coming directly from out of the ground. So, whilst consumption of nutrients and predation are nothing new for mother nature, we are unique in championing good bacteria in water (and by default the good bacteria in your gut and skin) rather than killing them off with chemicals, ionisation or oxidisation.

We started our technology journey in (planted) natural swimming ponds and have evolved this to (non planted) traditional heated pools. To this end Origin Aqua has spent over 10 years and £1m of investment researching and optimising our mineral+biome® filtration system.

+ Is the mineral+biome® system suitable for indoor pools?

Yes, the mineral+biome® system works perfectly for indoor pools – and owing to it's odourless water has many benefits over traditional or salt water cholorination.

Many of the most toxic disinfectant by-products found in swimming pools, such as Trihalomethanes and Chloramines, are found in the pool atmosphere rather than the water itself. These toxic by-products may give rise to a host of conditions, such as ‘lifeguard lung’, that affects pool attendants, life- guards and professional swimmers.

With temperatures ranging from 26°C to 32°C and humidity between 60% - 70% in an indoor pool environment with a chlorine system, chloride content can be up to 2% – 5%, with corrosive pH values typically between 3 – 4. The corrosive nature of airbourne chemcials has signifiant implications for the pool hall fabric, pool fittings, and anything contained in rooms nearby including the accelerated degradation of furniture and art.

Load bearing stainless steel applications in indoor pools are heavily regulated because of the threat of stress corrosion from atmospheric chloride and the evaporation and concentration of chloramines on metal. This was first discovered after the collapse of a concrete ceiling of an indoor swimming pool in Ulster, Switzerland, in 1985.

Because the mineral+biome® system is disinfectant free, these risks are completely mitigated. In fact, the mineral+biome® system could save you substantial costs on the way in which you construct your indoor pool.

+ Can Origin Aqua mineral+biome® be retro-fitted onto my existing pool?

The system is totally modular and can be fitted into existing plant rooms. As long as you have a plant room which is approx. 1.5m by 2.5m we should be able to retrofit it. We are always available to make a site visit to ensure a retro-fit is feasible.

+ Can Origin Aqua mineral+biome® be used for commercial pools?

Yes. A lot of pool builders will tell you that it is not possible to run a public pool safely without residual disinfectant and that regulations in their jurisdiction prohibit it. However, 5,600 natural thermal springs in Europe are exempt from these regulations, and under EU directive 76/160/EEC Origin Aqua systems are exempt as ‘confined waters subject to treatment or used for therapeutic purposes’. Our system is particularly suitable for helath spas and botique hotels.

+ Why has my pool builder not yet heard of Origin Aqua?

We all feel safer with what we know, understand and have become accustomed to. Origin Aqua’s mineral+biome® represents a paradigm shift and challenges a reliance on chemicals which has existed in the water industry for over 100 years. While we acknowledge that chemical treatments do of course have their place (and in the case of potable water, have saved 1000s of lives) we are often amazed how little research or science has been conducted in the area of beneficial microbial communities for soil or water remediation. Fortunately people are starting to realise the essential role that beneficial bacteria, microbes and biodiversity play in our health and the environment; but a lot of the world (and most of the pool industry) remains in the 19th century germ theory way of thinking.

+ Why is the mineral+biome® system more expensive than other disinfection systems?

This is a rather misleading question – in the long run it’s probably not! Whilst you may pay between 3x – 5x more than a chlorine system at the outset, we estimate that the reduced energy, chemical and maintenance costs will allow you to recoup your investment within ten years.

Here in Britain the average cost of tap water is £1.50 per cubic metre. However, if you go to the chemist you can buy thermal spring water in a can (with more or less the same total dissolved solids as Origin Aqua’s mineral+biome®) for £4.33 per 100 ml. So, by our reckoning if you fill an average size pool (90m3) with tap water and run it through our mineral+biome® filtration, you will increase the value of your pool water by £3,896,856. Our system is a good return on investment on many levels - financial, wellbeing and environmental.

+ Why should I say no to chlorine?

Chlorination in drinking water over the past 20 years has led to the discovery of 600 toxic disinfectant by-products. The main ones: chloramines and trihalomethanes are now regulated in most countries and recognised as toxic, and, in the case of trihalomethanes, carcinogenic. But this still only accounts for 25% of other disinfectant by-products such as halonitromethanes (HNMs), haloamides, and iodo-DBPs are proving to be far more cyto and geno toxic (i.e. they attack cells and cell DNA). So, whilst the swimming pool industry perpetuates its health and wellness tag, there is a ‘wellness paradox’ where swimmers are exposed to unregulated toxic chemicals which have health implications for all, but especially pregnant women and children.

+ Why should I choose Origin Aqua mineral+biome® over other systems?

Rather than attacking your body, the mineral+biome® filter is the only system that produces mineral water designed to nourish your skin and be compatible with your body’s microbiome through dermal and oral contact.

Most swimming pool filtration is designed to kill bacteria using ionisation or oxidisation, either from direct chemical dosing or from chemicals produced by electrolysis. Some of these systems do a good job at this whilst minimising toxic disinfectant by-products. Nevertheless, at Origin Aqua, we believe this approach is unnecessary and heavy-handed.

Microbial Magic!

Increasingly research is pointing to bacteria being a necessary part of our health. Our own bodies contain 10 – 100 trillion of symbiotic microbial cells. Whilst some bacteria are harmful, these make up less than 0.0014% of all the strains identified. In nature, water contains billions of microorganisms in balance - bacteria, viruses, yeasts, fungi, eukarya, archea, amoeba and protozoa. Whilst scientists are only just beginning to understand the different roles these microbes play, there is ample evidence that in the right conditions they will sustain a healthy natural balance.

For instance, choanoflagellates – free swimming single celled eukaryotes found in abundance in virtually every source of natural water, including ice cores up to 32,000 years old, will swarm and multiply in the presence of certain pathogenic bacteria and consume them. Like your gut, a steep-sided alpine gravel lake with an inlet and outlet will always have some level of E. coli bacteria, but rarely to the extent that it is described as a risk to your immune system.

Freshwater and seawater are teeming with bacteria, hence countries set freshwater bathing limits which are not zero but which make the risk of becoming ill negligible. (for example, the number of allowable E. coli counts per 100ml of water).

In fact certain commensal bacteria (bacteria who's presence moderates the presence of other bacteria) and free swimming bacteria such as choanoflagellates will multiply and form colonies in the presence of pathogenic bacteria before destroying them.

The same principle exists in soil where bacteria will sequester carbon out of the atmosphere to combine with silicates and build soil structure.

By killing bacteria and sterilising our earth and water, we destroy these natural processes.

What does this mean?

In farming, when soil becomes sterile due to over use of pesticides and glyphosate, it is no longer able to sequester carbon and fix nitrogen so farmers have to spend more money and use more energy in the form of phosphate fertiliser. This adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and phosphates to the water supply. It is remarkably similar with water. By sterilising water and not controlling nutrient input, you end up having to spend more money and use more energy in the form of disinfectant or electrolysis which in turn produces carbon dioxide and toxic by-products.

At Origin Aqua we work with nature and let good bacteria do the heavy lifting in a self-perpetuating microbial loop. And due to recent breakthroughs in the gene sequencing of bacteria DNA, many studies are pointing towards these microbes being critical to our immunomodulatory development, wellbeing and evolution.

+ What is a microbiome

A microbiome is a community of micro-organisms. We have a microbiome in our filter system and they exist in all-natural water, soil and vegetation habitats.

Although scientists are only just beginning to understand the role of the human microbiome, there is growing evidence of a Brain-Skin-Gut axis or even a Brain-Skin-Gut-Mouth axis that is essential for our sleep, digestion, energy levels, immunity, wellness, emotions and brain function. Our overall health and wellbeing.

From birth and throughout life, microbes control our detoxification processes in addition to our production of enzymes and hormones, and absorption of vitamins and minerals. They are also critical for breaking down complex carbohydrates, running our central nervous system and defending us against pathogens.

In short, your microbiome lives in harmony with you. It is essential to take care of it, and it will take care of you.

+ Isn’t a salt water pool chlorine free?

No, it’s not (usually). While there are a very small number of genuine saltwater pools, these contain roughly the same amount of salt as the sea.

Otherwise, a saltwater pool is a chlorine pool by another name. Instead of chlorine being dosed, salt (sodium+chloride) is added to the water, typically to 4 parts per million. This is then converted to chlorine using a process called electrolysis.

Electrolysis is a process that splits the sodium and the chloride, generating chlorine in real time.

Whilst this technology reduces the chlorine smell and is preferable to dosing chlorine, your body, skin and hair is still exposed to disinfection by-products.

Salt systems need constant attention and testing to ensure there is enough salinity in the water to convert to chlorine and the PH needs to be carefully controlled using acids and alkalis for the disinfection or anti-algal process to be effective.

Lastly, salt is highly damaging to your pool fabric (tiles, grout, metal)and the environment. In some parts of the world increasing urban salinity has made it illegal to send any filter wastewater (backwash) down the drain.

+ Can I drink the mineral+biome® water?

A 2017 study showed that swimmers swallow 32ml of water per hour on average, but this can be up to four times more for children.

While we don't reccomend you drink the water in any pool, the water in our pools is proven to be within EU bathing water limits and as such represnts minimal health risk.

+ What is the total dissolved solid (TDS) level of Origin Aqua’s pool water?

This will vary depending on your location. Bearing in mind that most of our pools have been installed in the UK where the water is very hard in the East and soft in the West - our total dissolved solid (TDS) range is between 180 and 280. This is well within the WHO’s potable recommended levels of mineral water.

Level of TDS (milligrams per litre) = Rating

• Less than 300 = Excellent (And typical of our water)
• 300 - 600 = Good
• 600 - 900 = Fair
• 900 - 1,200 = Poor
• Above 1,200 = Unacceptable

Note: While in the UK we achieve 100 - 300 ppm of TDS, most chlorinated pools operate at around 800 - 1200 ppm of TDS, due mainly to the amount of chemicals needed to balance the water. This is why our mineral+biome® offers unparalled water clarity.

+ What is the pH of Origin Aqua’s pool water

Depending on your location, our pH will naturally level out somewhere between 7.5 and 8.1. The ideal pH level of drinking water should be between 6-8.5. Unlike traditional disinfection systems there is no need to continually monitor and adjust the PH levels.

+ How safe is Origin Aqua’s mineral+biome® system?

Very safe. Our system is scientifically proven to kill off pathogens such as E. coli, Pseudomonas and Enterococcus. We have many years' worth of independently verified real world test data from public and private pools around Europe which proves the safety of our system far in excess of European bathing standards. Nevertheless, as with any pool filter system, there is always a risk that pathogenic bacteria may travel from one swimmer to another so one should use a degree of common sense when deciding to swim i.e. people should not swim if they have suffered from any type of diarrhoea within the previous 3 days and should be careful if they are immuno-compromised in any way.

+ What about the mineral+biome® system and Covid-19?

In September 2020 the German Federal Environment Agency stated that filtration and disinfection are effective methods for inactivating imported microorganisms (e.g. bacteria and viruses) and that the morphology and chemical structure of SARS-CoV-2 is very similar to that of other coronaviruses for which studies have shown that water is not a relevant transmission pathway.

It is true that bacteria and viruses are reduced at a slower rate through degradation in biological pools than those with residual disinfection – i.e. the virus will be diluted, but not entirely killed off until it has gone through the filter and UV. However, according to the current state of knowledge coronavirus is transmitted via direct contact between people or contaminated surfaces. So, whilst there is no specific threat of the virus spreading in your swimming pool water, there remains a risk that surfaces around your pool may become contaminated and hygiene requirements around pool surfaces should be adhered to at all times.

+ Are salt, copper, silver or any other metals used in Origin Aqua’s mineral+biome® system?

The Origin Aqua mineraliser includes trace levels of zinc and magnesium - oligo-elements which are essential for your health and biocompatible with your body’s microbiome as well as the bacteria that live in our bio-filter. We use these trace elements because they help to keep algae down and have excellent moisturising, anti-ageing, UV protecting, wound-healing and skin-strengthening properties.

We do not use any salt or ‘heavy metals’ in our system. Salt systems use electrolysis to produce chlorine through dissolved sodium chloride. Silver and copper systems use ionisation which destroy skin cells in the same concentration as bacteria and copper is very toxic to plant and aquatic life in wastewater, particulairly because it does not biodegrade.

+ What ongoing maintenance does the Origin Aqua mineral+biome® system require?

Origin Aqua’s system relies on keeping phosphate out of the water and so we recommend a robot to remove leaves and make sure the pool is vacuumed and brushed weekly in high season. You may also need to check water parameters occasionally. After that there is very little maintenance as our system is highly automated – we will monitor your pool remotely and recommend an engineer tops up your mineraliser every 4 months. As with all pools, there should be at least two technical visits per year by a pool professional to check the system function and replace any consumable items.

+ Is the Origin Aqua mineral+biome® system 100% chemical free?

Yes, we are 100% chemical free when it comes to the dosing or generation of disinfection chemicals via electrolys. However scientifically speaking, this question depends on what you class as a chemical.

Our proprietary mineraliser contains naturally occurring oligo-elements in solution (e.g.: calcium, magnesium, zinc and selenium) which are added to the water in trace amounts (parts per billion) for a number of known health benefits.

By contrast, our system contains absolutely none of the usual disinfection products associated with swimming pools; so no chlorine, no bromine, no salt, no copper, no silver and no hydrogen peroxide. Whilst many pool filtration systems claim to be chemical free, they actually rely on chemical reactions generated via electrolysis or hydrolysis that produce residual oxidation or ionisation in the pool water – a process where cells are destroyed by the breakdown of their membrane cell walls. At Origin Aqua we believe in residual microbes, rather than residual disinfectant or residual ions which will also attack your skin’s microflora. Origin Aqua’s system relies on residual microbes that digest organic and inorganic matter, improve immunity via immunomodulatory responses and increase the diversity of your microbiome.

+ How does the mineral+biome® system cope with personal care products such as body lotions, sun block, shampoo, make up and moisturisers etc.

The answer is very well! As our system is biological and uses microbes rather than oxidation or ionisation (processes which lead to more disinfectant by-products when products like suncream are added to the water), care products and inorganic matter are converted to organic matter by microbes such as saprophytic bacteria before being biodigested.

+ What should I do if there has been an accident in the pool?

Right, getting down to brass tacks, what if there is what we in the trade refer to as an AFR (Accidental Faecal Release) or somebody is sick? Well, this is where our biofilter will dramatically outperform a normal system which would require shock dosing to clean your pool with chlorine.

So long as swimmers and any offending matter is fully removed from the pool, it is simply a question of waiting for the entire volume of the swimming pool to pass through the biofilter - around 12 hours to be safe but sooner if the offending item was solid!

+ What are the ongoing costs associated with the Origin Aqua mineral+biome® system?

You will need to top up your mineraliser every 4-6 months. This should cost around £300.

You will need to change your UV bulb once a year. This should cost around £30-£90.

You will need to swap out your filter media every 2 years. This should cost around £300 - £500.

Provided your pool is well maintained and kept clean, you will need at least two techncial visits from a pool professional per year, rather like taking your car for a service !

+ Can I use wastewater from the mineral+biome® system in my garden?

Yes, wastewater from the mineral+biome® is excellent for use in the garden or as part of a larger permaculture system. The water is organic and contains a host of nitrogenous bacteria which will act as a fertiliser on your plants.

+ Why is the mineral mineral+biome® the environmental choice?

• The system uses around 50% less energy and water than chlorine traditional filtration
• The system uses and creates no disinfection waste or by-products
• The backwash water contains no environmentally damaging chemicals or by-products for example: copper or salt
• The system does not require the constant addition of chemicals