Plus Pool will allow New Yorkers to swim in East River

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Floating pool coming to East River’s Pier 35

A floating pool is coming to the East River. Now it looks like that could be closer to reality with the city and state officially choosing a location at Pier 35 on the Lower East Side. FOX 5 NY’s Kendall Green has all the details on the project and when it could finally open.

NEW YORK CITY – Jumping in the New York City East River on a hot and humid summer day may not be a filthy or dangerous idea anymore, thanks to construction underway on a filtering floating pool.

What we know:

The Plus Pool, an initiative to bring back safe river swimming and educate the public on water quality and environmental issues, is currently being built at Pier 35, with a section scheduled to run after more testing. 

The pool shell finally reached New York City in early July, after over 14 years since the idea was launched. 

The pool is literally shaped like a plus sign, allowing for four sections: a kid’s pool, a sports pool, a lap pool and a lounge pool. The construction of the first section – the lounge pool – is currently underway. 

How does it work?

Dig deeper:

According to the Pool’s official website, the vision is a giant strainer dropped in the East River with filters within its walls that can remove bacteria, contaminants and odors, making the water safe and swimmable as per local and state standards. 

Credit: + POOL Rendering, 2024. Designed by Family New York & Playlab, Inc. Image by Luxigon

Plus Pool safety 

A successful prototype of the filtration system was built on Pier 35 and data on the cleaning system, ultraviolet (UV) disinfection, pre-filtration and more was collected. 

Arup, a global sustainable development consultancy, engineered the filtration system that brings river water to an acceptable and safe standard for swimming. The system was designed to reduce turbidity, the measure of relative clarity of a liquid, as well as particulate organics, bacteria, viruses and protoza. 

Plus Pool says the data was submitted to the NYC Health Department and other city agencies, and the results demonstrated how the system met city and state water quality standards without the use of chemical disinfectants. 

Additional testing will be done on the larger scale version, currently under construction, before the pool can be launched to the public. 

By the numbers:

New York Governor Kathy Hochul committed $16 million to pilot and scale this project to create the first urban river-sourced swimming pool. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams also showed support saying, “New York City’s waterways are some of our most important assets. By exploring the possibility of a + POOL, we are not only building on our historic investments in public pools across the city, but also expanding equitable access to swimming for all New Yorkers, especially our children.”