How celebrities including David Beckham and Ed Sheeran are flocking to buy natural pools for their mansions following rising popularity of wild swimming By Colin Fernandez Environment Editor Published: 01:58 BST, 19 August 2024 | Updated: 02:10 BST, 19 August 2024 e-mail View comments The rising popularity of wild swimming has sparked a flood of interest in natural pools. The Beckhams, singer Ed Sheeran and actor Dominic West and are among the celebrities to have splashed out on eco-friendly ponds or lakes. Whenever the mercury rises, like this week, demand for chemical-free swimming ponds also soars.
Paul Mercer, of Norfolk-based The Swimming Pond Company, says that they are a clean, green alternative to polluted rivers or conventional chlorine-based pools. He said: 'We were one of the first companies to set up in the UK in 2006 when very few people had heard about swimming ponds. Pooling resources: The Beckhams are among the many celebrities said to have splashed out on eco-friendly ponds or lakes Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has also acquired a chemical-free, natural pool Paul Mercer, of Norfolk-based The Swimming Pond Company, says that natural pools are a clean, green alternative to polluted rivers or conventional chlorine-based pools 'We had very few enquiries and we would finish one contract and wonder where the next one would come from.
'But now there are around 2,000 natural swimming ponds in the UK and we get as many as 300 enquiries a year.' Mr Mercer used to swim .