- Scientists confirm: your pool is not the water villain.
- Up to 50% of water vanishes through ancient, neglected pipelines.
- Pool consumption is under 2% of total water use.
- Leaks, not loungers, are killing Greece’s reservoirs.
- Real solution: fix the pipes, not ruin the summer.
For years, pools have been blamed for every dry tap in Greece. They were the blue-eyed monsters of luxury, accused of sucking islands dry one floatie at a time. But a new study published in Water (MDPI) has dropped a scientific bombshell: the pools are innocent. The real culprits? Old pipes, poor planning, and a national allergy to maintenance.
Researchers examined hotel and private pools in the Peloponnese, Crete, and the Dodecanese, expecting to find gallons of guilt. Instead, they found that most pools use less water than a thirsty olive tree. In numbers: less than 2% of a household or hotel’s yearly water consumption. In other words, if droughts had a courtroom, the pool would be acquitted before lunch.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Leaks
Greece ranks 19th worldwide for water shortage risk, but apparently not for pipe repair enthusiasm. Nearly half of the country’s water supply disappears through leaks before reaching a faucet — a national magic trick decades in the making.
In Mani, water loss from irrigation and leaks dwarfs what any small guesthouse pool might consume. In Naxos, hotels have gone eco-chic, filling pools with seawater or recycling used water. The result: sustainability with a view.
Even better, when filled responsibly, pools act as “demand regulators” — the fancy term for “we fill them when no one else needs the hose.” And evaporation losses? Up to 90% preventable with a simple pool cover. But sure, let’s keep yelling at the chlorine while half the water supply is doing a Houdini act underground.
The Real Greek Tragedy
The study suggests the obvious: maybe stop blaming the pink flamingo float and start fixing the plumbing. Greece does not need to outlaw pools; it needs to stop behaving like its water system is a museum exhibit.
The researchers argue for a national strategy that includes leak detection, smart pricing, recycling, and small-scale desalination — basically, using the brain before the bucket.
Because the truth is painfully simple: Greece does not run out of water because people swim — it runs out because nobody patches the pipes.
Until then, we can keep pretending that banning pools will save the country, while Poseidon himself shakes his head and reaches for a wrench.