Our energy source: the earth itself
Hugarró is heated entirely by geothermal energy — natural heat drawn from deep underground. It powers our pools, our hot water, our buildings, and even our roads in winter. No fossil fuels. No emissions. No utility bills.
Smarter than the traditional approach
The standard practice in Iceland is to continuously replace pool water with fresh geothermal water — discarding around 230 m³ of hot water into nature every single day. We think that is wasteful, and we designed our way around it.
Our pools use a closed-loop recirculation system: water stays in the pools and is kept clean through UV disinfection and ultrafiltration membranes — the same technology used in drinking water treatment. No chemicals are used or permitted in Iceland. A real-time microbiological monitoring system continuously checks water quality across all seven pools, so you are always swimming in water that is measurably clean.
The result? We use 91% less water than a traditional Icelandic pool operation, and we recover 33% more heat energy by not throwing it away.
One source, four uses — in sequence
Rather than drawing separate energy for each need, we run our geothermal water through a cascade:
- Geothermal pools — water enters at 70°C and heats our pools to a perfect 38°C
- Hotel & cabin heating — the same water, still warm at 50°C, then heats all our buildings
- Hot tap water — covered in the same circuit
- Road de-icing — remaining warmth is used to keep paths and roads clear in winter
The water is then returned underground at 30°C — completing a fully closed, zero-discharge cycle.
A modest well is all we need
Because our system is so efficient, a geothermal well yielding just 7–10 litres per second at 70°C covers all our needs — pools, buildings, roads, and future expansion. For context, a typical productive well in Iceland delivers 15–50 litres per second. We are not greedy with the resource.
This also means we have realistic capacity to supply heating to neighbouring summer homes and future development in the area — turning a facility cost into a potential revenue stream.
The bottom line
| Traditional Icelandic pools | Hugarró | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily water discharged to nature | 230 m³ | 0 m³ |
| Heat energy wasted | 33% | 0% |
| Chemicals in pool water | None | None |
| Well yield required | 15–50 L/s | 7–10 L/s |
| Neighbours supplied with heat | No | Yes — planned |