Wisconsin brothers build chemical-free water park using nature

WISN

By Gino Recchia

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    WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (WISN) — Just feet from the sandstone cliffs of the Wisconsin River, a quiet stretch of land hides something unexpected.

Kayaks glide across calm water, children splash down hillside slides, and a massive floating obstacle course stretches across the surface. But this isn’t a typical water park.

“We’re like, what can we do? That’s it. Takes us back to nature, which basically brought people to Wisconsin Dells in the first place many years ago,” said Adam Makowski, one of the park’s co-owners.

Adam and his brother Dave Makowski set out to build something completely different in the heart of Wisconsin Dells, often called the Waterpark Capital of the World.

They opened Land of Natura in 2023. “Natura” is the Polish word for “nature,” a nod to their heritage and the vision behind the park, to let nature clean the water instead of chemicals.

“We wanted to start with the most important thing was water, we wanted clean, natural water. And we spent many years trying to figure out the best way to do that,” Adam Makowski said.

To do that, they had to recreate what nature already does best. The brothers engineered an entire ecosystem from the ground up.

This five-acre lake doesn’t use chlorine or filters. It relies on plants, rocks, fish and healthy bacteria to clean the water every hour of the day.

“When you try to replicate nature, you learn many things that you never thought you would learn, because it’s amazing how nature takes care of its own,” Adam Makowski said.

The lake holds 15 million gallons of water. More than 30 million gallons flow through its natural filtration system every 24 hours.

The Makowskis had no blueprint to follow. They relied on trial and error and tested dozens of designs until it worked.

“The biggest gamble is right here; we don’t even gamble because we gamble enough in our business. But like when this worked, we were like, we couldn’t believe it,” Dave Makowski said.

But their mission wasn’t just about innovation. It was also about inclusion.

Many visitors who come to Land of Natura have skin sensitivities or can’t go near chlorine at all. For some families, this place changes everything.

“One lady actually lives in town, first time she actually played with her kids in the water because she can’t go at all in the pools. And so the kids were shocked. Then the mom went out with them to play,” Dave Makowski said.

Scientists who tested the water found it to be near potable, meaning almost safe to drink. The only thing missing, they said, was a disinfectant like chlorine or fluoride.

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