Natural Swimming Pools

[Miles Barnard]

Hello Friends. I’m picking back up on our discussion of Natural Swimming Pools. Our pool is nearly complete and will soon be ready for water. We have been consulting with Mick Hilleary of Total Habitat on the design. Our pool/pond has a fiber reinforced polyethylene liner and natural stone walls that separate the swim zone from the filter zone. We also have some boulders sprinkled throughout the design. We have a beach entry as well. I will include a construction photo here and then create an album. We are waiting for the wooden hot tub and then we will build the deck around it and fill the pool with water. Plants will be installed in Spring 2015, Let me know if anyone has any questions.

[Jason Cook]

Yes I have questions.  First off, that looks amazing!  I really like the look of all that rock work.  I assume you tested it initially to ensure it keeps a balanced pH/Phosphates etc..?  What is the type of boulder here in the front with the wavy lines?  Where was this built?  Curious as winter freezes would crack/break up some types of rocks and look messy after a few years; hope you don’t have this challenge.

Can you give us some specs like water depth once it’s filled, install an airator, external pump, UV?  I’d love to hear some more details, but assume those will come with your album and construction photos.  Can’t wait to see more pics/descriptions.

Mick advised me as well on my build.  I put one in my backyard, so this has been top of mind for me for almost 2 years.   I completed mine last month and filled it 90%.  I live in Utah so we get harsh winters so I’ll wait until spring to put most of my plants in. I love seeing more people take the plunge and either pay for these to be installed or go the ol DIY route.

[Janine Micunek]

Hi, I have a question. Why are there stones covering the swim zone? I’m used to having gravel in the filter zone, which is planted, and boulders and such only for additional aesthetics. It seems to me that stones covering the swim zone are an unnecessary expense.

[Goustan BODIN]

Thanks Miles for updating the thread with more infos and pictures. Congrats on the progress, I’m so glad for you !

I’m just like Jason, hoping  for more details and construction pictures. Can’t wait to see it with plants and life in those rocks !

What ratio between filtration and swimming did you guys go for and why ? How deep is deepest area  ?

[Miles Barnard]

All stone is out of NY. It’s essentially PA bluestone in boulder version. Very stable. Yes I’m sure we will get some pieces popping off in the winter. That’s just the nature of natural material which we accept
Deep end is 8-8.5′ deep. Total volume is around 40,000 gallons. No aerator although we have allowed provisions to add one later if we think we need it. No UV. (1) 3hp variable speed Pentaire pump. Suction side has almost 400′ of 4″ perforated pipe in filter zone and two skimmers (one floating). Return side has (3) bottom jets and 6-8 jets throughout the filter zone. No water feature like a stream.
We were shooting for 1:1 filter zone to swim zone per the Total Habitat guidelines.
We have river cobbles on the bottom because the owner did not want to see liner. We used the big stuff so it will not move around on the sloped areas and will not get sucked up by a vacuum.

[Miles Barnard]

Gang I have posted some photos. Started an album called natural swimming pools but the project/photo upload interface seems to pretty much not work anymore so only 8 photos made it into the album. The rest are just in my photos. If anyone knows how to add photos to an existing album please let me know. I can also just create a dropbox folder and a link.

[Andrew Spiering]

Miles,

Thanks for updating us on your project!  You can add more photos to your existing project by selecting the project when you are uploading the photos.  Here’s a screen shot:

Also, if the Flash Uploader is giving you trouble, try the simple version here: https://land8.com/photo/photo/new

Thanks again and keep sharing your awesome work!

[Miles Barnard]

Hi Andrew. I definitely specified the project I wanted the photos to go into, but only the first 8 went in. I Didn’t realize this until I was all finished of course. Is there not a way to move existing photos in my main album to a specific project?

[Devid Sapher]

Well designing natural swimming pools is not an easy task. I never did it, but I can say you rainforestla will surely help you to find a good solution for your issue. 

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