[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?

[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.

[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]

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.

[Miles Barnard]

Annie thanks. But we are talking about natural swimming pools. Non conventional chemical pools.  -Miles

[Miles Barnard]

Laura I have heard of the reed bed thing for effluent. There actually is some openness from the health dept folks here to talking about treating effluent with constructed wetlands.

[Miles Barnard]

Laura I’m out of breath reading your post. Great information.  Thanks so much. We definitely want to have a beach entrance at one end and I like the rocky interior

[Miles Barnard]

Anna I don’t think this is a discussion topic…

[Miles Barnard]

How about Yellow Mountain Stone?

[Miles Barnard]

Todd thanks again. I’m leaning toward hiring the guys (Total Habitat) that wrote this guide to be consultants on my project.

[Miles Barnard]

NSP project update. I am going to hire a consultant to provide design guidance on the pool systems and material selections. I will still be the designer of record and also manage the construction aspects of the project. I’m choosing between two companies, BioNova and Total Habitat out of Kansas. I am leaning toward Total Habitat because I like that they are an american-based company and have none of the overly protective proprietary bs that a company like BioNova brings to the table. Mick Hilleary of Total Habitat is eager to see more NSPs built and just wants to be part of that. In fact is was Total Habitat’s Guide to building NSPs that Todd Chambers posted on this forum discussion. There is now a second edition to that which I just purchased. I will keep updating as things progress. -Miles

[Miles Barnard]

Gustan those are great reflections. I am right there. My hope is to convince the client to spend a bit more money on the front end with a BioNova consultant but have me still running the show. I’ll let you all know how my ‘pitch’ is received.

[Miles Barnard]

My initial reaction to having a client interest in a NSP was that I can figure this out on my own and work with a pool contractor of my choosing to build it. But while the concept is fairly simple, the ramifications of failure are quite large. There are lots of minor details that go into having acceptable water quality and I’m more feeling like for my first NSP I want the assistance of a company or consultant that has had previous success like a BioNova.  Are some of you that have responded really feeling confident enough to be responsible for the design of all the components of a NSP? I definitely admire your confidence. What do you think?

[Miles Barnard]

Janine thanks for the links. Tell me which menu to select on the first website to see images of natural pools. I found it on the second site.

[Miles Barnard]

Todd this is great. Thank you. I’m currently talking with BioNova Pools about consulting on the mechanical and biological aspects with me designing all the ‘aesthetic’ aspects. But ultimately I would like to be able to design everything myself. Just takes a client that wants one and right now I have one.

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