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Treating land for enhancing or protecting the amenities of a site and the locality in which it is situated.
- You will need a deep area for swimming, between 5 feet (1500mm) and 7 feet (2200mm) with vertical walls.
- You will need a similar expanse for the regeneration area, which will vary in water depth (down to nothing at the edges). The regeneration area will contain aggregate for filtration in a mass from 1 foot (300mm) to eighteen inches.
- You will need to follow local laws (sometimes quite stringent) for safety fencing.
- A total area of 50 square metres (25 for the swimming area and 25 for the regeneration area) is recommended by some, but many people are now finding that 100 square metres (50 each for swimming area and regeneration area) gives better, more stable, and more predictable results.
You will also have a pool which integrates much better into the garden landscape. If you always wanted a pool for exploring the attractions of pond life, aquatic plants and so on then this is your excuse.
There are good but slightly academic sources of information on the internet about natural pools. The best is from Europe, where hundreds of natural swimming pools have been built, but really what you must do is make contact with natural swimming pool builders, who not only know the practical wrinkles of building and a pool, but who will also be able to point you to actual examples.
A swimming pool requires a deep area of at least 1500 to 2200 with near vertical walls which needs to be constructed for the swimming area and waterproofed by means of a rubber liner with an underliner. The swimming area should be a minimum of 25 square metes (50 metres is the minimum for the total area). The internal walls should be constructed from sustainable materials wherever possible such as recycled plastic, stone, timber or geotextile bags. As they will be acting as a retaining structure for the material and plants in the Regeneration zone, they should be carefully engineered. The walls usually have a capping. The walls should finish 100mm below the water surface to maintain the visual effect of one pool. Ideally the liner should be placed behind the wall (but in some cases it goes over the wall) to ensure that it is both hidden and protected. The water is drawn down through the substrate in the Regeneration zone and through perforated pipework to the pump. The water is also taken via the surface skimmer to the pump where it is again filtered before returning to the bottom of the Swimming area. The Regeneration zone must be of the same size as the Swimming area and have an average depth of 300mm of aggregate, usually graded from 50 to 450 approximately. In some pools the plants would surround the swimming area, giving a soft planted margin to the pool. In small pools it is better to plant on one side only so as to avoid a tight enclosed effect. Where space is at a premium, an alternative is to create a second pool, perhaps uphill to allow the water to flow between the bodies of water, probably using a pump and waterfall. The Regeneration zone utilises a course inert substrate, such as shingle/gravel and not topsoil or any other growing medium as this would bring high levels of nutrients to the water and would counteract the cleaning effects of the plants, while contributing to the silting process. By planting the aquatic plants in shingle they must draw their nutrients from the water itself and so clean the pool. Also by cutting and removing the plant mass each autumn, the impurities held in the plants are physically removed from the water, allowing the cycle to begin again in the following spring. A surface leaf skimmer is also used to help remove floating debris from the water. Silt, a combination of decaying vegetation, dust and other detritus will always form in any body of water and depending upon the size and location of the pool it can easily be removed by either a vacuum or bottom purge system. A drainage ditch is constructed completely around the pool to ensure that no water runoff enters the pool thereby causing any differences in the pH and the water quality. It has been assumed by many people that the cost of building a natural swimming pool should be considerably cheaper than the conventional ones. Sadly this is not the case due to the many complexities with the biological as well as the construction processes. Currently the average cost is £350/400.00 per square metre with a minimum size of 50 square metres. Existing swimming pools can easily be converted to the natural process providing that there is space for the Regeneration Zone, either as a separate pool or as a subdivision.
Other articles on Swimming Pools:-
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Additional Related Resources Natural swimming pools
By Chas and Steve
Natural swimming pools are based on ponds and pools that were once found so abundantly in the landscape. They are a chemical free combination of swimming area and aquatic plant garden, and so Read more...
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