A review of five different natural swimming pool (NSP) designs

Five ways to build a NSP

There are many ways to design a NSP or swim pond—from contemporary-looking swimming pools, which use different long-lasting membranes or concrete shells with special-mixed concrete, to those that look like mountain-side lakes with the use of natural stone and gravel built on top of the swim pond membrane. The builder’s ultimate goal is to create a design that makes everyone think the house was built next to a lake; therefore, natural cohesion between the home and NSP is paramount.

Those interested in the idea of an NSP must make a few decisions first before going ahead with the general design. Therefore, the first question a builder should ask their client is which type of natural pool will best suit their needs. It is also important the client becomes familiar with the five different types of NSPs. They are as follows:

Type 1: 100 per cent Mother Nature

More than 40 years ago, NSPs were designed based on limnology, e.g. lakes and other bodies of fresh water, which rely completely on Mother Nature’s capabilities to clean and purify water through biology. These swim ponds contain a complete range of wildlife and have a great deal of biomaterial floating in the water—no water treatment technology is used.

After three-to-five years, this type of NSP will be balanced on Mother Nature’s terms. Too much cleaning will hinder the ecosystem rather than help it; therefore, an annual cleaning should suffice. The size of the wetland is also important. In this case, two-thirds of the entire water surface should be developed as wetland to provide a substantial system for proper functionality—the larger, the better.

The planted area should also be well-equipped with a shoreline, plants, and underwater vegetation to create a home for all of the water purifying organisms. The plant realm should have at least 1 m (3 ft) of water at the deepest areas as well enough shallow spots and shorelines should be constructed to properly support Mother Nature.

The biodiversity of the fauna (i.e. animal life) for these ponds are very high and complex with cohabitants, including turtles, dragon flies, frogs, and salamanders.

Some points to consider when building this type of NSP:

1. Use approximately 25 different types of shore, swamp, and reed plants.
2. Use roughly five to eight different types of underwater plants.
3. Use three to five varieties of floating plants.
4. No use of pumps or skimmers.
5. Water depth for the plant zone must be at least 1 m (3 ft).
6. The regeneration zone should be a minimum 50/50 to an ideal two thirds of the entire pond surface.
7. Minimum water surface should be 139 m² (1500 sf).
8. This is the most inexpensive type of NSP.