The Natural Swimming Pool (Lilypads Optional) |
Published by Marina Hoag under Uncategorized
Many phrases associated with the green movement start out sounding odd but soon become familiar, everyday language. Remember the “hybrid car”? Sounds perfectly normal now, but it didn’t in 2001, when the Prius was first introduced in the United States.
One such green idea today is the “natural swimming pool.” Just that as the hybrid car is beginning to shift from a curiosity for early adopters to a standard for the middle class, the natural swimming pool may begin to move beyond a few upscale enclaves to urban and suburban backyards across America.
Dive into a natural pool
In addition being a beautiful oasis for the mind and body, the natural pool is well named, because it uses many processes already found in nature to save energy and refresh itself. Like a traditional pool, the natural pool is separated from the ground by manmade materials such as rubber or reinforced polyethylene. But unlike a traditional pool, the water cleaning process uses a regeneration zone of aquatic plants and stones instead of harsh chemicals like chlorine.
Of course, no one wants a green pool in a literal sense, so natural pools use plants and ultraviolet sterilizers to rob algae of nutrients, leaving waters as clean as those of a traditional swimming pool. The chemical-free water and regeneration zone allow customers to have both a pool and a pond that functions as an aquatic garden.
Currently, the only purveyor of natural pools in the US is Total Habitat of Kansas. They admit that natural swimming pools may cost slightly more to build than a standard swimming pool, but that have lower maintance and chemical costs. Also, conventional pools can be converted to natural pools; a post on naturalswimmingpools.info encourages the possibility of a DIY natural pool.
Like many eco-friendly ideas, the natural pool comes to us from Europe (”across the pond,” of course!) where it is more popular. Although the idea was born in Europe, natural pools can be coupled with the concept of New Urbanism, a back-to-basics planning idea emerging here in the US. Many new suburban developments branding themselves as New Urban use swimming holes and ponds in addition to traditional design elements like porches and alleyways to create the feeling of an older urban neighborhood. The idea is to become more transit and pedestrian oriented, eating up fewer rural acres in the process.
The bottom line: any dual-purpose solution like the natural swimming pool that works as both a beautiful pond and a healthy place for swimming gets my vote.
[Ed. note April 2010 - Green By Design is now a sustainable fashion website! Please let your fashionable friends and family know. We'll strive to bring the same in-depth, cutting edge coverage to green fashion as we've done with green design and architecture. Check out our interview with Cosa Verde - an awesome curated online showcase for sustainable products - founder Liz Grotyohann - or our top 6 online fashion/culture magazines. Last but not least: ready to walk the walk? Can you cut your wardrobe down to just 10 pieces for the entire summer? We are! Go here for the deets! We're grateful for your readership and hope you'll join us as we brave the road of sustainable fashion! -Celestyna]
Please Note: If you know of others who install natural pools, please post a link below.
30 Responses to “The Natural Swimming Pool (Lilypads Optional)”
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Recent Comments
Update from West Coast Green, San Jose, CA: I met another vendor of natural swimming pools…so we can add Whole Water Systems, LLC of Ketchum, Idaho to the list of providers. Whole Water partners with BioNova, the world leader in public and private natural pool company. With over 1,000 installations in Germany and Austria, they created the category of natural swimming pools.
Check out Whole Water Systems’ website at wholewatersystems.com to see some stunning photos of residential and public pools. Of course, the point is more than a great bathing experience…biological water purification costs less than chemical systems. Let us know what you think.
Martha,
Here is a link from Mother Earth News on a DIYer natural swimming pool.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/2002-08-01/Natural-Swimming-Pools.aspx.
The picture of the pool is so pretty. Who wouldn’t want that pool?
Anna http://www.green-talk.com
[...] water as it is drawn through into an ultraviolet filter that takes care of any lingering bacteria. Here is a link to an article by Greenbydesign that explains more about these [...]
Eco Swimming Pools…
…
We are working on a brownfield project that will have a pool and need some ideas — the natural filter zone — can it remove iron deposits. Everyone wants a pool or wading pool but we want to filter it naturally. If you have any information on this could you send it to me.
Thanks Ronnie
We are now starting building natural swimming pools in Connecticut and will go anywhere in New England. There is no better time then now to be GREEN I all senses. Building green for a better tomorrow!
No more swimming in chlorine POOLS. Get the best of both worlds.
Candide Valadares
President of Candide Water Garden LLC
that looks like a big aquarium
I agree with Robert… It looks like my turtle aquarium. the filter system seems to work in a very similar way- and just like the filter for my aquarium, the cleaning process of the filter is a very dirty and tiring job. This sounds like it would be more of a pain to take care of even if you do save money on chemicals.
Would mosquitoes be a problem? The water may flow from the swimming portion to the plant/filtering portion, but in the filtering portion I’d worry that the plants would create sufficient stillness for mosquitoes to lay eggs. Would there be a need to put fish in the filtering part to deal with this?
Imagine cleaning this thing. Imagine the algae buildup. Scrubbing the polyethylene liner will eventually wear then you got a big problem with soil seeping into the pool.
Anyone have a water fountain? If you do you would know that over time algae builds up under natural sunlight. You’d have to drain it and pump more water in it.
Do that with a natural green pool of 1000 gallons and fill it with fresh water every month. Then see how much you really save with your water bill.
Looks great at first. But over time, it will give another meaning to the word “green”.
I build similar pools in South Africa. I call them wetland pools, but they are the same thing. There are answers to many of the questions posted in the FAQ on my website. Feel free to look. I am also an Architect, and can design pools more or less anywhere should anybody want one. I have currently built about 15 of them. Water quality – fantastic – tested and proven as better than drinking water.
Natural Swimming Pool eh? where I’m from those are called lakes lol
[...] June 3, 2009 at 7:50 pm · Filed under Green Living Style, Green technology and design The pool uses many processes already found in nature to save energy and refresh itself. Like a traditional pool, the natural pool is separated from the ground by manmade materials such as rubber or reinforced polyethylene. But unlike a traditional pool, the water cleaning process uses a regeneration zone of aquatic plants and stones instead of harsh chemicals like chlorine… [Read More] [...]
This is fantastic. How much does it cost to build one of the natural swimming pools?
Thats very interesting, I’m curious to know how much it will cost, it is a good point that you will save on chemicals etc, but the fact that they didn’t say that it will pay for itself probably means that it will be signifficantly more expensive than a traditional pool.
I am also curious an how you are supposed to care for this pool, especially in places where pools my freeze during the winter, or get very close. Would the pools need to be restocked every spring, or are the plants and bacteria resilient? And how do you know that an “unfriendly” bacterial has set up residence? It pretty ridiculous to say that “only non harmful bacteria will grow on this rock. And if the system doesn’t kill the beneficial bacteria, why not other types of bacteria. I’m sure there are technical details not explained here, but I would like to know them before considering getting one.
Hey, i like this idea, this gives me ideas for my home one day, although i can’t swim, it will be nice to admire!
I’d imagine after a few years one could just vacume out the rocks and bottom of the natural pool and the plants will do the rest! I once hade a fish tank that had crystal clear water for over 7 years without a cleaning just a little sludge on the bottom when I finally moved! Just by adding a little sea salt here and there!
I do not know much about the different types of bacteria, but as for the freezing one article I read said this is fine as most plants will come back to life in the spring and the alge does also but as the nature does its thing the alge lessens. I also seen that you can use the ionized natural filters for this and extra protection against other harmful bacteria? The way the pool or pond is designed it can freeze and shift a little. Hey one guy said he even uses his natural pond/pool as an ice skating rink in the winter! I like that idea as i’m in upstate NY myself!
Those pools look amazingly cool as well as inviting. The fact that they use less chlorine and more natural filtering processes make them ideal.
Kerry,
I suggest you perform more research, as your hypotheses are not correct.
Germans, in particular, have been doing this for two decades, and saving money and resources, to boot.
http://www.wholewatersystems.com/systems/NSP.htm
I love the post. I’ve never seen that in Brazil.
Best regards!
Cinthia Behr
http://www.paisagismoburiti.blogspot.com
Ney sayers suck! Some people need to learn that some of the natural bacterias in life have benefits, this is a great way to get back to nature and use the natural way to clean things. I have built self cleaning habitats for anuimals (reptiles and fish in particular) that require little to no maintenance and the animals live greater lifes are heathier due to the natural approach certain bacterias need to be present for any saltwater tank to even survive at all. Chemicals are bad and destoy our tissues and ability to heal much worse than any bacteria.
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Natural pools are disgusting! Over time the amount of algae buildup will be more than its worth. I know because my parents used to have one. Cleaning was a horrible having to remove all the rock and draining the pool. No thanks!
my God, i thought you were going to chip in with some decisive insght at the end there, not leave it with ‘we leave it to you to decide
while it looks pretty its not easy to clean up. The rocks gather algae and have to be lifted and cleaned. Then you have to drain the pool and scrub down the walls because of the algae buildup. It all sounds good but bit of a hassle. We had one growing up. It was a bloody mess.
Interesting concept. Thanks for posting!
Dear Kerry, please do all your homework before posting such unresearched remarks. No offense, but in a Natural Swimming Pool there will be NO buildup and NO algae.
A NSP owner.