Did you ever swim in a natural swimming pool?
Recently architect Alan Barlis, who designed one for a client in New York’s Hudson Valley, described the experience like this: “Incredibly blissful. Once you swim in one of these things you feel like you’ve been so refreshed. It’s like being in a Brita for an hour. It’s like taking the best shower of your life.”
So read on for everything you need to know to decide whether a natural swimming pool is for you.
What is a natural swimming pool?
Photograph courtesy of Biotop.
In Switzerland near Lake Lucerne, a natural swimming pool supported by a retaining wall on a steep slope “appears to almost float weightlessly out over the valley,” the designers say.
Photograph courtesy of Biotop.
A natural pool at Plane Trees Lodge in Australia has a water depth of 6 1/2 feet. To create an effective environment for cleaning the water, Biotop recommends that a pool be no smaller than 30 square meters (roughly 322 square feet).
How does a natural pool work?
Because the swimming zone and water garden zone are separated by a wall, there is no mud or muck in the swimming zone.
What about algae, muck, mud, and other icky things?
“With the water garden, we are mimicking the conditions you would find naturally in a high mountain lake, so clear and beautiful and with very little algae or anything growing in it,” says Tristan Fields of Biotop USA.
What grows in natural pool’s water garden?
Stepping stones appear to float alongside a collection of water lilies in a natural pool designed by Ensata in the UK. Depending on where you live, the specific varieties of aquatic plants will vary.
Photograph courtesy of Ensata.
A perennial meadow is in full bloom in late August at the edge of Will and Sarah Murch’s family pool at Ellicar Gardens in Gringley on the Hill near Doncaster, England. A natural swimming pool costs about 10 percent more to install than a conventional swimming pool, Biotop estimates.
How much does a natural pool cost to install?
Photograph courtesy of Ensata.
For more, see Architect Visit: A Natural Pool in New York’s Hudson Valley. Take care of water garden plants by trimming them and replacing them, as needed.
What maintenance does a natural pool require?
Photograph by Reto Guntli, courtesy of BarlisWedlick.
What happens in winter?
Photograph courtesy of Ensata.
Another view of the Murch family natural pool shows the natural pond-like shape of the pool’s perimeter, softened by grasses that are part of the filtration system.