Natural swimming pools

Living in a climate that gets all the four seasons and outdoor pool doesn't seem like the best idea since it will be out of function for half of the year. Few years ago I read an article about natural swimming pools and found it interesting but at the time I wasn't sure how long we were planning to stay at the current location and I kind of forgot about it. Years later I've been refreshing my memory of the natural pools since we have a little boy now who loves to swim and a pool on the backyard doesn't sound like a such a bad idea anymore. Instead of a ugly pool we could have nicely landscaped pool with no chemicals which our little boy swallows in water parks. Here are few cool ones I've seen as I've searched the subject more closely on-line.

The Daily Green has an article about natural pools:

One elegant, eco-friendly solution that has had enthusiastic supporters in Europe for decades is the so-called natural swimming pool, which is slowly beginning to gain buzz in the U.S. Natural swimming pools, often called swimming ponds across the Atlantic, can be beautiful oases of greenery and sustainability, as well as safe, fun places to take a dip.

Managed properly, natural swimming pools have crystal clear water and require no chemicals to maintain, as they are self-cleaning mini-ecosystems. "You can drink the water if you want to, and you don't necessarily have to take a shower," says Morgan Brown of Idaho-based Whole Water Systems, LLC. The natural pools designer says the systems also have lower maintenance costs than conventional pools, and their installation costs are not much more than standard designs.



















And here is a diagram that tells you how to do the natural pool right: