Natural swimming pools

[Golden Eagle]

Want a pond? How about one of these!

Gardeners' World recently featured a piece about a garden with a natural swimming pool, and I've totally fallen in love with the concept.
A little unsure about practicalities, but still the idea is awesome. I reckon they might be quite popular here!

http://www.naturalswimmingpools.com/index.htm

[Corwen]

Looks nice, but it would have to be big and in the sun to avoid filling with pondweed and duckweed, or you'd emerge looking like 'Swamp-Thing'!

[treegod]

I've got one of these

The last few years I haven't used it because it had a lot of silt built up on the bottom, but last spring we cleaned it and it has had some good use this year.

Not only that but it has been different. There were lots of fish eating all the little creatures so we didn't get to see them, and now the fish have gone they've all appeared! So we have lots of little creatures now to swim with (some of which BITE!)

One thing that hasn't changed are the snakes that happen upon it, culebra de agua or viperine water snake (Natrix maura), and every so often I go hunting with a net to take them out. The last years they've been feeding on little fish, now they have tadpoles!

[Teileag]

Looks awesome if you have the space! My kids look like swamp things anyway so there wouldn't be much difference but I suppose in summer you'd get a lot more moscitoes? Tell us a bit more, Treegod!

[Astrid]

Absoloutly fantastic! "pulls out her list of what to have when i buy my own house and adds natural swimmingpool"

sounds lovly

[treegod]

Tell us a bit more, Treegod!

Glad to

I think originally it was just for water storage, and it has a stream flowing into it. That's where the silt comes from and the creatures too. Later some people put ladders onto it and it's more a swimming pool now. We clean it by emptying it in the winter or spring. We can't empty it in summer because there are risks of forest fires.

We've got water boatmen, they bite though I've managed to avoid it. There are tadpoles, which yesterday I saw being hunted by a snake whilst I was hunting the snake with nets. Then there are lots of dragonfly and damselfly larvae. There are clouds of little creatures that I don't know that hang around the bottom of the swimming pool, but I don't know what they are.

As for vegetation there is a little growing from the bottom but not much. And the water is a bit greenish because of the algae, but it's pretty clear.

It's also quite cold, there's no heater connected to it, except for the sun, and even then it's never warm. But I've been getting acclimatised to it

[deepwater]

You can throw in a handful of guppies and they will eat most all the small things and 6 or 8 large regular goldfish for some algae control,, I have several small streams out back and just placed several rocks in the narrow places and I have a pool 2' deep,, Its not for swimming but its cold and long so I can lay down

[DarcArchona]

guppies would work to control mosquito/bug problems.

If you are in the USA and wanted to keep it native/local fish, you could go with any variety of topminnows, killifish, or mosquitofish. Heck, I have a 60 gallon aquarium full of western mosquitofish(gambusia affinis) right now!

[deepwater]

Its not so much as a swimming pool as it is a stream,,Its in the forest about 3' wide 18' long and 2' deep and verrry cold,,Every time i walk around the mountain I pick up a stone {football size} and place it in the stream forming the dam and a small waterfall ,,Did I mention its verrrry cold

[shirley mclaren]

Do read the book Waterlog by Roger Deakin.

[Huathe]

If the pond can be kept in biological balance between the predators and prey than all will be good. You should not have a large number of " undesirables ".

[AidenAiden]

Swim whenever you like on your own schedule at your own perfect place. No traveling, no crowded pools,no heavy chlorine.Pools are really a large part of your delight and they offer a cooling ambience wherein you can refresh yourself and get rid of irksomeness.Natural swimming pools can be great assets to property, as they add value to the house, and provide and easy way to relax during the summer.

[deepwater]

Did I forget to say,,,its verrry cold ^@^,,its all snow melt and will chill a beer in about 15 min,, i usually just wade in till my feet go numb,, but on very hot days ill get prone and let the water flow over my sholders ,, 30 sec is all i can stand

[clyffmydylltyn]

I like going here in the summer:
http://www.horsham.gov.uk/leisure/1103.aspx

The kids love it. I'm usually the only adult swimming there. I used to love swimming in lakes and rivers when I was a kid and would be glad to know of anywhere in the Sussex area I could go and take the kids!

[deepwater]

Once again we are at the melt,, the runoff is beer numbing cold but I love the rush I get soaking my feet,, That's all it gets this year,, my butt is too soft to soak in clod water ^@^

[Aphritha]

Perhaps some cold water is just what your butt needs to toughen it up...

[treegod]

Great, you're just on time. We were just discussing cleaning it for this summer! Wellies first, party hats later.

It's still not hot enough to get in it just yet! (for me, at any rate)

[Aphritha]

Can't we clean in party hats?

[deepwater]

Im all for a good cleaning,, but cold water is only ankle deep on me