Swimming pond

A swimming pool or a swimming pond?

The main difference between a swimming pool and a natural pond is the filtration method. In a natural pond, the water is filtered as much as possible by nature. Microorganisms and plants keep the pond clear and healthy. In a swimming pool, the water is crystal clear and filtered by powerful technology and chemicals. In natural ponds, however, you often see a combination of technology and the power of nature.

The benefits of a swimming pond

The advantages of a swimming pond at a glance:

• You can choose the type of swimming pond yourself and are not bound to standard sizes that you often see with swimming pools.
• Cheaper in both construction and maintenance.
• No chemicals are used in a swimming pond.
• The water heats up through circulation to and from the helophyte filter.

Constructing a swimming pond

Creating a swimming pond involves quite a bit of work. Good planning and preparation are half the battle. It's essential to have reliable partners in this process. An experienced gardener will need approximately two weeks to two months to complete the project, depending on the size of the project. First, consider the desired size of the swimming pond and its approximate layout. Make a sketch and calculate the number of liters of water your pond will hold. This is calculated by adding the pond's length x width x depth. If your pond is 3 meters wide, 5 meters long, and 1 meter deep, then 15m³ will ultimately hold 15,000 liters of water. In short, the larger the pond, the more expensive it will be. Then, consider the approximate layout of your pond. We've listed the various options for a swimming pond below.

Category 1: The natural swimming pond

A natural swimming pond is completely unsupported by technology. With a natural swimming pond, you rely as much as possible on the water's self-cleaning capacity through beneficial bacteria, plants, plankton, and sedimentation. No chemicals or technology are used. The natural swimming pond is divided into different zones: the swimming area and a regeneration zone or helophyte filter, where the water treatment takes place. This helophyte filter, also known as a marsh area, grows with the size of your swimming area. A larger swimming area naturally requires greater filtering capacity. The helophyte filter contains plants that naturally purify the water. The natural circulation systems ensure that the water continues to flow. However, we do recommend using a pump to ensure circulation between the marsh area and the swimming area. This also has a positive effect on the water temperature. The water temperature in the helophyte filter is higher because this area is shallower than the swimming area. As a rule, keep at least 30% of your entire pond area as marsh. When the sun shines brightly, a slight green cloudiness may appear in the water and some sludge may form on the bottom. You can remove this at the beginning or end of the swimming season.

Category 2: Natural swimming pond with technology

The second category uses more technology, allowing you to reduce the size of your helophyte filter or bog area. This type of swimming pond always uses a pond pump. This can be combined with a skimmer to extract surface water and remove leaves or floating plant debris. You could also opt for a fountain to add extra oxygen to your swimming pond. With this type of swimming pond, the shape and surroundings remain similar to those of a natural pond with abundant plants.

Category 3: Natural swimming pond with permanent technology

In the third category, you choose permanent technology for your swimming pond that, in combination with the substrate, plants, and microorganisms, ensures balance in the pond. A filter ensures constant water circulation. Adding a filter to your swimming pond significantly reduces turbidity. Another added benefit is that your helophyte filter or regeneration zone can be smaller. Choosing an energy-efficient pump keeps your energy consumption low. In the swimming pond below, a skimmer has been added to the helophyte filter. A pond pump pumps the water to a filter that returns it to the pond.

Category 4: Technology with a touch of nature

The technology of a powerful pond filter handles most of the filtering work. These swimming ponds are clear and biologically purified. The circulation system and pond filters are designed to handle this, and the increased water circulation rate helps reduce the number of microorganisms in the pond. However, the continued use of advanced technology results in higher energy consumption. Despite this, the natural pool offers an excellent swimming experience surrounded by nature, even in small gardens. Of course, the regeneration area or helophyte filter can be increasingly reduced as technology advances.

Category 5: The modern swimming pond

The natural pool undergoes continuous treatment using an advanced multi-level system. A robot regularly cleans the bottom and sides of the swimming pond. The swimming experience is exceptional: the water always remains clear and clean, while remaining natural and healthy. Unlike traditional pools, the water doesn't irritate the eyes because no chemicals are used, and there's no need for plants. With this category of swimming ponds, the helophyte filter or marsh area disappears completely. These natural pools can be installed in even the smallest gardens.

Cost of constructing a swimming pond

The cost of a swimming pond depends on a large number of factors. The choice of the type of swimming pond mentioned above is, of course, important. Building a type 1 swimming pond of the same size is obviously more cost-effective than a type 5. How much of the work do you want to do yourself, and what will you outsource when constructing a swimming pond? Consider a few other questions:

• Do you want to be able to swim laps in the pool?
• How many people do you want to have in the swimming pond at the same time?
• At what time of year would you like to use the swimming pond?
• Should the swimming pond also be accessible in winter during sauna use?

Once you've considered all the criteria, you can estimate the cost of a swimming pond.