Natural Swim Ponds

[pring7]

I think that this is a “green†topic and I haven’t seen any threads on it. I’m working with a contractor who has lived overseas and is familiar with natural swim ponds which filter water without chemicals to create an area to swim. I’ve been doing a-lot of research and there are several websites of people who have done these in Europe and Australia. I even found one in New Jersey. There are some good videos on U-tube too. (broken link removed to http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden_products/water/natural_swimming_pond)

Basically, I’m going to do it, so I’m not looking for talking in or out of it. I just wanted to see if anyone on here has done anything like this, or know of someone who has, and some thoughts on it.

I have some property that has a small slow moving creek on it. I am planning on pumping water into a retention pond (bog) and then letting it naturally drain/filter into the swim pond through a thin dam. From the swim pond I will have a surface pipe mounted vertically to catch/skim the surface junk from the swim pond back onto the creek. Because the water is there already we are not going to line it, but I will build a retention wall at least on one side of it with pavers. We’re probably going to start a week from today and I will post pics if anyone is interested.

 

[benjamin]

I've never seen one but I've read some of the websites and I like the idea.

Personal experience with farm ponds: runoff into the pond is not good for swimming, topsoil and manure are fertile and you want the pond water to be as sterile as possible, ground water may be much cleaner than creek water if it's possible in your geology (Devils Lake WI has a drain that discharges deep phosphorus rich water out of the watershed to keep it clean, the river it discharges into is vastly higher in phosphorus than the discharged lake water) , shallow weedy water is usually clean and WARM. Obviously sand is preferable to clay, not only will the clay make mud and stir up, but the surface area releases more nutrients into the water than sand or gravel which are essentially inert.

I'd love to know how it works for you.

 

[yooperdave]

nice natural pond...but no natural bathing suits! (all i see is a mosquito factory that you dont want to add pesticide to.....)

 

[pring7]

This was also a concern of mine. We have Gambusia (Mosquito Fish) naturally already there and they keep the skeeters in check. My wife works for the county’s environmental department and if the fish don’t handle it the county sprays too. We haven’t really had it too bad considering the amount of water around us though.

 

[yooperdave]

most definitely post your pics. i think everyone enjoys the step by step pics of construction. good luck with the project, stay safe, and i will not let 99 lbs look at this thread since she may want something like this in her yard (you understand, right?)

 

[dougstove]

Hi;
I am very interested in the project, and thought it over, but in my climate the freeze period is so long that I do not think I could get the biofilter established.

A major issue will be getting enough aeration to avoid a sulfidic bottom zone.
Think about making your dam/wateroverflow high enough to get some aeration.
I also thought about a windmill for aeration, they work well for stock ponds.

 

[pring7]

I've already been looking into some options for this. I have a pretty good pump now that is designed for producing a nice waterfall. Depending on how the dam construction goes I may have a small one between my bog and the swim pond. I have also looked at various aeration methods (electrical, solar, and wind).

One company that has caught my attention is Koenders Windmills. They have small windmills that would probably be suitable for this project.

I sketched a rough drawing that I will let you see. I'm a Firefighter/Paramedic not an artist.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

This is the $#!t. I love the idea of fish for mosquito control. In fact, it may be a preferential place for mosquitoes to lay eggs, which makes them targets right away, an this may reduce mosquito populations overall.

 

[pring7]

The Gambusia (Mosquito Fish) is pretty neat. I bet I have thousands of them just in my little section of the creek. The water out there has little oxygenation, but they seem to do ok. I heard from one of the county environmental types here that after hurricanes the government disperses them in standing water to keep mosquitoes in check. I had some in an aquarium for a few years and finally I freed them back to the creek. They seem to be really resilient.

 

[pring7]

Well, I’ve been e-mailing my contractor all day and he actually has another customer that wants him to fill in and get rid of their in ground pool. I think that I have either lucked out or gotten over my head fast. Monday starts the transformation. His message to me tonight was:


Thinking about that pool I'm filling in, I have a 6' in ground pool set of steps that are going to be trashed, and I think they will be easy to bury in as an access to the pond. I already pre-plumbed it w/ 4 spa jets w/ aerators, only needs a pump to get it going. I'll give them to you if you think you can use them. They should clean up to look new; they have an acrylic textured finish.

Actually, you've hit the swim pond jackpot. I also have a skimmer and a sand filter. If you're ambitious enough to chip them out of their concrete footer I also have 36 ft of pool wall that would make a great retaining wall for the bog already re-drilled for the skimmer. (easier to just get 8x16 blocks ) I also have a pool light and niche, you can light it up. And a set of deep end steps you can mount into a "pier" and a rail for that 6' step. All for free if you want them.

The idea would be to use the step spa jets as the system return and use the skimmer for suction. Get a 3/4 hp 100 pool pump, hook up the filter, and the water is aerated and filtered at the same time. Since you have the bog, you wouldn't need chemicals, and the water never has debris floating on it because of the skimmer, and the water is always crystal clear. I attached a generic drawing showing the system components that can be installed in any way.

 

[Wood Duck]

The natural pools in the link you provided are closed systems where the water is recirculated from the pool to the 'regeneration area' then back to the pool. You are designing an open system using creek water that will flow through. The question is whether the creek water will be cleaner or dirtier than the water in the pool. If the water in the pool is cleaner then you'd want to recirculate it through the bog area rather than bring in new, dirtier water from the creek.

Mosquitoes should not be hard to control in a pond or bog as long as all agreas of standing water are at least a few inches deep (I suggest at least 6 inches) and all are connected to the main body of water such that Mosquito Fish can reach every part of the water. You might already have Mosquito Fish in the creek - they are native to parts of NC - and they will quickly colonize the bog since it will be very good habitat for them. If you can keep out larger fish you'll get a more dense population of mosquito fish and thus more complete mosquito control, but you probably can't keep out larger fish.