{"id":382,"date":"2014-01-05T20:39:25","date_gmt":"2014-01-05T10:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swimming-ponds.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/?p=382"},"modified":"2025-11-03T10:40:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:40:37","slug":"is-a-natural-swimming-pond-the-solution-to-swimming-pool-headaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/2014\/01\/05\/is-a-natural-swimming-pond-the-solution-to-swimming-pool-headaches\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a natural swimming pond the solution to swimming pool headaches?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Water<\/a>
Water feature or swimming pool – you decide!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019ve got a pool, you know the routine. Everyone\u2019s happy to use it but you\u2019re the bunny that has to maintain it!<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t it make you wonder that while many homeowners consider it a necessity, others see it as a daily burden and a disaster waiting and begging to happen? It’s a fact that a pool turns many would be home buyers off! We know you have your opinions. Hold them for a while. We\u2019re about to introduce you to the ultimate swimming pond. But before we do that, let\u2019s consider the pros and cons of pool ownership.<\/p>\n

The benefits of pool ownership<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A pool enhances your property\u2019s aesthetics
\n<\/span><\/strong>There\u2019s no denying that a well maintained and landscaped pools look stylish. It\u2019s an eye-catching feature which sets your property apart.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great place to bond with family<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s always great to get away to the beach. But by the time you fight the traffic and find a park, a lot of the fun has disappeared before you even see the water. A pool offers instant access to a great family-time activity. Just a few steps and you\u2019re there \u2013 stress free, dent free, and road-rage free! And you probably just saved yourself anything between $10 and $25 of motoring costs.<\/p>\n

A place to entertain your guests<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s the best place in the house you can use to entertain your guests \u2013 day or night. Send the invites, prepare some finger food, pour the drinks, add music and you have your own version of paradise right in your backyard.<\/p>\n

The downside of pool ownership<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Safety issues \u2013 and not just the obvious<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a tragic reality that we see children drowning every year in domestic pools. Good pool fencing helps, but children have a wonderful knack of climbing and finding gates that are not fully locked! Don\u2019t fall victim to negligence – constant vigilance is the only option.<\/p>\n

Then there are the less obvious dangers. Chlorine helps keep your pool free from algae, waterborne insects and other unwanted little nasties. Unfortunately, it also damages hair and skin and can irritate your eyes. Recent studies also link chlorine to respiratory ailments including asthma!<\/p>\n

The space<\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019re a keen gardener on a typical suburban block, you have to sacrifice a very big chunk of your hobby area. Cleaning the pool doesn\u2019t offer a gardener quite the same meditative qualities.<\/p>\n

Forget the brochure \u2013 pools can be plain hard work!
\nA swimming pool is visually attractive only if it\u2019s well maintained. Leave it unattended for a while and you can quickly convert it to a swamp. I\u2019ve done it and I can tell you that it took many hours of hard yakka before it was a safe place to swim again!<\/p>\n

The expense<\/strong>
\nIf only the costs stopped with the final payment to the pool builder! Instead, many pool owners \u2013 especially in warmer climates \u2013 see their electricity costs rise by up to 40%. Then there are the chemicals, and, if you can\u2019t do it yourself, the weekly pool guy visit.<\/p>\n

And, if you are in a cooler climate, will you heat the pool to extend the swimming season?<\/p>\n

Oh\u2026 did we mention that many pool pumps will need replacing within five years? As a rule of thumb, you should budget 12.5% of your capital costs as your annual running expense. So if your pool has a current replacement cost of $25,000, allow $3,250 per year to maintain it. Ouch! It sounds a lot but remember that whether your pool is salt or chlorinated, it\u2019s a very harsh environment. Things wear out quickly.<\/p>\n

Kids leave home!<\/strong>
\nMore often than not we make the decision to add a pool based on the realistic expectation that our children will get great value from our investment. And they do\u2026 until they reach the age where beach with mates is a lot more exciting than pool with parents \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\"When<\/a>
When the effort and costs exceed the benefits…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is there an alternative?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine a pool with minimal maintenance yet maximum visual appeal. A pool that is functional 365 days of the year. A pool that looks better as the years roll by. A pool with all of the positives and few, if any, of the negatives. This idea transforms to reality when you build or convert your existing pool to a natural swimming pond.<\/p>\n

A natural swimming what?<\/strong>
\nA natural swimming pond is the best of a water feature and a pool. Now throw in the best that nature can provide to make it chemical free and you have a swimming pond.<\/p>\n

What makes it different from a conventional swimming pool is the regeneration zone – a designated area for aquatic plants and rocks that act as natural filters to keep the water crystal clear and clean. This area adds beauty while doing all the hard work! It looks natural because it is natural. And like most things natural, it has the capacity and ability to pretty much look after itself!<\/p>\n

So why go natural?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A swimming pond has all the desirable features of a swimming pool:<\/p>\n

It looks fantastic!<\/strong>
\nYou can easily integrate your garden and convert it to an unique oasis right in your backyard.<\/p>\n

It takes relaxation to a new level.<\/strong>
\nA natural pool takes you closer to nature. It creates a peaceful atmosphere that disconnects you from the outside world. Aside from just plain old swimming you also get to enjoy the unique scenery that only natural swimming ponds can create.<\/p>\n

Entertain your guests in a special way.<\/strong>
\nHosting a party at your own natural swimming pond is like taking your guests out of town to a place where they can enjoy chemical-free water, natural breeze, and good scenery. Not to mention the food, drinks, and the company of family and friends.<\/p>\n

Brings unwanted pools back to life<\/strong>
\nA swimming pool ends up unwanted because nobody uses it anymore. However that doesn\u2019t excuse you from spending time, effort, and money maintaining it. We can bring these unwanted pools back to life by converting them to natural swimming ponds. The only thing it requires is a regeneration zone which we\u2019ll be discussing shortly.<\/p>\n

A swimming pond overcomes the negatives of pool ownership<\/strong>
\nSafety issues of swimming pools are manageable. It\u2019s the maintenance that makes swimming pools a burden. This is where natural ponds excel. They are close to maintenance free! Nature does the hard work for you. You don\u2019t need chemicals or a sophisticated filtrating system.<\/p>\n

Effortless and chemical-free maintenance is done by pumping the water to a series of biological filters consisting of rocks and aquatic plants. The plants deprive algae of nutrients preventing its growth. Friendly bacteria attach to the rocks and further filter the water of its impurities. And lastly \u2013 but optionally, a waterfall adds stunning visual appeal while super-oxygenating the water.<\/p>\n

\"When<\/a>
When size doesn’t matter – a small but beautiful natural swimming pond!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you have a pool? Do you see it as an asset or a liability? What are your thoughts about natural ponds?<\/p>\n

Ready to get started? Check out our full step-by-step guide on how to build a natural swimming pond<\/a><\/strong> to bring your own eco-friendly oasis to life.<\/p>\n

Join the conversation by dropping your comments below. Want to find out what it takes to DIY a natural swimming pond? Click here to follow Rebecca’s journey<\/span><\/a>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve got a pool, you know the routine. Everyone\u2019s happy to use it but you\u2019re the bunny that has to maintain it! Doesn\u2019t it make you wonder that while many homeowners consider it a necessity, others see it as a daily burden and a disaster waiting and begging to happen? It’s a fact that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Tired of pool maintenance? Discover how natural swimming ponds eliminate chemicals, reduce upkeep, and create a beautiful backyard oasis without the...","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[{"url":"","title":"","desc":"","thumbnail":"","duration":"","rating":"","view_count":"","tag":""}],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sma_last_campaign_date":"","_mwseo_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[467],"tags":[466,468,469],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-natural-swimming-pond","tag-natural-pool-natural-swimming-pond","tag-natural-swimming-pool","tag-swimming-pond"],"modified_by":"Rose","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}