Devon Olsen wrote:from my limited understanding of the guest's techniques, the idea is to build two seperate ponds, one for swimming and one for critters, or at least seperate areas for swimming and critters
there is also shallower water in swimming areas to help make for warmer water
from my understanding there is also a fair bit of pumps and pipes involved in the process
but what if you lack the space for two sperate ponds or dont mind swimming where you might see fish if you donned a pair of goggles?
also what if you are not wanting to use pumps and such
how do you ensure clean, clear water and good water circulation?
also i have heard of getting some kind of bacteria for fish tanks to introduce to the sand so that the sand will pretty much eat whatever fish poo that comes into contact with it, if youve heard of this, what are your thoughts on using them in a swimming environment?
i really enjoyed the concepts in your youtube vids, and cant wait to take your ideas and apply them to my situation
for instance, i plan to incorporate a skinny point in the pond (only 6-8 ft wide) in between the main swimming part and the fish part, but i do not personally want any kind of physical barrier to stop anything that swims from going one direction or another
i also plan to make the skinny point the beggining of the main drop off from swimming/wading depth with a max of 10ft to drop down to 20-30ft
i almost wrote down the detailed description of my pond design plans, but i couldnt describe it without getting what seemed to me to be confusing so that all you get for now:)
Hi I’m David. I am probably the only person to have two Organic Pools (aka Natural Swimming Pools). The reason for this over indulgence was to make a DIY film of the process. Loads of these pools have been made all over the place, helping make the world slightly wetter, pond by pond. I have also made a short film for the BBC about Natural Swimming Pools introducing the concept to a wider audience here in the UK. As a consequence of all of this, I have started giving courses to fellow self-builders who have traveled from far and wide to come and sit in my garden and talk about pools and ponds for two days. What could be nicer?
David Pagan Butler organicpools.co.uk
Morana Revel wrote:I am also faced with limited space.
I have 5 acres total about 3 times as long as it is wide. I know that there is a an underground stream of some sort that runs thru my property.
The problem is that where the water is closest to the surface is also on the same line as the 2 mobile homes that are on the property.
So there is the fence, several hundred feet and then a mobile home. The mobile home is set up as storage, so there would be no problem with run off or contamination. But the area is just very narrow and would not support mulitple ponds
Hi I’m David. I am probably the only person to have two Organic Pools (aka Natural Swimming Pools). The reason for this over indulgence was to make a DIY film of the process. Loads of these pools have been made all over the place, helping make the world slightly wetter, pond by pond. I have also made a short film for the BBC about Natural Swimming Pools introducing the concept to a wider audience here in the UK. As a consequence of all of this, I have started giving courses to fellow self-builders who have traveled from far and wide to come and sit in my garden and talk about pools and ponds for two days. What could be nicer?
David Pagan Butler organicpools.co.uk
Brenda
Bloom where you are planted.
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/
Devon Olsen wrote:morana, that is an important thing to consider - thank you for bringing it to my attention
at least when the pond is full and this would make for a fairly safe location for animals to drink from - the shallow part should not be a problem and when COMPLETELY full, there would also be a shallow swale that would have water in it, this would likely have some animal access to it, and wouldnt likely be deep enough to cause a problem for anything other than the smallest livestock (which would likely be at another location anyway)
Devon Olsen wrote:thank you for the response David, yes i do plan to have a deep part of the pond, for fish and for water retention to help slow evaporation, this being the lowest portion of the pond would hopefully hold at least a few feet of water during even the toughest drought as well as provide a place for the fish to retreat during our cold winters... or at least thats the idea anyway
but i also want the largest section fo the pond, the uphill and shallowest end of the pond to be mostly shallow water with plenty of darker stones to help the water gather heat in the day time, do you think this will do what i hope to accomplish along the lines of keeping it warm enough for swimming or will the cool water coming up from the depths be a problem and prevent temps from warming up?
and contrary to sepp's recommendation to run the pond parellel to primary winds i am running my along with the suns path to maximize heat capture and minimize evaporation through the desicating winds of the area, mainly because that seems to be the best placement more than anything though...
personally i like swimming with fishies and have not found lake water or stream water to be too nasty or anything by any means, but thats my personal opinion, have you tried to build pools that incorporate fish and if so what have been your experiences with that? did you have "clean" sand at teh bottom or was it just local soil or pond scum built up over time?
brenda i looked at your blog, very pretty but now i have more questions lol, one of which i believe ill have to start a new thread for another day...
but do you pump water out of nessecity or just to supplement things, i just kinda looked at pics and didnt read through much so im not sure what the size of your pond is?
also, i hope this doesnt come across as offensive but the water seemed a touch browner than i would like in mine, this could be cus of when the pics were taken in accordance to digging and perhaps you arent yet done planting the edges? but does the water clear up at certain time of year as compared to other times of year or is always a slight touch of brown? (mind you i grew up swimming in the muddy virgin river in southern ut so murky water doesnt stop me from taking a dip lol)
Hi I’m David. I am probably the only person to have two Organic Pools (aka Natural Swimming Pools). The reason for this over indulgence was to make a DIY film of the process. Loads of these pools have been made all over the place, helping make the world slightly wetter, pond by pond. I have also made a short film for the BBC about Natural Swimming Pools introducing the concept to a wider audience here in the UK. As a consequence of all of this, I have started giving courses to fellow self-builders who have traveled from far and wide to come and sit in my garden and talk about pools and ponds for two days. What could be nicer?
David Pagan Butler organicpools.co.uk
Hi I’m David. I am probably the only person to have two Organic Pools (aka Natural Swimming Pools). The reason for this over indulgence was to make a DIY film of the process. Loads of these pools have been made all over the place, helping make the world slightly wetter, pond by pond. I have also made a short film for the BBC about Natural Swimming Pools introducing the concept to a wider audience here in the UK. As a consequence of all of this, I have started giving courses to fellow self-builders who have traveled from far and wide to come and sit in my garden and talk about pools and ponds for two days. What could be nicer?
David Pagan Butler organicpools.co.uk
David Pagan Butler wrote:Hi Devon,
Nutrients lead to stronger plant growth. The plants most able to react to an influx of nutrients are algae. Single celled suspended algae make the water green and opaque. Filamentous algae form "blankets" over the surface.
Hi I’m David. I am probably the only person to have two Organic Pools (aka Natural Swimming Pools). The reason for this over indulgence was to make a DIY film of the process. Loads of these pools have been made all over the place, helping make the world slightly wetter, pond by pond. I have also made a short film for the BBC about Natural Swimming Pools introducing the concept to a wider audience here in the UK. As a consequence of all of this, I have started giving courses to fellow self-builders who have traveled from far and wide to come and sit in my garden and talk about pools and ponds for two days. What could be nicer?
David Pagan Butler organicpools.co.uk
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