https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Dgwt_u1ug
DIY Natural Swimming Pool Clip Description
This short video documents our natural swimming pool building experience. It breaks down the construction process in easy steps, gives tips and costs indications.
This is more of a proof of concept as the pool is very small, 4x4x1.5m and it's out of question to swim. But it cools you down nicely and kids love it. Construction was done in Issan, northern Thailand, more precisely in the village of Nayung, Udon Thani.
The concept of a natural swimming pool promises clean and clear water without using chemicals for water treatment but does it work in tropical climates like in Thailand? Natural pools have been used safely in Western Europe for the last three decades. Just last year, a public natural swimming pool opened in Kings Cross, London, UK. Before that, hordes of Austrian, German and French nature fans have enjoyed swimming in them. However, it's so hot in Thailand with water temperatures often over 30C, that questions were asked about the effectiveness of the under gravel filter and plants for regenerating the pool water.
To address this issue we made the regeneration zone deeper with the gravel layer one meter below the water level. That made it more complicated to find plants with long enough roots to reach the gravel. Of course we use water lilies and then elected to build floating baskets filled with gravel. We are growing rice and over local plants in them. Another advantage of floating baskets is that they provide nice shade. Also, we believe that we are protecting our good bacteria in the gravel layer by turning off the air pump during peak hot hours.
The entire project costed less than 2,300 USD but it tested our patience as all the labor came from our village and obviously folks take care of their farm first. The quality of work was good especially the cement and tiles parts. We installed the under gravel, pipes and pump ourselves.
In spite of extreme weather; all day long heavy rain and scorching sun in other days, we have kept the same water for the last quarter and it's clear, clean and without any smell. It got cloudy in the second week before the "good" bacterial kicked in but it gradually cleared-up. My Thai wife loves to take a dip in the pool and that's a proof of success!
Finally, we'd like to thank David Butler for all the reliable information posted on Internet.
