A Natural Swimming Pool is a wonderful combination of a swimming pool and a naturally functioning wetland, creating a clean and chemical free environment for you to swim in and a wildlife attraction for your garden. They can bring an essence of Victorian England back to the country.
The Benefits of a natural swimming pool:
Clean, Clear Water (no mud, no chemicals)
Affordable (similar cost as a conventional pool to build, but considerably lower running costs)
Low maintenance (much less than a chemically treated pool)
Year round beauty of a water garden (traditional pools can be unsightly, especially in winter)
Increase in Property value (traditional pools can actually de-value property prices)
Passive solar heating (for extended swimming opportunities)
Water feature therapy
Wildlife enhancement (if designed to suit, the pool can offer a habitat for many rare plants and animals)
Can be retro-fitted for conventional swimming pool conversion
The pool can be used in the winter (e.g. ice-skating)
Natural Swimming Pool Design
The basic philosophy behind water quality in a conventional swimming pool is to kill everything short of killing the swimmer. There is another way. In a natural swimming pool we harness natures' own processes to produce clean, clear water. Friendly bacteria keep the water balanced and clean, just as nature intended.
The swimming area is structurally distinct from the wetland, or ‘regeneration zone', which is a shallow area containing a permeable substrate where friendly microorganisms (beneficial bacteria), reeds and nutrient hungry aquatic plants filter the water as it percolates through the bed. Pools can be designed to fit any sized garden, but will usually have a depth in the swimming zone of 1.5-2m.
Clear Water Revival pools are distinct in their ability to be designed in any style to fit any space. Where as your traditional natural swimming pond has a 50-50% split between swim zone and regeneration zone, our pools can have as little as 14% surface area taken up by planted zone and they work just as well as a small plunge pool compared to a large pool.
Some technology can be used to assist in maintaining the balance; e.g. skimmers to remove debris falling onto the surface; small artificial filters which give a final polish to the water; or UV sterilizers, which we do not employ but some may use to insurance against extreme environmental conditions such as in hotter climates or in pools which are in heavy public use.
In order that a congruous natural appearance is maintained, the retaining structure of the swimming zone, such as a concrete or timber wall, will be obscured under the surface of the water. We feel it is very important to ensure this artificial structure within the pool is as indistinct as possible, so you will really feel you are swimming in a natural spring. However, we are also able to design more architectured or formal pools where such linear features will be used to give the desired effect.
Natural Swimming Pool Construction
Wherever possible, construction of the pool will make use of either local supplies and/or reclaimed/recycled materials. For example, we would chose to employ replacement cement for concrete walls and footings, or recycled railway sleepers, should timber retaining walls be chosen for the swimming area. Often the choice of materials will be dictated by your location (i.e. local availability of recycled materials) in order that your costs are reduced and the sustainable nature of such a construction is maintained. As another example, you may choose to match any rockwork to your local geology.
A typical medium-large pool will take around 1-2 months to complete, depending on the level of technology and landscaping required. Groundwork preparation and installation of the watertight liner is carried out by specialist appointed contractors, ensuring best build quality.
Renewable energy options
A typical heated swimming pool uses more energy than consumed by the average 3 bed UK house. Renewable energy options can be added to heat the pool in an environmentally sustainable manner, as well as provide power to the pumps. Technologies available include ground source heat pumps, solar thermal panels, wind turbines and small scale biomass boilers. Renewable energy systems can also be designed and sized to meet the requirements of a nearby dwelling if requested.
Costs
Natural swimming pools tend to cost the same as conventional swimming pools, however, their maintenance and running costs are considerably less. Clear Water Revival can provide you with a proposal and quotation tailored to your exact requirements and location. Existing swimming pools can be converted into natural swimming pools at a lower cost to a new build, helping to turn an eyesore into a beautiful water garden
Building a Natural Swimming Pool
Clear Water Revival’s 5 pool types offer many choices for building a new natural swimming pool. Ranging from our 'Classic' Type 1 swimming pool with no interaction with planted areas to our 'Freeform Planted' Type 5 pool for the more wild swimming experience, there is a pool to suit any client and landscape requirement for both rural and urban settings.
Having completed 12 pools, with another 4 currently under construction in the UK, Clear Water Revival, combined with blueBaes's portfolio, has a wealth of experience to bring to your new pool build.
Converting a Swimming Pool
Clear Water Revival’s 5 pool types offer many choices for converting a conventional pool into a natural swimming pool. The ‘Classic’ Type 1 offers the potential to ‘bolt-on’ a biological filtration system to the side of the pool, with a little further modification, any pool can be relieved of the burden of chemicals with little disruption to the garden.
At the other end of the design spectrum, if your pool has a sturdy construction, the pool shell could support the swimming area of a Type 5 ‘planted freeform’ pool.
Renovating a Derelict Swimming Pool
Clear Water Revival’s 5 pool types offer many choices for renovating a derelict pool into a beautiful natural swimming pool.
It helps (in terms of cost) to have a solid concrete structure there in the first place, renovating an old panel pool for example is not worth the risk and it would have to be stripped out. In many cases existing concrete walls can be cut down and flooded, forming the wall between the swim zone and regeneration zone.
In the past our system has been used to improve old failing swimming ponds. In order to accomodate our system this swimming pond may have to be relined, but it is likely that we can avoid major works to the pool/pond shell.
Public Natural Swimming Pools
Natural swimming pools offer an ideal setting for community open spaces and a beautiful focus to the gardens of a natural spa, lido, hotel or retreat. Clear Water Revival are actively seeking to promote our pools into the public realm, offering full design, construction and ongoing maintenance services for public authorities, developers and hotel managers, we assure that one of our pools will offer a spectacular feature to the landscape.
Our system has been installed into 31 hotel pools and 5 community pools in Austria alone, with great success. Please get in contact with us if you would like to see a full list of references from these locations; we encourage you to take a trip and see one of them.
Design Services
As well as developing a range of fantastic products to help designers create imaginative and inviting outdoor spaces and swimming pool design features, we have developed a design team to match our products in quality. We aim for Clear Water Revival to be a one stop shop for designing outdoor spaces and outdoor swimming.
Clear Water Revival has put a great deal of effort into perfecting its natural swimming pool system and technology. Such a premium product should be combined with premium design. Crystal clear water means nothing if the overall aesthetic is poor.
Our partners obviously offer their own design services and each designer will have their own approach, but we do encourage vernacular and ecological design, depending on the style of space you are creating. All designs are also passed through our design team before being presented.
Good design is important for everything we create in life. It effects our mood, our choices and ensures a products ease of use.
Ensuring health, comfort and aesthtically pleasing results requires a proper planning and design phase for our bespoke pools. Most pool projects will go through such a special design study, where, after gaining a thorough understanding of a clients lifestyle, needs, tastes and environment, conceptual artwork is presented before detailed technical drawings are produced in CAD.
Our conceptual drawings can be complimented with 3D graphical visualisations, or artists impressions to help the client visualise the end result.
Garden Design
Garden design is a lot of fun! The design process must be a pleasure for all concerned. This helps ensure that the end result will be! We aim to design gardens that fit your lifestyle, what ever it may be.
Assisting and complimenting our partner's designers, Clear Water Revival also has an in-house design team. Our approach ties the desires of the client into the character of the existing garden and its surrounds. Gardens are tailor made for the client. By closely linking the design to the wider landscape, a garden can look 'inevitable', like it was meant to be and has always been there. Situating a garden into its setting is the key good design.
Gardens are also designed to look fantastic all year round. We consider it essential to provide a very solid structure to a garden that will give it a strong character as the seasons change.
We also design the garden (as with a pool) to fit the maintenance capabilities of the client. It must be an enjoyable experience owning a garden, never a chore. The design must ensure this.
Often it is suitable to develop an overall plan in the design stage, and then carry out the work in progressive stages. This spreads the costs and gives you a chance to live with the new garden as it unfolds.
