How to Build a Natural Pool

[@Sublime_37]

This is one of the most detailed videos I’ve seen on how to build a natural pool.👍🏽👍🏽

[@jfree1074]

Thank you for going into and showing the detail that you did. So grateful to have found this video as it answered a lot of questions we had.

[@ChrisLeeW00]

As many rivers got polluted and lakes dried up, there are always those that learned how to remake them. Great project!

[@jnac8857]

I am just so amazed at how you took on and completed such a big and complicated project, the pool looks beautiful!

[@youtubecontent6394]

This video changed my life. Thank you.

[@elwynpupangpilyo7217]

Looks natural. Great job, you got all your families in the water now.

[@northerntranquility1614]

Absolutely beautiful much nicer than any in ground pool you would of had installed .Looks very natural excellent job

[@notawinemom8540]

That looks great 😊 There's a product you might want to look into, called rock-on-a-roll, that you could just drape over the top where the liner is exposed to the sun, & make it a natural transition to the rock. It would prevent UV rays from degrading the liner where it's exposed to the sun above the water. I bought some to wrap around a galvanized stock tank I turned into a pond & to hide the top rails of a semi inground doughboy pool & it's great stuff. It looks like real rock but it doesn't react with anything in the water.

[@fixerjoe3283]

That sounds like a good idea. I’ll have to check it out.

[@mirandahoar8799]

Great video! I bought the book you referenced about a year ago when I couldn't find a good video showing the build process online. This video is just what I needed to visualize the process. Thanks.

[@fixerjoe3283]

Very cool. Glad my video helped you. Good luck with your build!

[@Principles_of_Psychology]

Great explanation video -thanks a lot!

[@DavidLopez-ek6dh]

Great video! Detail was helpful!

[@affordabledesertliving3487]

Great video! That is a lot of work but think of the joy it brings to your family I figure!

[@koreanature]

My best friend, Enjoyed watching this video my friend Really awesome views Thank you Stay connected

[@justinmorrow2932]

Great job and thorough explanation of how you did it, well done. I'm sure you've inspired a few more people to give it a go.

[@bibleandbibs6407]

Thank you this is very helpful as we prepare to do one next year.

[@LeslieN317537]

I can’t believe the price! Pond companies are charging over $50,000!

[@paparael766]

Thank you for sharing. This gave me alot of great ideas.

[@AccordingToAdam]

Awesome!.. I can't believe how much work this was, but it did turn out great!

[@COEXIST-ny4db]

What an amazing job you've done!! I WISH! Thanks so much for sharing!!

[@kateabercrombie3902]

I'm planning on doing this myself have been for years and have been researching it for years like 6 years and this is one of the best videos I've seen thank you very much. I didn't catch where you got your liner.

[@fixerjoe3283]

I think I forgot to include that. I got it from Everything Ponds.com. Good luck with the build and write me a note if you have any other questions.

[@Muntianbyahoo]

This is so cool I would love to do this one day

[@Alisha_Created]

never gonna make one but here I am watching!

[@brianwin5183]

incredible! Thanks for sharing

[@antomano5623]

Why is the music in the background louder than you?

[@fixerjoe3283]

You’ll never know

[@mark1622]

Thanks. You answered a lot of questions.

[@natashaowens2177]

There are a bunch of KZbin videos how to build a pond pool. One guy on YT is David Pegan Buttler. Looks wonderful.

[@michaelsteele5495]

Impressive, thanks for sharing. Anything thought about raising the skimmer higher? to the level of the rocks in an attempt to hide the liner?

[@fixerjoe3283]

Can’t go any higher as there is a hole through the liner now. That is one thing I would change.

[@ponyrang]

My best friend, that's a great video. I will always cheer for you in Korea I'm looking forward to a great video. Have a nice day.

[@carolewarner101]

Wow, that's amazing!!! My only question is about the exposed pond liner being subjected to UV rays. Won't that cause it to break down and eventually destroy it? Is there any way to conceal the pond liner better around the edges? We're dreaming of building a pool like this ourselves. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@fixerjoe3283]

Thanks Carole. I went with polyethylene because it is not harmed by UV as a PVC liner would be. The company gives a 25 year warranty as well. Good question.

[@fixerjoe3283]

There probably is a way to conceal the liner. A lot of ponds are lined with rock. I didn’t want to do that as it is a pool and needs vacuumed. You could probably attach rock to some type of wire mesh and hang it over the edge into the water. That would cover the liner but it’s additional work.

[@dimask77]

Make a ledge or shelves at the waterline to place rocks or pavers to conceal the liner. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4CcZXabhLhqrac

[@teichswimmer6746]

Great project, thanks for sharing!

[@jmo2104]

So glad I found this. I've been hand digging and building one of my own but a much smaller one more for just hanging out in. My concern is the pump. And this may be a really stupid question so I apologize up front but if you submerge a pump in water it means it has electricity going to it right? Does anybody ever get shocked when they go in? I'm probably overthinking this but I finally finished digging and now I've got to think of this next step. I would appreciate anybody giving me some insight on this! And your pond is stunning!

[@fixerjoe3283]

Thanks. My pump is not submerged. You can use a submersible pump to move your water. I would highly recommend you power it off of a GFCI circuit for safety in case the motor casing develops a leak.

[@waynemoodley9835]

Good stuff. Thanks for the information.

[@bridesnyc]

Beautiful! Great job

[@fixerjoe3283]

Thanks

[@logans3365]

Much more beautiful and inviting than a more artificial pool, plus it’s more sustainable as well. I wonder if there is something you can line the pool with other than plastic though, clay perhaps

[@fixerjoe3283]

You can use clay. I have a friend who built a pond with a clay bottom. It holds water but the bottom is mooshy. I don’t like that feeling. Would be ok with rocks on top of the clay. That would be hard to sweep. That’s why I went the way I did.

[@logans3365]

@@fixerjoe3283 makes sense, it’s probably cheaper as well. Do you think stocking a few bottom feeding fish would relive the need to sweep the rocks?

[@fixerjoe3283]

@@logans3365 fish are a bad idea in pools because they create additional nutrients for the algae. Pond Guy sells muck eliminator that dissolves it

[@janbrosh8444]

Great tutorial, I am about to start site preparation for my own natural pool. Can I ask where are you located ? I am in Northern Michigan and concerned about the pool freezing in winter.

[@fixerjoe3283]

Western PA. Just need to drain your pipes.

[@Dadratrod]

Damn that looks pretty good I’ll give you five grand and build me one

[@chrishouse5753]

Thanks for the info. Going to try to put into practice at my future home. b.t.w. when you said the units were not "english" I think you meant not American. Those are metric or SI units used in many english speaking countries around the world including your giant neighbour to the north. Cheers.

[@richardbell5415]

How deep should a natural pool be in west texas because of heat in summer

[@allkindsofoutdooractivities]

Really great! Nice job

[@fixerjoe3283]

Thank you!

[@buddtwin2]

So the level appears to be low is this just because it has not filled all the way or is there a reason behind this. Most natural pools iv been researching about has the pond overflowing into a shallow lip around the pool giving it a lot more of a natural appearance and also help with the filtration.

[@fixerjoe3283]

Low level, but I have a low point for overflow which prevents the whole pool from filling up the whole way. In retrospect, the way you describe would be nicer. Less liner showing.

[@guygillmore2970]

Great job! How often do you need to hoover it?

[@fixerjoe3283]

Probably 2x a month during swim season

[@lunark2440]

Hi Joe- beautiful pool. We are going to build our own natural swimming pool here pretty soon. Wondering if you can expand on your decision to use a pool filter such as this, over a pond filter? I'm so torn about it. I do want a pump that can provide a lot of water movement. Thanks in advance!

[@fixerjoe3283]

Hi LunaRK. My skimmer is a pond skimmer consisting of a net and woven plastic screen. The gravel in my pond along with plant roots acts as the filter. I could have incorporated a pool sand filter but I would need a larger pump and it likely would plug up too often and require backwashing. My setup is pretty passive. Just need to vacuum every so often. Hope this answers your question.

[@antomano5623]

My son has the same t-shirt as that little child does, around the same age range too.

[@tericarter2019]

lovely!

[@Icleanpool168]

So good bro💓

[@fixerjoe3283]

Thanks!

[@kepakeepa-mulligan7241]

What's that book again?

[@rosw-gd9555]

looks fab!

[@fixerjoe3283]

Thanks!

[@joeycaldwell8015]

I would love to know more about the plumbing.

[@fixerjoe3283]

I used polyethylene pipe except at the pump connections. I had to covert to PVC there. 1 1/2 for suction and return. 1” for the pond bypass/discharge line. I also converted to pvc for the pond inlet. That help?

[@joeycaldwell8015]

@@fixerjoe3283 It does because I was picturing all pvc,. So that is way less work. more flexibility, and probably easier to replace. I'm still curious about the occasional bleaching. I suppose when you said you make sure all bleach like stuff is out of the water before sending it to filter; did you just turn the pump that pumps to filter off?

[@fixerjoe3283]

@@joeycaldwell8015 I have a tee on the pump discharge line. One end goes to the pond. The other end goes back to the far side of the pool to create a current towards the skimmer. I shut the valve on the line that goes to the pond so all water goes directly back to the pool. Then I add 1/2 gallon of bleach and let it recirculate for a few hours. I check the water with a pool test kit to make sure there is no free chlorine before opening the valve to send water back to the pond/treatment zone.

[@joeycaldwell8015]

@@fixerjoe3283 Thank you, and Wow only a half gallon for that huge pool so it is very effective filter. Thank you so much look forward to your next installments.

[@lunark2440]

Hi Joe- question. You mentioned in your VID you shocked the pool with chlorine some? Is it safe to assume there is no aquatic life in the pool? Or have you added minnows or anything, and it's such a small amount of bleach it doesn't kill them? We are coming into spring and we have built our poop this past fall, and the water is cloudy. Unsure what to do at this point?

[@fixerjoe3283]

Aquatic life in the pool is not a good practice. Their waste will add more nutrients for algae and promote harmful bacteria. If you have life in your pool cloudiness could come from ammonia. It takes a while for silt to filter/settle out. I also used some activated carbon in net bags to help clean the water.

[@lunark2440]

@Fixer Joe the only aquatic life in there are maybe 10 or 15 minnows. I doubt their playing any big factor into the health of the pool. I know a good amount of it is silt that has built up on the bottom and sides. I'm wondering if a partial water change, perhaps letting half tbe amount of water out, and refilling with hose water would be a good idea? The water was clear and healthy and we could see to the bottom, and we turned the waterfall system on and all the leaves and sludge got mixed up and now it's cloudy.

[@fixerjoe3283]

@@lunark2440 the leaves and sludge will definitely cloud it up. If you can vacuum that definitely helps. Let your pool sit still for a bit so everything settles first. If you don’t have a vacuum. Buy an inexpensive water jet leaf vacuum with a fine mesh bag on it.

[@matheujew]

You should have had more pond shots and wetland filter shots

[@sleepersix]

How much to rent the machines?

[@fixerjoe3283]

Luckily it was my dad’s. It only cost me $400 for transportation.

[@gabrielantal193]

Hi...is that PVC liner?

[@fixerjoe3283]

No. It’s reinforced polyethylene.

[@Macca81]

What do you mean by "standard international units, not English"?

[@fixerjoe3283]

The units in the book are SI. So being in the US, you will likely want to convert them to English units.

[@Macca81]

Oh, English uses SI, just like 99% of the world. You mean imperial! Gotcha!

[@EmilBrikha]

Did I hear that correctly? 30 mm thick liner? That’s 3 cm! How would that thickness even be flexible like that?

[@fixerjoe3283]

30 mil. 0.030 inches

[@laurajordan1882]

Omg I'm trying to make a small organic pond and small organic pool... don't supposed I can hire you ??!!

[@Edward-rg8mh]

Beautiful job. To me a natural pool would be one with no pump and no filter, and uses only water plants to clean the water. I'm going to build a totally natural pool with floating water plants. Also I could always turn it into a fish pond.

[@kaydog890]

I don't think you've looked at still water in nature. Good luck. Post a video a month or two after it's done.

[@francus7227]

Better than nothing. I have a much better design that's much cheaper....

[@jamesrow3794]

Full of frogs

[@thenaturalswimmingpondco.1883]

Looks like poo

[@fixerjoe3283]

Mad you didn’t get my business.

[@MimMim-hs2rs]

It seems you have a professional company that builds natural pools? Kind of sad that you would feel it's okay to tell someone who chose to take on a project of this magnitude for the enjoyment of his family that it looks like poo, the fact that it was his first and done by research and guidance of a book is quite remarkable, I'd have a lot more respect towards you if instead of knocking it would rather compliment and offer your help/service if ever need be, I'm sure others would feel the same. Best to you likewise.

[@bluebuilding]

all that work to leave the plastic showing ?