I Made a Tiny Natural Swimming Pool - Here's How

I made this pool over ten years ago. This film is a revisits the process in a more palatable form and reflects on the plants and animals that have arrived in that time.
instagram @organipools
Facebook/organicpools
For a free version of my DIY Manual PDF see: www.organicpools.co.uk
A full length version of this film is available: vimeo.com/ondemand/organicpools

[@BarelyDecentProduction]

The man didn't just make a swimming pool, he made an ecosystem

[@martinosborne6635]

For real. I wouldn't swim in it, but nice.

[@OReily08080]

​@@martinosborne6635my exact reaction

[@kirsteneksteen9821]

Bro factssss😂

[@user-os8mc4ro8g]

​

[@GabiCosta-qi6ec]

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊⁰

[@DrSizzles]

Towards the end I felt like I was watching a National Geographic Documentary. This is an excellent combination of passion & selflessness as it was not only created for the family but also for wildlife to thrive. There should be more pools like this made around the world.

[@yardleyj9391]

I agree. It has inspired me to build one on our 1 hectare plot.

[@karlmeyer9473]

It's also a good way to get yourself killed by unsupported excavation. Unless you think you can withstand 1800kg per cubic meter collapsing on you.

[@flaxenRdn]

Agreed 👍

[@JohnSmith-gq9gn]

@@karlmeyer9473 I was thinking the same thing.

[@THEHORSELOVER235]

Theres a company in California that builds these pools but its extremely expensive. Maybe if it didn't cost so much more ppl would be inclined to get them

[@kryptokrypto702]

At first I thought it would be literally just a simple dug out dirt pool. Then all of a sudden it looks like the construction of some major project. 😅 Amazing.

[@nomvuladlamini4618]

I thought so, too! He really built an ecosystem ❤ When the plants grow and the birds & insects vusit you know you have created something special 🎉

[@Gbekaxo]

Can we just give a standing ovation for this incredible hard-working This man put both for the children's and the ecosystem.🙏👊

[@alzym1803]

And his 70+ year old friend! amazing effort men

[@godzilla928]

No

[@thexanderthemander]

Nothing like plastic pool liner for the ecosystem.

[@allouttabubblegum1984]

​@@thexanderthemanderwhat's worse, him using a plastic pool liner or the fact that it attracted and made a little ecosystem for wildlife🙄

[@LALOVEme]

Just be careful and watch your kuds all the time

[@johnevans6399]

The children won't realise how fantastically lucky they are until they are older, but we can enjoy this brilliant piece of nature from now. Thanks for sharing.🎉

[@karlmeyer9473]

No. They will just think about dad crushed in unsupported excavation....

[@xanadu1jw]

@@karlmeyer9473 how is It unsupported? It has been dug out perfectly, and lined with layers and layers of fabric and bricks and the water is pushing outwards on those layers all the time.

[@RobotNannyDiaries]

Agreed🤩⭐️💖

[@dennyshawyer1993]

​@karlmeyer9473 what drugs are you on dr?

[@dennyshawyer1993]

@@HOFMC-OFFICIAL i wish i could disable the comment section. Haha and its becoming such a habit to just have a flick through.

[@krispynico960]

This could've easily be a 1 hour long video but instead was compiled into a 6 min short video. Great work Sir!

[@_henry348]

Meanwhile me who even watched it on 2x speed lmao

[@audreyscott6312]

yep I agree

[@ll2323]

I would watch the hour long video though 😂

[@mansilahoriya5824]

Well it definitely felt like an hour though😂

[@chiarabay9364]

I have spent 14 years digging wildlife ponds which despite using spirit levels never ever seems to work out! Thanks to this I am going to start again and redo the pond following this technique.

[@MrKirchov]

Thinking about getting into it myself! Very inspiring.. hard work I bet. What wasn’t working out with them, if you don’t mind me asking?

[@lebo3793]

Why did i imagine the project was gonna be easier than it seemed ? 😂 great job

[@demisgrooves]

Same 😂

[@AzngameFreak03]

Amazing pond. Those kids are sooooo lucky to have such great men in their lives. I wish I had a pond :)

[@FVWhimsy2010]

Sadly, it wouldn't work here...would end up with brain-eating amoeba. Know your water temps, before copying this idea for swimming.

[@justincasey_grabbederpussy6756]

@@FVWhimsy2010 so simply cool your water off and re-circulate it back in with a small solar powered pump.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

@@FVWhimsy2010 exactly. he just created a swamp. no running water? ewww

[@OOOOO0KKKKKKKK]

@@nofurtherwest3474 did you not see the video

[@COJY06]

@@FVWhimsy2010where do you live?

[@SieraDeltaPS43]

Kudos to Barry. Being a true supportive friend ❤️

[@cloudydays6277]

WOW what a dad not just for your kids but for the community & ecosystem. Some dads don’t even return texts lol or even around in their children’s lives. Honestly wish it was longer, you left us wanting more, at least 15mins would’ve been nice

[@CEUprimate]

Worse are some buys milk or go to prison and they are very common among certain people.

[@AGamerPS3]

Every community needs its own version of this.

[@angelalovell5669]

Amazing little documentary! I really, really enjoyed that, especially the cinematography and your humorous yet relaxing narration. And the result, WOW! Thanks for making a little piece of the world all the better for your presence, that pond ecosystem looks beautiful.

[@willm5814]

The difference between a modern swimming pool and this absolute GEM is mind-blowing - the former being a significant net-negative to the environment as well as being a very expensive make-work project (bought a house with a pool, glad I’m not there anymore )

[@yrubla]

The kids has the most important job of them all, jumping and swimming and having fun in the pool.

[@ruchunsinletep9169]

Wow sir, this could easily be a high production documentary ❤

[@Terra_Divina]

What an outstanding masterpiece this whole video is, blended with hilarious humor, should be shown in every school. And thanks for not spoiling it with annoying music, it is simply pure and beautiful. And most of all: you brought a bit of Eden back to Earth! Chapeaux, Sir! 🙏

[@gendoll5006]

I would love something like this with some kind of filter or something that kept the water moving and clean to prevent mosquito larva and just that nasty deadly bacteria you hear about from swimming in lakes. But the natural look and feel of it is so amazing.

[@cannyexplorer5357]

The newts and others will soon get rid of the mosquitoe larvae. We never had a problem with our nature mini lake once they moved in. Just watch any chemicals you use in the area as they can be deadly to the pond life.

[@ssansu]

It has a filter

[@DChristina]

Has a bubble powered circulation system- aka a filter.

[@Maggioretom]

This is not a swimming pool, it's a little miracle of nature! 🙏

[@BeeBee-ku1ym]

Looks so good- just hope that fence is secure. Living in Australia where there are so many pools - unfortunately many drownings too each year. But I think it’s fabulous and hope you have many years of fun!

[@HospitallerKnight-ql6fr]

I think this has been the only good video I have found randomly on KZbin without me actually searching for anything specific. A true good job and nature thanks you also 🙏 🎉

[@katharina...]

My goodness, what an extraordinary project! Thank you so so much for sharing, I feel more alive for having seen it. These children are so fortunate to be surrounded by such fantastic adults 🥰

[@tracy3364]

That was exhausting to watch but I admire your dedication and its stunningly beautiful...Great memories for your kids

[@randywilson6869]

I bet they don’t have snakes over there

[@justincasey_grabbederpussy6756]

@@randywilson6869😂

[@101yayo]

The only venomous snake in the uk is the black adder, I think.

[@MeganGarzaWellness]

@@randywilson6869 you wouldn't dare do this in Florida and jump in feeling safe.

[@jeffersonsairpods4811]

@@101yayoAnd he is just grumpy and sarcastic, not dangerous at all.

[@herryvaliant7689]

They should adapt this on a bigger scale for town park. Great idea and application for ecosystem and families! Wonderful job mister!

[@donnahairstyles]

Love the way you articulate all your words. You could become a storyteller. Love the vocabulary he was taught well in school

[@anothernp]

beautiful, mine's going on 1 year old, survived the winter! thanks for your help with it

[@organicpools-davidpaganbutler]

Delighted to hear that. Thank you

[@stephaniegagnon2583]

Lucky children! Great Dad! 😊 This is amazing 💕

[@emilyriley6029]

I love this. This is amazing. You did a great job!

[@aflutteroffeminineconfusio1986]

May I say as someone half the age of Barry, that i think your a bloody legend!!! Hope I'm as spry in my 70's ..well done...I absolutely love everything and anything to do with natural pools ....I find the videos across you tube really calming 😌

[@suzannacommander7384]

Best video I've watched on KZbin. Wish everyone would do this. No more chlorine pools. More natural wildlife pools you can swim in. Thanks for sharing. It looks amazing. 😊

[@phoenixluna4137]

This is amazing!!! Thank you for being considerate of nature and for making this a short video that people can watch

[@UASteamFitter]

This is truly spectacular, im very glad to have had this show up in my feed

[@audas]

I love natural pools - but here in OZ it'd be about 2 weeks before there was half a dozen tiger snakes and a couple of king browns in residence.

[@Knotaro_bot]

That established nicely! Fresh water management can be a real challenge with plants involved, looks like you have done a very good job.

[@avrilmiller2028]

Bro no way I love this pool too. I think we watch the same things a lot

[@Knotaro_bot]

@@avrilmiller2028 we must have good taste in videos😃

[@robeiur]

Really appreciate the English sense of humor. beautiful work. Congratulations.

[@karlaju.]

This is so beautiful and the kind of pool that I would love to have🤍 beautiful work👏🏼✨

[@TheMurlocKeeper]

This is gorgeous! I think you're insane, lol....but I LOVE the end result! If I had a large chunk of land, I would be doing something like this! And when i say "I", I mean, "someone else", lol! There's no way I could heft heavy stuff around like that! Epic effort though! Much better than a pool full of chemicals!

[@justincasey_grabbederpussy6756]

Why exactly is this much better than a pool full of chlorine? I mean… When it comes to swimming, I’d much rather have the pool for my grand children to swim in, versus a snake pit.😅

[@NudePostingConspiracyTheories]

That is freaking mad. Its so beautiful. But usually its like a pond inly for wildlife and /or fish, OR kids to dip in. This is both. Its too lovely. I feel like I might be able to do this. Thank you

[@pieterdepaepe4636]

Absolutely stunning 😮. A masterpiece...

[@VineetKumar-js1do]

I love this organic pool. Looks just amazing. ❤️❤️

[@CorpseBride64]

Oh my gosh, I can not tell you how much I love this!! Such hard work you all put in. A fabulous job, enjoy! 💓

[@NiranjanDecember]

thank you for giving back to nature. More people should adopt such organic pool and on a much bigger scale.!!!

[@luudantu7211]

Love the design. I'm curious on the purpose of putting insulation panels around the concrete walls of the pond. Do they provide any significant insulation for the pond or simply being use as a guide for building straight walls?

[@c.v.h.8260]

I absolutely loving it. You created a little piece of heaven over there.

[@Jl-pm6fp]

Really enjoyed the dry humour and the beautiful wildlife swimming pool you created!

[@gabrielfranco6112]

Absolutely awesome. Looks natural and refreshing. Great job.

[@kellyanne7225]

Where there’s water, there’s mosquitoes! Get some bat houses and you’re all set! 👍🏼😁 The sound of the frogs would lull me to sleep every night! 😴

[@bharathkrishna6776]

They made it look so simple & elegant. In real, it isn’t. Must have felt so pleased with how well it turned up 👏🏼

[@petersterling5334]

What a Beautiful Pond Ecosystem you made!! Its Awesome all the Plants and Animals that have found a home!

[@MsFarmer567]

You did good, with an Awesome project, never seen an man-made pond in a back yard that was so delightful, Great Job 👍

[@TheRealQuartz]

Man that looks like a lot of fun for family cookouts and gatherings. if I ever have kids id love to make something like this in the backyard

[@kittimcconnell2633]

Such a beautiful wee swimming pond! May it bring you joy for years to come.

[@shadowkaged]

That was beautiful to watch! I would love to have one of those ponds some day too😊 reminds me of my childhood

[@daakrolb]

Sir: What an absolutely GLORIOUS thing. Outstanding work.

[@himalayanvibes6999]

One of the best videos i've ever seen!!! Simply outstanding!!! Cheers!

[@9catlover]

wow that took a lot of effort. it is stunning. love the planting

[@brandongregori995]

Nice. I always wondered what it would be like to take one of these natural ponds and make it worthy of swimming in.

[@mohammadishaktayoob1143]

This pool is supporting and homing so many organisms ❤ Loved it

[@irissander5266]

Wow! This is amazing. Looks so different compared to before and looks lively too.

[@paulabears7882]

Would love to see more about how you did plantings. Plant and animal selection for cleaning pond

[@sickoftheshit]

What an amazing project, on so many levels. This is great to see. ❤

[@mishrajikabeta0097]

Salute to the man who has made this. Complete ecosystem.

[@deejaykay1975]

I bloody love this! Great narration too! 👍🏼♥️

[@lushgreenbean]

This is brilliant idea. I never liked a pool at my house but the pond is super desired!

[@carolinelawrie7142]

How I wish I'd grown up with a wonderful pond like this in our garden ❤

[@Dhruviii952]

Ur work deserves more appreciation ❤ Keep up the good work

[@fastgurrrl]

WonderFULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Respect to you both! I pick that "senior" for my team!

[@shadowridge2742]

Wow, that was such hard work, but the result is glorious!

[@yardleyj9391]

Absolutely spectacular! That is our life mission : create a small paradise in our dwelling space. Congratulations to you Sir. Namaste! ❤

[@Fullmetal_christo]

Love and respect for doing this. Fantastic job!

[@yvettethomas6236]

Wow!!! You did such an amazing job!!! Spectacular!!

[@amirmorsh]

The first image where the kids are standing looking at you is really cute.

[@nellythree]

This absolutely amazing, thank you for creating this video ❤

[@tiagobarros5666]

Amazing. Looks like a amazonic landscape. I'm from the Amazon region of Brazil and here there are small lakes or natural pools that we call "igarapés". Visually, this pool that you created looks a lot like a stream.

[@SomewhataMystery]

Beautiful those kids got good child hood will look dad and his pal made for everyone to enjoy this video is the reminder. Enjoy life now you little small pond but some really big hearts stepped in.

[@christinarcelano2235]

Brilliant! Thank you for sharing with humans and nature.

[@patty9265]

That looked like alot of hard work but well worth it . Nice job.

[@ES11777]

Looks like great fun for kids and dogs wow how cool! ❤

[@EyeSeeThruYou]

It's beautiful, even moreso shared with wild neighbors who contribute with their presence and beauty. I have Project Envy, could never do that here. Too far south with too many things precluding a safe dip in a natural pond (so I'll vicariously enjoy yours!). 🐝🐸🐦‍⬛🦆🐞🦋🦐🐟🌿🌾🪻🪷💚

[@meestermaxim]

Beautiful! thank you so much. My pond is now going 2,5 years.

[@ivanjmg]

What a beautiful swimming pond :)

[@freshimpactco.8698]

Absolutely lovely work, adding daphnia is just a fantastic idea as they are great at helping maintain water quality. If you are suffering from brown water in your pond, it's likely from tannins. But this is very spectacular work and you must have spent a few months of research on natural swimming pools.

[@Bristolandlazy]

The best I've seen on KZbin, amazing. Just beautiful.

[@permiesolutions]

I would love to see how you would put together a simple above ground natural pool system. I currently have a rainwater harvesting pond using an old pool, but I would love to put together a simple natural pool for my kids during the summers, but never worry about chemicals or any “accidents” they may have creating a bacterial/viral problem. Ideas?

[@organicpools-davidpaganbutler]

Making an above ground pool is entirely possible. I may put together a demonstration at some point.

[@bruce-le-smith]

@@organicpools-davidpaganbutler If you put it next to the first it could have a tiny infinity pool / waterfall...

[@SSEC-er6qh]

Animal needed this pool more than his kids

[@mdsaad9805]

What are you trying to say here

[@pwincesskrissy]

Cry about it

[@mohann2289]

I would say both

[@jonesyrugbychapelhill69]

Well...This pond is going to look really nice for a week or two. I honestly wish you luck.

[@nicolibe4766]

Should be given an award for this, good job sir ❤❤❤❤❤

[@MandaPanda254]

This is flipping amazing! 🌻

[@mrsTraveller64]

But I would still be worried that this would become a place where you can get the bacteria that goes up to your brain, because the water is not moving anywhere? Or does the filter clean the water so good that it can't happen?

[@Mom2Kolja]

In my opinion, this filter has no effect as far as bacteria are concerned. Not all ideas are as good in reality as they seem in our heads. As this uncle will soon find out if he lets the kids swim in it.

[@street_sharq]

I doubt anything bad will happen, but I'd be highly interested in more on what this bacteria brain attacker is. I'm sure there are tons and tons of documented cases

[@letsworkoutabit1959]

I believe he addresses it here 5:48

[@swttuth0329]

Amazing. Wow this is a work of art

[@Alain.Robert]

You created an amazing ecosystem ! thanks for sharing your project !

[@karlmckinnell2635]

Love ❤️ to hear Barry is keeping current with the latest technology. Rotating laser level 😂😂

[@colemanbenton324]

i was not ready for that joke and I almost died laughing out loud

[@Spumoon]

I like how you casually created a filter and aeration system for your pond.. need to make another video explaining that in more detail!

[@lynnwilson2615]

Genius! Also very entertaining film. Thank you.

[@MrNogood4432]

Big effort, awesome result 👏

[@AutoNomades]

Wonderfull !! I actually made a _very basic_ organic swimming pond out of a 4 wheels recycled container, and i'd like to upgrade a bit to automatise cleaning. What i do actually works well doh. I use rainwater, filter sock from gutter, keeping out of light in north side and with the container lid, oxygenating it by manually pooring buckets of water on me💦, then skimming by hand with a swimming pool net, bottom manual "vacuum cleaner" by syphoning from time to time. What i skimm is thrown on nearby plant pots that makes a nice tropical area around. My nex step: Making an automatic solar water tower/filtering pond to keep movement and a bit more wildlife, and having the possibility to shower under a cascade 😇

[@KillberZomL4D42494]

That's beautiful, a small ecosystem. Great job.

[@KR-he7mm]

Beautiful. Well done sir.

[@2023BeTheChange]

Amazing build!

[@michaeleasley1368]

Hello from Texas, USA! Sorry if this has been asked and answers in the past, but do you have any experience using vinyl billboard material for the pond liner? Was considering trying this option for a small duck pond to test the concept. I like this option because they are UV stable which is a huge consideration in our climate. Any thoughts or resources concerning vinyl billboard material as a pond liner would greatly appreciated!

[@ashton1952]

Beautiful, that looks so nice and natural