# Building a swimming pool



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Yes I know, I should probably have my head examined, but I want to build my own swimming pool. I'm about to start building an earthbag house and my thought is that I can get dirt for my earthbag construction from where I'd like to build the swimming pool. 

The pool has more than one purpose(gotta justify it somehow!). I'm going to be in the desert and this will be a large water storage area. My quandry is whether to build something shaped more like a pond with sloping sides or to go with the traditional vertical sides. Vertical sides will require more materials and engineering...whereas sloping sides will be relatively easy to build and I can simply line it with a pond liner rather than doing concrete work.

I plan to enclose the pool area. If I don't, all of my water will evaporate. So that means a much larger area for the sloping style sides.

Now here is the interesting/more complicated part. I want to integrate it into a hydroponics system. I'd like to grow plants completely surrounding the pool. The large amount of water will moderate the temperature and provide needed humidity. One of the big reasons I'd like to integrate it into a hydroponics system is so that the plants can keep the water clear. I'm allergic/sensitive to most chemicals. I'll be using solar panels to run DC pumps to move the water during daylight hours.

If I were to build it with 'normal vertical sides from rock.....would sealing the mortar between the rocks be sufficient for it to hold water? I'd hate to loose water due to leakage. There should be no frost heave in this area at all.

Suggestions? Recommendations? Better way to build a mousetrap?


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

If your sides are solid you can still line it with a pond liner.


----------



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

True, but if I put in the sweat equity to build the sides out of rocks....I want to see the pretty rocks....lol. I have considered doing something along the lines of ferrocement sides with a pond liner.


----------



## farmer9989 (Apr 22, 2008)

[ame]http://youtu.be/680xEKe6y6g[/ame]
here some ideas good luck hope you have lots of money it will take it for what you described .
[ame]http://youtu.be/TMxTDm2WSiE[/ame]


----------



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I don't mind spending some money on the construction, but I don't want to pay a fortune every month to maintain it. Yes, the natural pool concept is similar to what I am looking at doing. I just don't want the bugs, frogs, snakes and mountain lions. Yes, mountain lions. In the area I'm in, when the water holes dry up, a friend of mine that owns a motel gets mountain lions at her swimming pool! :shocked:

I don't mind the water not being crystal clear, but I absolutely MUST be able to see the bottom clearly. It goes back to a childhood trauma and phobia. No, I'm not going to try and get over my fear...it's easier to make the water clearer.

I'll be doing the walls of the enclosure with earthbags, so not a lot of expense there. The roof will be the majority of the expense. I'll have to garden inside of a greenhouse here anyhow due to the extreme climate.


----------



## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

i would think there would be significant leak possibilities w/rock and mortor. bepending on the type of rock w/the rock itself. good luck


----------



## rentaplumber (Dec 9, 2012)

this sounds like a great idea.....but also like something on life styles of the rich and famous. i have maintained pools for a living in the past and its very difficult to keep a regular single family home pool clear and cleaned even with the use of chemicals. algae will eventually grow on everything, and although the water may get clear it wont stay clear if you get in it and swim around.....think about swimming in a clear river or pond, after just a few minutes of kicking your feet all the water around you is cloudy with bottom sediment. this same thing happens when cleaning a pool. Even though the water is treated there is still stuff that settles on the bottom of the pool that when swept creates cloudy water......i think if i were going to take this on i would go with a pool liner not rock. keep anything other than plant roots out of the water, and add a earth type filter, this would require a good sized pump though....


----------



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

LOL....I could handle being on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

How about if the plants are separate from the pool? I was thinking of running the pool water through the plants to filter the water, but as a separate area. Then once it had gone through a final sand filter it would be returned to the pool. 

The homesteader in me keeps trying to figure out a way to incorporate tilapia into the system in some way. Hmmm, maybe if the water goes from the pool into the tilapia tank and then through the plant beds to be cleaned and then returned to the pool. I'm pretty sure it won't work, but what an awesome concept huh? 

If I can circulate the pool water through a hydroponics bed and keep the water clean and chemical free, and maybe grow a tomato or two, I'll be very happy. 

This will end up being a pretty large building. I don't mind though since I do rainwater harvesting. .6 gallons per square foot of collection footprint area per inch of rain. The pool will be a very nice large water storage container.


----------



## T-Bone 369 (Jan 18, 2007)

Mortar and sand will not hold water well. Even if you use high quality sealer it is not going to work well over the long term. Any masonry (rock, stone, brick) is going to have movement from heat and cool. It will crack along the joints. In most applications is is not a big deal - the cracking is minimal and usually is not seen unless your looking really closely. However, most applications do not hold water like a pool. Those cracks are going to seep, and seeping water does not get better is gets worse. Over time the walls will fail. The only way I see this working is to have the stone walls be for decorative use and have a water tight wall behind them. But that means two walls and more work/money. 

I've been working a swimming pool job all fall and finished just before Christmas (laying stone on the poolhouse). Their pool uses a poly liner over a shapped bed of packed sand/Portland cement. Only the top three feet have a metal wall. They mixed the sand/Portland mixture pretty dry with a mixer then shaped it in by hand. It was a pretty time consuming project. They sloped the s/P mix slightly but it is solid enough they also sculpted some shelves on the sides to stand on. I looked through my pics but do not have any of the actual pool construction (not my area). I assume you could do the same thing with some type of pond liner and shape your sides fairly steeply. The pool contractor said the average life of the liners they use is pretty limited (5 years or so) for some reason. Guess the pond liners might be a little more durable.


----------



## T-Bone 369 (Jan 18, 2007)

Found a few pics but the cover is closed.


----------



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Very nice rock work!!

I've been thinking about using rocks and I've about come to the same conclusion that you stated....it will leak eventually. Water is far too precious to be careless with it in the the desert.

I did run across something yesterday that might work. On the second picture down they show where their pool is set up in an excavated trench. I like this idea and was thinking about shoring up the earth on the sides with earth bags. 

http://www.reallyezpools.com/lappools.html


----------



## libby (Feb 27, 2011)

Such a good idea! I have always wanted a natural pool- they are very big in Europe, and easy to maintain. They are not dirty or full of algae. I hate all the chemicals in regular pools, and I'm allergic to some of them. In a natural pool, the plants are what keep it clean and clear. I think your idea of having it be a greenhouse too is fantastic!

Here's a site with some great ones to look at for inspiration.

Our new property once had a house that burned down. Now it's just a rock-lined hole where the basement was. Instant pool! Ok- not instant, but at least we don't have to dig the hole!


----------



## rzrubek (May 13, 2004)

You should check out this site, they build some really nice Fish ponds, that are also clean enough and big enough to swim in. The site is Koiphen I think your idea's are good, aquaponics can be a ot of fun.


----------



## Raven12 (Mar 5, 2011)

I had a pool in the city. Water will attract animals & birds & reptiles, especially a pond. There is really no way to keep them out.


----------

