Our natural Swimming Pond

Why is a natural swimming pond special?

A natural swimming pond works without chemicals. Our main goal is to filter out the nutrients in the water in order to impede the growth of algae. We do it like this:

  • The (potentially nutrient-rich) water is being taken from the bottom of the swimming basin with the help of 4 large sediment traps. You can not feel the water movement, but it is there.
  • Very slowly, but constantly the water is being moved through the water plant basin.
  • Afterward, the water goes through a series of foam filters and it’s being treated with a UV lamp before being released again into the pond

We always wanted a natural swimming pond

The garden and the view from the garden towards the fortified church were the main reasons for us to choose Alma Vii as the basis for our Guesthouse. Right from the beginning, we knew we wanted a natural swimming pond in the Alma-Via Guesthouse garden.

Building the pond presented some challenges

Challenges encountered

Building a pond requires a serious investment of time and resources. It is a long way from planning to the final product. The challenges we encountered:

  • We started too early. There were already excavators on the property during the building phase. So we told them to dig out the hole for the pond. But then we had to focus our efforts back on our main project. That left an ugly hole in our garden for a long while.
  • The excavator drivers couldn’t create the shape we wanted. They also couldn’t create the profiled steps inside the hole. They also dug too deep.
  • Over time the sides kept caving in, making the final pond bigger than anticipated.
  • Eventually, despite our hopes to get around it, we had to form the steps and inside walls of the pond with the help of walls.

Water fun before the finished build