Hi, I'm searching for information regarding a swimming pond that can be fed with natural lake water. It seems to me things might be a little different if I could circulate the water daily?

Would it be different somehow from a normal natural swimming pond? Or does anyone know of a link where I can read up on it?

I forgot to mention that it would be in a floodzone (corps approved) so there is potential it could be completely submerged by the lake. It's rare, 3 times in 20 years, but it will happen again someday so it will need to be flood friendly too

Welcome to the forum!

Beyond the obvious question of "Why not just swim in the lake?" here's a couple of points to ponder.

Bluegills (BG) tend to nip at swimmers. If that's a concern, and BG are in the lake, how will you keep them out of the pond if it floods?

Will the swimmers swim with fish in the pond? You'd at least need fathead minnows or mosquito fish to eat mosquito larvae, then some predator to eat them so the population doesn't overwhelm the pond. If there are snails in your area, then you'd need to stock Redear Sunfish to make sure Swimmers Itch doesn't show up in your pond. Then some predator to ensure they don't overpopulate, maybe smallmouth bass.....

If you pump water from the lake, you have to filter it through something so larval fish don't enter the swimming pond.


It's just a WAG on my part, but I'd think you'd want to pump the volume of water in the pond at least once every few weeks to keep the pond water somewhat similar to the lake water.

Well I didn't want any fish in there at all. I want a swimming pool with natural water. If it floods I would empty it and start over. I'm about a 130 yards from the water at the lake's normal level. I live in a cove that doesn't get a whole lot of circulation, so in the summer the water gets hot and stagnant at the surface. We have to get in our boat and go someplace else like out in the middle of the lake to enjoy the water. The dirt in my cove at the waters edge is like quicksand except it's clay mud, and the water is so murky with silt that you can't see your hand in front of your face. The only time I'm in the water in my own cove is to clean my foot valve or repair a pipe or move my dock. But I do get in my boat at least 3 times a week in the summer, drive out about a mile and dive in. so I do swim in the lake, and quite often... it still isn't the same as sitting on my own patio looking at water ten feet away. I want a water feature on my property that I can light up at night and enjoy. The reason I want to draw from the lake is because at the bottom where my foot valve is, it's nice and cool in the summer, and relatively warm in the winter. If I'm running a pump all day anyway, why not bring in fresh water? Wouldn't it be like using the established eco system of the lake?

Next reason is that I'm in a little trouble with the Corps. In 2008 I put a retaining wall and stairs encroaching into the flowage easement. Now I have the option to jackhammer the whole thing up and move it back a couple feet, or get an engineers report saying how many yards of fill I have in their easement and remove that amount from a different place on my property. Moving the wall would easily run $100K+. Digging a big hole would make them happy, so I might as well make it flood friendly pool.

So there's my story.

Makes sense.

O.K., Any idea how many GPM you will be pumping? and how long will you run the pump?

What will you do if you see an increase in skeeters around your place after the pond has been full for a while?

Drawing water from the lake might not solve the water clarity issue. Not if it's planktonic algae that is causing the low visibility.

Here's what people are doing to make a natural swimming pond.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/natural-swimming-pool-zmaz02aszgoe

In the following image, there is a pool and a regeneration zone. Why can't I use the lake, that's 130 yards away, as my regeneration zone? Instead of filtering after the water flows through the pool, I would filter before.





There are tons of websites devoted to natural pools (Google, 1.2M results) but I can't find any info supporting what I'm interested in. I know golf courses do it and so do some neighborhoods. There's no algae in their ponds, nor is there a regeneration zone.


.

The only reason not to use the lake water is if the lake water color/clarity/turbidity is not to your swimming specifications. Other than that, there is no reason not to use it.

If the lake water is too cloudy/turbid to swim in there, then pumping it to your pond and back out again will not change that problem.

Let me take that back a step. If the lake water color is due to suspended sediment/clay/dirt due to mechanical mixing, then your pond will act as a settlement pond and the turbidity will be better than the lake. IF the suspended clay is due to an ionic imbalance, then it will not settle out in your pond. If the color is due to planktonic algae, then there should be no change to a minimal change.

You are seeing designs like that because the plants are the biological filter to keep the water clean and clear. The plants take out the excess nutrients, which causes the planktonic bloom.