Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature (Schiffer Design Book)

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Natural swimming pools rely on the correct balance of living plants and micro-organisms to clean and purify the water. They are easy and less costly to maintain than chemical pools. Chlorine and other common pool chemicals that are hazardous to human health are not used. Natural pools are safe places for children to play and birds to drink, and are a dramatic example of ecological design, combining the natural and man-made worlds while creating beauty. These pools offer enjoyment not only in the warm months, but during winter, when they can be used for ice skating. Often the focal point of a garden, a natural swimming pool blends into the environment, flowing into the surroundings with plants and rocks. It reflects the changing seasons and enhances the environment naturally. This book is a necessary resource for people who consider a natural swimming pool. It shows how the natural system works to provide environmental, health, and safety benefits. Drawings, diagrams, and charts help explain their planning, design, biology, materials, construction, planting, and maintenance. Over 300 beautiful color photographs of natural pools will inspire your own water garden, where you can swim in harmony with nature.

Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Long overdue book on an overdue topic March 6, 2006
41 out of 43 found this review helpful

I have been keenly interested in the topic of natural swimming pools for about 5 years, but have been frustrated by the lack of information in English on the topic (there are several books in German - the homeland of the concept - but only a single manual in English).
Mr. Littlewood's book added substantially to my knowledge, gleaned from various websites, a handful of articles and research into conventional swimming pools, ponds and lake management.
But the book's value lies not so much in the (limited) technical information it provides as it does in thoroughly introducing the concept and presenting it beautifully. Mr. Littlewood is a distinguished landscape architect, and his book presents natural pools, in hundreds of beautiful pictures, in the context of landscaping.
But he doesn't focus solely on the aesthtic aspect. You'll also learn why these pools work so well without chemicals and concrete, making them environmentally friendly and a pleasure on the skin and eyes when you swim in them, and why they require less maintenance than conventional pools.
It's possible that some hard-headed American readers will be put off here and there by the author's environmental leaning and not-always-critical stance to the theory and practice of the natural swimming pool's Austrian and German pioneers, most of whom now offer patented systems that they are primarily interested in marketing.
But these are minor quibbles. The fact is, natural swimming pools are practical and make sense, and their pros (water quality, aesthetics, ecology, reduced maintenance, winter aesthetics/use) far outweigh their cons (greater risk of contracting water-borne illness, greater space requirements). Some 5000 have been built in Europe, including dozens (it might be up to hundreds) of public pools that satsify stringent German health requirements.
I think anyone interested in ecological or simply innovative or beautiful landscaping would enjoy this book.
But if you're interested in building a pond (especially for swimming) or a swimming pool (especially with alternative water sanitation), this book is an absolute must-have.
The author of this review is an American ex-pat who has lived in central Europe 14 years.

5 out of 5 stars

A visual and informative masterpiece! December 19, 2005
26 out of 29 found this review helpful

I have been interested in the idea of natural swimming pools or swimming ponds for years, but I found information almost impossible to obtain. Until now. Littlewood's book is the best resource out there, hands down. Anyone interested in creating such a paradise in there own backyard will find this book invaluable. This is a 200+ page coffee table style book with hundreds of amazing photos. Friends not even interested in building their own love sitting down just to browse.

5 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly COMPREHENSIVE! February 9, 2007
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

This large sized book covered the subject exceedingly well in lots of color photos with explanations and, more importantly, in lots of diagrams and nuts and bolts descriptions. I only read sections here and there but what I did read clearly indicated to me that you could actually use this book to build a natural swimming pool. At the least, you could definitely make a solid decision whether or not you could build or would want to build such a pool on your property. These pools are basically like salt water aquariums in that you have to make a biosphere and monitor it. In some ways it's not as easy as it sounds but also not as hard as it sounds. However, start up takes time and it can be tricky to finally reach environmental stabilization. I am not going to build a natural pool but I still found this book very useful. At the end this book are MANY pages of water plants and trees recommended for certain types of water areas. There are zone maps of the US included for reference. So even if you just want to make a little ornamental fountain in a big pot on the patio deck or a pond or a bog out back, this book has a VERY comprehensive set of plant lists you will find exceedingly useful. 18 pages of them. Categories include Submerged Plants, Floating Plants, Floating Leaved Plants, Shallow Marginal Plants, Deep Marginal Plants, Moisture-loving Plants, Bog/Marsh Plants, Waterside Plats-Trees & Shrubs, Ferns, Grasses Sedges Reeds and Rushes. Botanical and Common Names are listed along with height, spread, water depth, flower color, flower period, foliage, position, comments and plant zone. It's the best I've seen in any book so far.

2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing October 9, 2006
12 out of 17 found this review helpful

I eagerly anticipated this book, since there is so little published information on the subject, but I was disappointed when it finally arrived. It appears that it was never proofread. I read a lot, and this is the worst job of editing/proofreading I have ever seen in a book. This may sound like nitpicking, but there were places where I could not figure out what information the author was trying to convey it was so garbled. It is FULL of typos, grammatical errors, and garbled sentences.

From a substantive standpoint, some of the basic info was helpful, but the pools shown in photos were somewhat 'cookie cutter' in appearance, and there wasn't the variety in pool designs I had hoped for. Maybe my hopes/expectations for the book were too high, but for whatever reason I felt let down.

5 out of 5 stars

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK August 21, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

Simply put this book is a MUST READ for anyone intersted in any aspect of Sustainable and Ecological Design. It should be read right along with Permaculture by Mollison, the Passive Solar Handbook by Mazria, Rainwater Harvesting by Lancaster, and ecocities to Living Machines by Todd. Even if you aren't specifically interested in making a swimming pool (which you will be after reading it) the insights into the workings of hydro-ecologies and how to design natural systems are invaluable!

If you aren't interested in the whole range of sustainability but just this particular topic of pool design then this book is STILL A MUST READ. If you're an ecologist who wants to make a pool, or a pool designer who wants to do something ecological this book provides an excellent layman's understanding of ecological design, with good technical and artistic advice for how to do it, and good technical and artistic advice for swimming pool construction.

I would still advise you to also purchase the book Poolscaping as a companion to this one.

This is an all around excellent book buy it now.

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