Frequently Asked Questions

---

As big as you want. You are in total control of how big. Your budget will dictate how big it can be. For us the biggest we can go is a 50 x 100 liner. That’s one big pond, this doesn’t mean your pond will be 50x100, we have to build in this perimeter. We can also make smaller swim ponds so there is something for everyone.

This process for a NSP can take as long as 2 years to establish. There are many different factors that will determine how long it will take. Plants are the main filter for a NSP along with beneficial bacteria and O2. Secondly depending on where you live or where this installed there needs to be some shade. Central Texas 40% shade coverage is good. 

Yes you can. We build jump docks or add jump rock exactly for this reason. Our Natural swimming ponds are at least 5 1/2 feet deep and up to 8 feet deep depending on soil. 

We can incorporate some pool products. Our ponds are fish ponds and you choose to swim with nature. So all products we use are products used in ponds. We do use pool pumps for deluxe and premium ponds. Standard ponds can also have this upgrade as well. We don’t use bead filters, we don’t use salt, chlorine and UV light filters. 100% mother nature, although it take time to establish this. 

Depending on the size usually within a month to a month and a half. There is also prep, design and delivery which typically runs around 3 weeks to gather all the Stone, plants and pond products. There may be additional wait times depending on how many are being built before yours. 

You can get a small one, we call them the inner tube pond. These start around $40,000.00 and they can go up to $500,000.00. I enjoy building these ponds and we don’t care how much you want to spend. We will give you the best we can give for the price you are willing to pay.

What are the HIDDEN COST. Very important 

Water is the hidden cost. The bigger and badder your natural swimming pond is the more water it will use. Depending on size, waterfalls and rocks used will all play a crucial part in how much water your pond will lose. We can’t stress this enough your pond can lose upto an inch a day depending on weather, humidity, wind, waterfall height and stream length. https://thenaturalswimmingpond.com/swimming-pond-evaporation

Visit our Natural Swimming Pond price page for more information.

We will normally dye the pond either lagoon blue or black. This prevents the sun and UV from penetrating the water giving the plants a chance to mature and take over the filtering. Dye is normally used for the first few years to provide shade. NSP’s is shade do have this UV problem. Shade ponds need way less Lilly pads, but on the flip side there are more leaves. A little more maintenance.

Yes you can. This is one of the reasons these swimming ponds are so fun is the fish. How boring is swimming in a pool chasing hoops when you can be snorkeling in your own backyard lake. Pools for the most part are used in the summer and are not even looked at in the winter. NSP’s can be enjoyed all year long.

There are quite a few in the bog or marginal area. These are some of the top choices.
Arrowhead (Sagittaria)

Bulrush (Typha latifolia)

Scouring Rush (Equisetum hyemale) & Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Bur Reed (Sparganium)

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate)

Blue Flag Water Iris (Iris virginica) African iris also works well

There are only 6 that I really like. Maintenance is required for this group. These plants grow fast and can get out of hand. The best part is they are really soft and they take no effort to maintain.

Hornwort-ceratophyllum-demersum

Anacharis-densa-elodea-densa

Red star oxygentor

Red Ludwigia reopens

Red stem parrot feather

Waterfalls are not required but are recommended. We don’t have to build over the top waterfalls but somehow, someway we have to add oxygen back into the pond. These waterfalls could be part of a stream or could be on the edge of the pond. We can even build grotto’s as jump rocks.

Comparing to a typical pool bead filter. Natural swimming ponds will have a filter about 12 to 20 times bigger than a pool filter. We call them wetland filters and how they work is water is filtered up through many layers of rock and beneficial bacteria. These are normally cleaned once every year or two. You will look for this filter but won’t find it because it looks like part of the pond. It will be the part of the pond where all the plants are. How this works is the high velocity water is slowed down so much and is dispersed over a large area. The water comes up through and underground snorkel then through what we call aqua block. Then the water is filter through many different size gravels and finally through plants.

At this time we can only build up to 8 a year. This is fairly new to the area and the bigger we get the more we will be able to install. This is a custom job and no two ponds will ever be the same. There are many people interested in natural swimming ponds but only those that want to truly have something unique will get one. We are not a nation wide pool company and we do not offer financing. This is a cash/check build. So unfortunately this prevents us from building these for everyone. I would love to build and finance everyone but I can’t.

So you have made it this far and want to know what is the next step. Schedule a consultation and our price is $200.00 . We will come out to your property discuss what you are expecting from this project. We will also be taking photos and basic measurements. Then I will draw a simple layout of what to expect. A ballpark price will be  mentioned at this time. 

At this point we will have discussed all options including fish, plants, landscaping, lighting and style. A deposit will be collected at this time for 1st major purchase towards your swimming pond. This deposit will be used for machinery, rocks and boulders, all pond products. We will discuss all terms and conditions at this stage.

Deposits are quite large due to the things that need to be bought. On a $80,000.00 swim pond  the first deposit may be close to $40,000.00 the liner and underlayment alone is around $10,000.00 along with 30 tons of stone for another $13,000.00 plus gravel. There are also pumps and many other pond products that need to be bought. Having to make many deposits just slows the process. Let’s not forget to add all the plants, landscape, outdoor lighting, jump docks and machinery all adds up quickly. During the build there will be many draws on the job. We want to stay even with you and the money and since you are the primary income at the time we need to get paid as we go. I will discuss in detail with our meeting. 

We do offer a scale 3d design renderings with upto 3 revisions of your NSP and that is upto an additional $1000.00 This design will show plant placements, rock and boulders, waterfalls and other accessories.  

3D rendered design

Natural swim ponds can be built in a month or less “If all conditions are met”. We can not control weather or the degree of difficulty for your build. We say 2 months, most likely less. On the weather radar I can only look a week to 10 days in the future. We can NEVER give you an exact finish date due to these reasons. 

It can take up to 3 weeks for a start date. All stone and pond products have to be found, picked out and delivered. Most of my products are shipped in from other states to give you the best deal possible.

Changing your mind and wanting to upgrade can slow things down. It real important to know your budget and use it all in the beginning. Stopping in a middle of a build causes a ripple effect all the way to the back end and could result in additional costs. We will discuss this during Firm Pricing part of your project.

The walls have wrinkles because we are using a liner for the pond walls. This can be covered up by purchasing the upgraded interior walls or by upgrading to concrete walls below the liner. Natural swimming pond are called that because underneath everything it is natural. This is more cosmetic verses natural. Upgrades are always welcomed but there is a time when the upgrade can’t be done. If you are wanting reinforced concrete walls after the liner is in, then it would be impossible. Concrete walls need to be addressed before the liner.  Most ponds this would be an $8000 to $10000 upgrade. It is not to late because we can use natural stone inside the pond for almost the same price. It will be a little more.

Electrical services. We do not provide this service. You will have to contract this out. Depending on how many accessories your pond has. We will give the electrician a list of everything they need to power and they will build you the appropriate box. This box could be 4 to 6 plugs. Most likely there will be 2 pumps, an air pump and outdoor lights. Anything more than that will require more plugs.

We are not responsible for damage to lawn/grass from moving equipment. We can fix the landscape but this is not part of the estimate we gave for the pond. However if we need to remove a fence panel to access your yard we will remove and replace at no charge.

Rerouting sprinkler systems is not part of the original bid for the pond. but can be added as an extra service to accommodate the new landscape and auto fill.
As a bonus if applicable we can did the ditch for you much cheaper than the electrician. But with this we are not responsible for cut or broken pipes that may occur during the ditch digging process.