Natural Swimming Pool Photo Gallery

[PoolDoc]

And, just for comparison, here's Susan's and my preferred local natural pool:



But, since it takes a boat, followed by a 1 mile hike up a very rocky stream bed to reach, it's a little less convenient than the others. But, Kelemvor, this particular pool does have the benefit of being available to those who are neither famous nor rich, like Susan and I!

[Watermom]

You forgot the part about ......... along the trails where the snakes and spiders are and other critters are!

[PoolDoc]

You forgot the part about ......... along the trails where the snakes and spiders are and other critters are!

Watermom, you know me better than that: for me, those things are FEATURES, not problems. Even Susan finds them interesting, as long as they aren't venomous snakes, and as long as the spiders aren't ON her. (She'll even make an exception to that, if the spiders are jumping spiders!)

[aylad]

I dunno--some of the pics you've posted are absolutely beautiful--but if they were down here they'd also be full of snakes and bullfrogs.....I have a pool in order to NOT have to guess what I'm swimming with!!

Jan

[PoolDoc]

Hmm-mm. There may be a reason why "natural pools" are mostly a European thing: they killed off most of their wildlife centuries ago, so their natural pools may not acquire the sort of competing population green pools here, do.

Actually, I've been thinking about that a bit. My PERSONAL collection of critters found in pools include: black snake, ring-neck snake, garter snake, Eastern water snake, Canada geese, mallard ducks, rats, mice, shrews, bullfrogs, leopard frogs, toe biters, tiger salamanders, chipmunks, and black widow spiders.

The things I recall forum members reporting, during the various incarnations of the PoolForum include deer, black bear, skunks, in addition to the things above.

However, if you put one of those pools in this area of the south-east, you'd be able to add: great blue heron, little green heron, water bugs galore, every kind of frog known to man, and . . . and snapping turtles.

Even I try to avoid swimming with those things!

[PoolDoc]

Here are some photos from the other company, in England:
http://www.clear-water-revival.com/

[aylad]

Yeah, we have a ton of snapping turtles too-- but what is a "toe biter"??

Jan

[PoolDoc]

A giant water bug:

If you want to know more, this blog has an interesting account: http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.co...ant-water-bug/
Also, here: http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/hemipt/Toebiter.htm , and here: http://dermatology.cdlib.org/DOJvol4...rus/letho.html

Like many types of water bugs, they can fly. So, if you have a hospitable body of water, they are likely to visit. Many water bugs can bite or sting, but bugs are notable for the high level of pain they can inflict.

[Watermom]

Yeah, those pools are beautiful but I'd have a hard time enjoying myself in a pool where I couldn't see what else might be in there with me. I don't even get in my own pool at night unless I first shine a flashlight down in there or light the torches to make sure I won't have any 'company'! As Ben knows, I'm not 'zactly' a critter type of gal!

[PoolDoc]

I've been looking for water quality information on such pools, and finally found some:

Natural Swimming Pools in Lower Saxony
Ernst-August Heinemeyer, Health Authority of Lower Saxony, Aurich, Germany

Experience with a „natural tropic pool”
Christiane Höller and Schindler P., Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Germany

A Model for Risk Assessment for Small-scale Bathing Ponds
Franz Mascher1, Pichler-Semmelrock P.2, Reinthaler F.1, and Marth E.1, 1Institute of Hygiene, Medical-University, Graz; 2Federal Government of Steiermark, Austria

A quote from the first article is sufficient to show that such pools are not 'home-free' when it comes to sanitation:

Amounts of P. aeruginosa exceeding the limits were detected in almost every natural swimming pool, in some pools on a regular basis

All articles have been archived at Swimming Pool Research, so if the links die, I can restore them.