Natural Swimming Pools have historically been available only in bespoke designs and therefore cheap alternatives have been hard to come by. However, in 2011 a natural kit pool was developed in the UK based on a number of set design features mainly using wooden wall panelling to maintain the natural look and feel of a traditional natural pool.
A Natural Swimming Pool is a constructed wetlands ecosystem based on the principles of limnology, hydraulics, hydroponics, and modern pool construction methods. For the end product to have the ecological stability to be a long term success, all of these principles must be carefully incorporated. It is therefore far more complex to design and build a Natural Swimming Pool than it is to build a traditional, chemically-treated swimming pool.Typically, a chemically treated pool can discharge up to 3 times its volume of water into the sewer per year. As there is no use of chemicals in the water of NSPs [11] and their water is maintained as "living" (i.e. the NSP is not drained and refilled), there is no need for this waste of water being discharged into the sewer. Also, there is considerably reduced energy consumption for the mechanical operation of many NSP systems.
Additionally, amphibious and aquatic creatures like frogs, salamanders, and snails often make their homes in the regeneration zones of NSPs. While some pool owners might be made uncomfortable by this idea, others find comfort knowing that their swimming pool environment is clean and balanced enough to support life as it is well known that these types of creatures indicate a healthy ecosystem.[12] The equipment used in NSPs takes the possibility of this wildlife into consideration, as skimmers utilize fine sieves that prevent small creatures from being sucked through the filtration process.[13]