The art of repurposing is looking at something you don’t want – and turning it into something you do want.
Had enough of that swimming pool? Some people love them but for others, the joy of pool ownership is overshadowed by the cost of maintenance, the need for refurbishment, and those compulsory fences.
Turning pools into ponds is becoming more common (see this Gardening Australia story) and is an example of repurposing – if a giant pond is what you want. In Brisbane, I would be concerned about creating Toad Heaven. And it would mean we still had to keep the pool fences that cut the garden into three.
Some people break up the pool shell and fill in the hole – which can be a good way to create a swamp. Check with the council before you go down that track.
Our solution was to reimagine the pool shell as an unfinished undergound water tank – just waiting for its lid. So, we found a company to finish the job by putting the lid on, another to remove all the paving surrounding the pool, a plumber to look after the pipework, and a certifier to ensure it was all council approved.
Putting a lid on it! The lid is the strength of the floor in most apartment blocks.
Costs of Conversion
This is not a cheap exercise but you can offset much of the cost against the cost of keeping the pool, or moving house to get away from it. You save:
- the cost of power for the pump
- the cost of chemicals and all that stuff you buy from the pool shop
- your time for maintenance, and/or cost of outsourcing maintenance
- the cost of refurbishment if your pool is getting on a bit
On the plus side, coping stones and pool fence panels were repurposed as steps and vertical garden supports.
Better still, by creating an outdoor space that you can use every day of the year, you could add value to your property.
A New Garden
The change to the garden was even greater than we expected.
- We have a new patio or entertainment area.
- We gained extra planting space where the pavers had been, now you could walk on the surface of the pool/tank instead of around it.
- The garden seems much larger without the physical and psychological barriers of the fences.
- The garden design has changed to reflect the new pathways around that corner of the garden.
- We have a 50,000 litre water tank.
The job isn’t finished yet. Over the next year while we work on the new garden area, we’ll watch how the sun moves and consider options of covering the base, or putting a pergola over the tank. There are so many possibilities compared to a single use area that was only used part of the year.