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A backyard pool that never needs a drop of chlorine still comes with a very real price tag.
Jaak Harju, a New Jersey-based pond builder with Atlantis Water Gardens, gets the same question from homeowners constantly: how much does a natural swimming pond actually cost? In his August 2020 video “HOW MUCH does a RECREATION POND COST?? Swimming in a Natural Pool,” Harju teams up with Alan Decker, a Master Certified Aquascape Contractor who runs Decker’s Pondscapes out of Pattersonville, New York, to walk through the real numbers behind a custom-built recreation pond rather than the modest garden water features most people picture.
- The featured natural swim pond cost approximately $165,000 to build — comparable to, or slightly above, a high-end traditional swimming pool installation.
- Decker’s typical starting range for a custom residential swim pond runs from roughly $150,000 to $225,000 or more, driven by excavation size, stonework, filtration gear, and added water features.
- Instead of chemicals, the system relies on biological filtration zones, aquatic plants, skimmers, and waterfall pumps to keep the water clean.
Factors Driving High Market Prices
Harju and Decker are upfront that a full recreation pond is a landscape construction project, not a backyard water feature you pick up at a garden center. Excavation dimensions alone can swing the budget dramatically, and that’s before factoring in the specialized stonework that shapes the swim zone, the mechanical filtration equipment, and any integrated waterfalls or streams tied into the design. Decker’s baseline of $150,000 to $225,000-plus reflects a build meant to function as a genuine swimming destination, not just something to look at.
The $165,000 pond the two contractors walk through in the video sits right in that range, and both men frame it against a comparison homeowners already understand: a high-end gunite or custom concrete pool. For that kind of money, buyers are essentially choosing between a chlorinated pool and an ecosystem built to filter itself — a decision that shows up again and again in projects like these mansions with backyard waterparks and insane pools, where scale and custom engineering drive cost far past a standard installation.
Living With It Day to Day
The bigger shift, according to Decker, isn’t the build cost — it’s what ownership looks like afterward. A natural recreation pond skips the chemical testing, heating schedules, and liner replacements that come standard with a traditional pool. In their place: clearing skimmers, seasonal pruning of aquatic plants, and keeping an eye on the biological balance that keeps the water clear.
The shallow wetland and plant shelves naturally strip nutrients to keep the water clean and clear while harboring beneficial bacteria and wildlife.
That biological filtration is doing the same job a chlorine pump does in a conventional pool — just slower and without the harsh chemistry. Wildlife setting up shop in those plant shelves is treated as a feature, not a nuisance, since the ecosystem’s health is what keeps the swim zone usable all season.
The Real Comparison to a Traditional Pool
Harju’s core point in the video is that people shouldn’t compare a $165,000 swim pond to a $10,000 backyard fountain — the honest comparison is to a premium in-ground pool build. Once viewers see the range Decker quotes, $150,000 to $225,000 or more, the “eco-friendly” framing stops sounding like a discount option and starts looking like a lifestyle trade-off: less chemical upkeep and a natural landscape look, in exchange for a construction bill that lands at or above high-end pool territory.
For homeowners weighing that trade-off against other big backyard builds, the maintenance math tends to be the deciding factor — no draining and refilling, no chemical balancing kits, just skimmer checks and plant trims through the season.
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