How one Ozponds community member turned an old pool into a thriving natural ecosystem
Meet Bruce
Bruce is a member of the Ozponds private community — a space for everyday pond builders to share ideas, troubleshoot designs, post photos, and learn from each other.
It’s available to anyone who uses the Ozponds Blueprint — my step-by-step guide to designing natural, low-maintenance ponds. The Blueprint also includes access to Virtual Kev, a chatbot trained on all my formulas and pond knowledge. It’s like having me on call, 24/7.
Bruce recently shared an incredible transformation: turning a disused swimming pool into a wildlife pond with a bog filter.
The Challenge
Bruce had a problem — an old pool that was no longer being used and an $80,000 quote from local contractors to convert it into a pond.
Yikes!
Rather than spend a fortune, Bruce reached out to me. Together, we worked out a plan to reuse the existing infrastructure and install a DIY bog filter inside the pool.
The Plan
The core idea was simple:
- Use what he already had — no new liner, no tearing everything out
- Build a bog filter directly inside the pool for natural filtration
- Harvest plants locally from nearby wetlands to keep costs down and keep the ecosystem regionally appropriate
Low-cost, high-impact.
The Build
Bruce got stuck in, dragging up plants from his wetlands, positioning the bog filter inside the pool shell, and starting the process of letting nature take over.
Reflections
“You know one tends to over-complicate things, and you have simplified it all beautifully… It’s all too stark now but I’ll blur it up nicely.”
— Bruce
He’s now letting the plants settle, grow, and do their thing. The water is circulating through the bog, the filter is running smoothly, and wildlife will start showing up.
What started as a stale old swimming pool is becoming a natural haven for frogs, insects, and native plants — and Bruce did it for a fraction of the original quote.
Want to Build Your Own?
If you’ve got a weird space, an old pool, or just want to build a beautiful pond without spending a fortune, check out the Ozponds Blueprint.
It includes:
âś… All the design formulas I use
âś… 24/7 help from Virtual Kev
âś… Access to our private pond-building community (where Bruce hangs out)
Thanks for reading — and hats off to Bruce for proving that with the right plan, anything is possible.