We are often asked, ‘how deep should I make my pool?”
The honest truth is…
there is no right or wrong answer.
Because it really depends on who is going to be using your pool and what does the current shape and design reasonably allow for.
Generally when clients come to a pool builder, their questions revolve around size, shape, placement and material but it really is worth considering the depth of the pool right from get-go.

What’s the most common solution?

Most residential in-ground swimming pools have a slope from the shallow end to the deep end which usually allows for jumping and diving.  A deep end is anywhere from 1.7m to 2m+ but this can be affected by the length of the pool.
Let’s try an example.
If your pool is 4m long, it’s going to be difficult to have a 2m deep end as the slope will be uncomfortably steep to get back to a modest 1.2m in the shallow end.  When designing a pool, we aim to maximise thespace’ – that is, the area that is flat where people typically congregate in the pool.

Here’s some typical examples/guidelines when selecting the depth of your pool

Residential/recreational pools
If you’ll be having adults and children using the pool in the family home, you’ll want to design it with a minimum depth of 1 metre.  That will keep everyone happy and grow with the family as the kids get older.  If it’s a pool solely for the adults and big kids, then you can afford to go a bit deeper like 1.8m+.  Most adults enjoy a deep pool but keep in mind that not everyone is a strong swimmer so a neat idea is to place a bench in the deep end so people can take a rest.

Lap pools

Pools that are designed for swimming laps need to be much deeper than a standard pool.  1.2 metres will give swimmers enough space to swim laps comfortably without touching the bottom.  If you’d like to let people dive in the pool, the deepest area should be close to 2m.

If pool is mainly being built to share memories with your new babies, then a shallow pool is the way to go.  Start it really shallow like 0.3m and have a gentle gradient to the deep end.  Remember kids do grow up so think ahead!