Vanishing Act: The Awesomeness of Infinity Edge Pools

Source: Ruben Swieringa

Once a curiosity reserved for fancy resorts, infinity edge pools are becoming more popular with residential pool owners. They'll never be appropriate for the typical backyard pool, but if your goal is to impress people and/or create the perfect environment to enjoy the natural scenery in your backyard, this is sort of the ultimate. These pools create a stunning visual effect that impresses all but the most jaded onlookers.

What is an infinity edge pool? To start, it might be helpful to list some of the other names this type of pool goes by:

• Vanishing edge
• Negative edge
• Zero edge
• Disappearing edge
• Perimeter overflow

Some pool mavens might argue there are differences between some of these terms, but for most people, they represent the same thing - a pool designed to look like one of its edges does not exist. This is done by building one side of the pool shorter than the others. Water spills over this weir wall into a basin and is then pumped back into the pool. From the right angle, this artificial waterfall makes it look like the pool goes on forever (thus "infinity").

Source: David Quick

Infinity edges tend to be reserved for very high-end pools. It's not so much that the mechanism is so elaborate or expensive - it's more about the environment required to pull off this effect. To make it work, you really need a strong backdrop. Many of the pictures you find of infinity pools on the internet show the infinity edge showcasing the ocean, mountains, or sometimes a city skyline. Not many people have the luxury of such surroundings.



Also consider the fact that you must, by law, have your pool enclosed in most areas. Where do you put a fence that it doesn't screw up your infinity effect? It takes the right setting and a healthy budget to address challenges like this.

For those reasons, infinity edge swimming pools will probably never catch on the way, say, fiberglass pools have. It's unlikely that an infinity edge fad will be coming to your neighborhood any time soon (unless you live in a very swanky neighborhood, that is). But for those who have great scenery and some extra money to spend, bringing these resort favorites home has never been more viable.