I'm thinking about my next photobash. I've seen photos of projects turning old, likely nonfunctional swimming pools into walipinis, but conventional wisdom has that there's a big difference between an empty concrete swimming pool and a proper foundation. That the sides will collapse without the support of the pool water, or the water table in the ground will lift the thing like a concrete boat and break it. Just the same, it's not uncommon to see abandoned swimming pools laying empty, looking more or less foundation-shaped. It seems like a very solarpunk thing, to turn an expensive-to-maintain luxury into something practical, a greenhouse that takes less energy to keep it warm.
So my question is: can it be done, especially if the pool is already nonfunctional and you're not worried about returning it to its original use? What steps/precautions should you take to make it last and safe? Reinforce the sides? Cut away part of the bottom? Add drainage around it?
Thanks for any thoughts
That's a good consideration and something I haven't seen brought up with regards to walipinis (didn't think of it either, though I had read up on the risk awhile back for a postapoclyptic story I was working on about a guy who hunts for old bunkers and safe houses). Nature abhors a vacuum and it likes to fill them with water, mold, and heavier-than-air gasses. Luckily, greenhouses require a certain amount of ventilation, but I doubt most are configured properly for heavier-than-air stuff. Thanks!