MB Couple Turn Pool Into Water Resource

Dina Cramer casually mentioned to Mike Garcia, who was trimming her trees, that she and her husband Irl had decided to eliminate their backyard swimming pool. The couple wanted a "nice garden area" now that their kids were grown and the pool was seldom used. 

In a conversation with Manhattan Beach Patch Friday, Dina says she just threw the idea "out there" to Garcia who seized it and said they could install a rainwater harvesting system. Garcia, whose business Enviroscape focuses on sustainable native garden landscaping design, had installed a rainwater harvesting system at his own home.

The result is an unseen system of rainwater storage retrofitted into the pool, whose edges were ground down.

Says Dina now that the job is done: "We're kind of a guinea pig."

That stated, the resulting garden is a backyard oasis for Dina and Irl, who have lived in Manhattan Beach for 34 years.

Dina explains that she and Irl will see what financial savings their new water-conserving system yields as time goes by, noting that the couple loves the idea of conservation but isn't particularly on the leading edge of it... until now. 

The couple's serene new landscape includes a firepit, beautiful tropical plants, small waterfall and stream.

The Los Angeles Times details the design plan and how it is expected to conserve water in an online article with photos.

Dina says the couple will be entertaining in their new garden as the weather warms up. "We can really use our backyard now," she told MB Patch.