Calculating Swimming Pool Volume in Cubic Feet

To show how you can remove your swimming pool without adding fill dirt, I will need to calculate how much dirt you would need to fill it up. This article will quickly show how much dirt is needed for a moderate size swimming pool.

I am going to use the following backyard as an example for this and the next article.

Lets see how much fill dirt would be needed by finding the surface area and depth of this pool to get an estimated total volume...

The "r" is radius. We know the diameter is 12

so the radius is half of the diameter - 12 / 2 = 6

Since this is a rough estimate, there is no need to keep the decimal places. Just round off the number.

 

Now you have the surface area of each shape of the pool. Just add them together to get the total surface area.

There is no easy way to calculate the slope of your pool, but you can get a close estimate of depth by finding an average depth. This works as long as your pool has an even slope from the shallow end to the deep end, which most pools will. If you have a sudden drop-off closer to either end of the pool then this method will be less accurate.

Most pools have an 8 foot deep end and a 3 foot shallow end.

Total Volume = Length x Width x Depth

Since "Surface Area = Length x Width" we can substitute "Length x Width" with the "Surface Area" to get

Total Volume = Surface Area x Depth

1677.5 Cubic Feet is the estimated total volume of this pool.

1677 cubic feet of dirt is about 62 cubic yards. That would fill approximately 300 wheelbarrows.

The above calculation is fairly accurate if your pool is perfectly squared on the bottom. Most pools are rounded or tapered along the bottom. This will make the calculation a little high. So what I would do is just round it down a little to 1500 cubic feet for tapered or very round bottoms, or 1600 cubic feet for slightly rounded bottoms. That will give you an easier and more accurate number to work with.

How can you get rid of your swimming pool without dirt? It's not magic, and it's not hard as long as you are making a pond and you have enough yard on each side of your pool to make up the difference. I'll show you exactly in the next article.