After the first formal presentation and a “space tour”, let us come back to the earth: good intentions are not enough, there is no sustainability without facts and real actions.
On the Drezzo’s hill, a pleasant surprise will refresh the Cascina’s summer. As many of you probably already knows, our natural lake is becoming reality.
We started working in October, but we did not finish in May as announced in our winter newsletter. This spring bad weather slowed us down and we are now trying to recover.
This slow process allowed us to stop and ponder, to improve the project, correct our mistakes and find new solutions. We did know ‘what’ to do, but we had to figure out ‘how’ to do it. Like jumping into the work without knowing the result.
Some numbers to understand: 21m x 14m oval-shaped, 250m2 total area – 110m2 swimming zone, 70m2 geofiltration e 70m2 phytodepuration, 1.60m maximum depth, 650 water plants (still 120 to put), more than 85 tons (85.000 Kg!!) gravel and stones washed by hand twice … it has been a huge work!
As waterproof lining, we used EPDM instead of the harmful PVC: a single 800kg piece put in place by 12 people. We created the tank for the plants by reusing the tarp scraps. While washing the gravel and the stones no drinkable water has been used, only recovery water. We did not use concrete, but removable prefabricated to control the geofiltration.
Now the pond is shaded in order to protect it from the heavy heat and light, and it will probably remain covered until September. We want to finish housing all the plants in a week, so that we can focus on refining works: boardwalk, stepladder, board etc. We will keep you updated. We cannot wait to try it even though just seeing it’s a pleasure! Perfectly in harmony with the surrounding environment!
Samuel