Skimmer, overflow or infinity: which pool edge suits your Dubai villa?
Skimmer, overflow and infinity pools hold the same water in different ways, and the difference shows at the edge every day: a band of tile under the coping, a sheet of water level with the paving, or a far side that disappears towards a view. This guide explains how each system circulates, which Dubai plots suit it, what the build needs and how each lives with the heat, the sand and the family.
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Three ways to move the same water
A pool stays clean because water keeps leaving the surface, passing through a filter and coming back, and the systems differ in how the surface water leaves. In a skimmer pool the water line sits a little below the coping, and boxes set into the wall draw off the surface film, with its leaves, dust and sunscreen, which passes through the filter and returns through inlets in the walls. In an overflow pool the walls stop at the water line, so the water spills over the edge on the sides you choose, drops into a narrow channel under a grating, runs to a balance tank underground and is pumped back through inlets in the floor; the tank holds the water that swimmers push over the edge, so in normal use the surface stays at the level of the paving. In an infinity pool one wall is set slightly lower than the rest, so the water slides over it in a thin sheet into a catch trough below and returns the same way, while the other walls can be ordinary skimmer walls. The choice is made with the shape, the deck and the shade, as our swimming pool design ideas explain, and our swimming pool construction team shows the options in 3D for the plot before one is chosen.
What each looks like at the waterline and from the villa
In Dubai the pool is seen through the living room glass for more hours than it is swum in, so how the edge reads from the sofa matters as much as how it feels underfoot.
Skimmer pool
A visible rim: the coping stone, a band of tile below it, then the water. From the house the pool reads as a shape set into the paving, and the lids of the skimmer boxes sit in the deck. It is the edge most Dubai villas came with, and a glass panel, a raised spill wall or a lit coping lifts it well beyond plain; our skimmer pools for villa gardens page shows how.
Overflow pool
Water level with the paving, so the surface reads as a sheet of glass laid into the garden and the grating is the line that frames it. From an upper floor, which is how a townhouse garden is often seen, the grating is as visible as the water, so its colour and joints are chosen with the paving. Our deck-level overflow pools page covers the layouts.
Infinity pool
From the seat it is designed for, there is no far wall, only water meeting a lake, a golf course, a palm line or the sky; from the side you see a spill wall with a sheet of water running into a trough. The edge belongs on the line people look along, as our infinity pools for Dubai villas page explains.
Mirror pool
The calm cousin of the overflow: shallow, dark on the floor, filled to the brim and kept level by a quiet overflow at the edge, so the surface doubles the house, a tree or the dusk sky. It is a water feature on an axis, at the entrance or outside a main window, rather than a place to swim; see our mirror and reflecting pools.
Which system suits which plot
Plot size, levels, views and who uses the water
On a flat, walled garden, which describes most villa plots in Dubai, the skimmer pool is the natural fit. The overflow channel and the balance tank take deck width and underground space, and on a townhouse strip in a community like Mudon or The Springs that width is often the whole side path, so a plunge pool for a smaller garden or a lap pool along the boundary is nearly always built as a skimmer pool. An overflow pool suits a larger plot where the pool is the centre of a formal garden seen head-on from the living room glass. An infinity edge needs what the plot has to supply: something to look at beyond the edge, and a drop for the trough. A lake plot in Jumeirah Islands or a golf-course plot in Emirates Hills gives the view; on a flat plot the drop is built by raising the pool, and if the edge faces a neighbour's boundary wall the effect is lost.
Wind and sand decide the rest. An overflow on every side pulls the surface film off the whole pool, so dust blown in on a windy day is carried away quickly; a skimmer pool needs its boxes downwind, where the wind pushes the debris. An exposed, gusty edge works against an infinity pool, because wind pushes the sheet unevenly and splashes it over the trough, so the orientation is settled on paper. For families, a skimmer pool has a rim that reads as an edge; an overflow has nothing to show where paving ends and water begins, so a contrasting edge finish, a lockable cover or a fence is planned from the start. For hosting, the overflow gives the resort look under evening light, and the infinity edge is the view from the seating, which is where the pergola goes.
What each system asks of the build
The edge you see is the smallest part of the difference. Most of it is underground and is fixed at the planning stage, because it cannot be added later.
- Space for the balance tankAn overflow or infinity pool needs a tank below the water level, usually sized to the surface area and to how many people are likely to be in the water at once, under the deck or in the plant area, with a manhole for servicing. A skimmer pool needs none, which is why it fits a tight plot.
- A larger plant roomLifting water from a tank back through floor inlets usually takes more pump capacity than a skimmer circuit, and the pumps, filter and any chiller need a ventilated, reachable enclosure. On a narrow plot that is often against the boundary wall, so its position is fixed with the neighbour's bedroom window in mind.
- A level edge all the way roundOn an overflow pool the wall itself is the weir. If one side sits a little higher than another, that side runs dry while the opposite side floods the channel, so in most builds the edge is set with instruments. An infinity spill wall is the same weir on one side, and a raised or terrace pool usually needs a structural engineer's design to carry the water and the wall.
- Waterproofing on more surfacesThe shell, the channel and the balance tank all hold water permanently. Each is usually treated before tiling and filled to test for leaks while a repair is still simple; our waterproofing for villas page explains where it is applied and tested.
- Concrete or fibreglassOverflow and infinity edges are usually easier in concrete, because the edge, the channel and the trough are formed with the walls, while a skimmer pool can also be set in as a one-piece shell; our fibreglass pool installation page explains what a ready shell may or may not allow.
- ApprovalsThe developer or community management may require a no-objection certificate for the pool and for any raised structure near the boundary, and pool works in Dubai communities generally need approval before construction starts. Which apply depends on your community and the scope; we make those applications ourselves.
Water loss, sand, cleaning and temperature in a Dubai summer
Dubai's heat and dust treat the systems differently, and the running habits that come with each are worth knowing first.
Evaporation and refilling
Water running over an edge exposes more of itself to hot, dry air than still water, so an overflow or infinity pool usually loses more in July than a skimmer pool of the same size. The automatic refill and the balance tank are sized for it, and shade over part of the water helps. A skimmer pool also takes a cover easily; a deck-level pool is harder to cover neatly.
Sand and dust
After a windy day every pool carries a film of fine sand. An overflow clears it quickly, because the whole surface is drawn off; the sand then settles in the channel and the tank, which are flushed as part of the service. In a skimmer pool the baskets fill and are emptied by hand, and in each system the floor is vacuumed or cleaned by a robot.
The cleaning routine
Skimmer: empty the baskets, brush the tile band at the water line where sunscreen and dust collect, backwash the filter. Overflow: lift sections of grating and hose the channel, check the tank level and the refill. Infinity: keep the trough clear of leaves so the pump does not run dry. Hidden slot channels look cleaner than a grating and need closer attention.
Chillers and heating
Each system can take a chiller for August and a heat pump for winter evenings. The unit is sized to the water it has to treat, and on an overflow or infinity system that includes the tank and channel, so it is specified for the whole circuit and housed with the plant room. Our guide to pool chillers and cooling covers sizing and running it sensibly.
Tiles, grating and light at the edge
Finishes that decide how the edge reads
On a skimmer pool the band of tile at the water line does the hard work in the garden: it takes the scum line, the sun and the weekly brush, so it is usually glass mosaic or porcelain rather than plaster, and its colour sets the colour of the water; a coping flush with the paving makes the rim almost disappear. On an overflow pool the coping is the edge, cut to the level of the water, and the grating sits in a well-walked line of the garden. A stone-look or porcelain grating in the colour of the paving reads as part of the deck, a slim slot just outside the pool reads as nothing at all, and a bright plastic grating reads as a hotel. Pale finishes stay cooler underfoot in August; our guide to choosing pool tiles covers the materials.
On an infinity pool the outer face of the spill wall is the finish seen from the garden below, and a dark tile makes the sheet of water read clearly while the inside of the pool stays pale and bright. Lighting finishes the job: a line of light under a skimmer pool's coping, underwater lights along one wall of an overflow pool, and lights along an infinity spill wall keep the edge alive at night, when a Dubai garden is used most in summer. At Project Casa Colonia in The Villa the outdoor transformation included integrated underwater and perimeter LED lighting, and the photo shows what a lit edge does for a long pool after dark.
Turning an existing skimmer pool into an overflow pool
Many Dubai villas came with a plain skimmer pool, and a common renovation question is whether it can become an overflow pool. Sometimes, and it depends on what is checked on site before any drawing: the level of the water against the deck, the room around the pool for a channel, and a place for a balance tank that can be reached. Where the pool sits close to deck level, the wall heads can be rebuilt as a weir, the deck lifted or cut back for the channel and a tank built beside the pool, with new pumps to suit. Where the pool is well below the deck or hemmed in by the house and the boundary wall, it is rarely worth it, and the budget does more as a new finish, a flush coping, a glass panel, a raised wall with a spout or a lit edge, none of which touch the hydraulics. An overflow along the one side seen from the house, or a raised spa that spills into the main pool, is a middle route. Equipment often decides it in an older villa: on Project Miracle in The Villa the outdoor scope included a skimmer pool with a glass corner, and the water pump was relocated as part of the works. Our pool renovation page explains how we assess an existing pool first.
Pools from our projects
Project Jewel
The Villa, Dubai · 750 sqm · February 2020 - July 2020A skimmer pool lit at dusk, with white sun loungers and a parasol beside it, an arched garden wall with a lattice gate and an outdoor shower, a hanging egg chair and uplit palms, part of a villa makeover in The Villa that also covered a new kitchen, lighting, furniture, remodelled bathrooms, covered parking and landscaping.
View project →
Project Majestic
Al Twar, Dubai · Q4 of FY2024A pool with a raised wall at its far end, edged by stepping slabs set in white pebbles with globe lights, and a sunken structure for relaxation and gatherings beside it with the gazebo beyond, part of a full indoor and outdoor transformation in Al Twar whose outdoor works included a cascading water feature and a custom-built parking area.
View project →More of our work: YouTube · Instagram · our Google reviews
Questions and answers
What is the difference between a skimmer pool and an overflow pool?
Is an infinity pool just an overflow pool on one side?
Which type suits a townhouse garden?
Which loses the most water in a Dubai summer?
Can an overflow or infinity pool have a chiller?
Can my existing skimmer pool be converted to overflow?
Is an overflow pool safe for small children?
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