Does your pool need to be bonded to add a SWG?

[Bama Rambler]

The same rules apply to AGP's as to IGP's. All metal near or in your pool should be bonded, SWG or not! Electrical bonding is for personal protection and should be done on all pools.

You need to bond the shell and any other metal part that touches the water or is within 5' of the water together. There should be a bonding lug on the shell of the pool somewhere. Each upright will need to be bonded too unless it's screwed to the shell at some point.

On my pool, it's designed so that all the metal parts are tied together and one bonding lug will bond the entire pool.

 

[gqjeff]

Our pool only has the metal shell the upright posts are resin so I would just need to attach a copper cable to the walls and them to my grounding rod that the pump and heater are already connected too? I have a ladder but its pretty much all plastic with just the hand rails being metal and they are in the water.

 

[Bama Rambler]

That sounds right to me. That's pretty easy.

 

[JasonLion]

Based on the 2008 NEC, you need to connect essentially all metal within one meter of the water, plus most of the equipment (pump, heater, SWG, underwater lights, etc), plus the water it's self, plus the deck around the pool. For above ground pools that usually means the metal in the pool walls, the pump, and a loop of wire 18" to 24" horizontally from the water and 4" to 6" below sub-grade all the way around the pool. Bonding the water is normally done with a special piece of metal pipe designed for this purpose, though a pool heater can often serve as bonding for the water. For plaster/gunite pools the rebar in the concrete is normally connected to the bonding wire to bond both the deck and the water. The bonding wire must be #8 solid copper or larger.

This list is not complete and the exact details of what is required vary from place to place. For complete details, consult a licensed electrician who is familiar with the rules for swimming pools in your area. Even if bonding is not required where you are, it is still a very very good idea.

Also, keep in mind that electrical ground and bonding are usually separate connectors on each piece of equipment, and should be different pieces of wire.

 

[gqjeff]

hmmm might have to have someone take a look and shot me a cost to have it done. I was looking at the aqua trol HP/TL as I can remove my Nature 2 and plumb it inline where that was and I have a twist lock plug pump so I can plug that right into the aqua trol correct? Then does the aqua trol itself have a twist lock plug? Currently I have my twist lock plugged into an adapter that plugs into a reg recepticle that is 20 AMP gfi in my electrical box in my house.

 

[JasonLion]

The Aqua Trol comes in two versions, one with a standard plug and the other with a twist lock plug.

 

[gqjeff]

Would it be a good unit for 13500 gallons? I guess i could get straight plug and just use the adapter the pump came with in that case. I am currently using tri chlor and adding bleach daily for me would be hard so thats why I have thought about the SWG system.