POOL BONDING

[Suziqzer]

Split off of this topic by Bama Rambler
So.. I have an above ground pool, aluminum I believe. Hubby is confused about the whole bonding concept and I'm trying to get him to understand it. I want to enjoy our pool, not fear it.

Anyway... we need to bond our pool by means of connecting continuous copper to the frame, pump and somehow making contact with the water as well... plus any possible metal pool features like the steps. Correct? I believe that's what I've come to understand after searching here through a few threads.

Thanks!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Anyway... we need to bond our pool by means of connecting continuous copper to the frame, pump and somehow making contact with the water as well... plus any possible metal pool features like the steps. Correct?

You are correct. You should run a continuous #8 copper wire to each piece of metal equipment. It's not as difficult as it souunds. Your pool will either have a dedicated place for bonding or at least a bolt where the wall is joined together that you can attach a bond wire to. Your pump has a bonding lug as well as any other electrical equipment. Bonding the water if you have copper piping it's easy, but is a little more of a challenge if you have plastic pipes, but not impossible. One way to do it is to buy a brass or copper pipe plug and attach the bond wire to it by drilling and tapping it for a screw and threading it into the drain hole of the pump.

 

[NWMNMom]

Wow, I have discovered that our system is NOT bonded at all. The pump, pool and SWG are the three items that are metal. The filter is is a huge poly/plastic system with many pvc/plastic parts. So the idea is to run a section of #8 copper wire from a screw somewhere on the pool, to the pump, then to the SWG? I don't recall seeing a "bonding lug" or screw anywhere on the pump but can it be attached anywhere on there or does it have to be somewhere in particular on there or ??? The SWG has a dedicated bonding lug on the bottom of the control unit, which will be wired to our timer. Both the pump and the SWG will be wired to that timer - does the timer have to be in that bonding loop too or ???

 

[JasonLion]

Bonding is not normally required for "temporary" pools. What exactly is a temporary pool varies from place to place however. In a few areas all above ground pools are temporary, in many places pools can only be temporary if they are shallower than 4 feet, in a few areas almost no pool is temporary even if you only have it up for a day or two.

The goal of bonding is to get everything a swimmer might possibly touch to be at the same electrical potential. If everything is at the same potential, then no current will flow and you can't be shocked. Bonding is one of several safety systems that protect people from electricity in the pool. If everything is properly installed, it requires more than one thing to fail before you can get a shock.

Only metal items that touch the water, or are within 3 feet of open water, need to be bonded. The timer should be more than 3 feet from the pool, so it is fine without bonding.

There are special fittings that you need to use if you have to bond the water. Very few areas currently require bonding the water, though this is becoming more common over time.

Some pumps, especially above ground pool pumps, are double insulated and do not need to be bonded. When you have a double insulated pump, the bonding wire still needs to come to the pump so that if the pump is ever replaced the future pump could be bonded.

 

[NWMNMom]

Our pump, filter, etc are all at around 4 - 5 feet from the pool with the timer and SWG controller being about 7 feet or more. Thanks for the info Jason!