We bought a house that had an inground fiberglass pool installed last year.
We are under the 2005 rules and in a rural area which only required a construction permit and no inspection.
The pool has a ladder, led light and rail.
The equipment pad is 20 ft from the pool and there is a pump, heater, timer and salt water generator.
An 8ga bond wire connects the pump, heater, salt water generator and then goes out to the rail and ladder cups and then the light.
I notice when kneeling on the concrete deck and touching the water, I get a very slight "sting".
However, if I crouch on the deck with my shoes on and touch the water - nothing.
I am also measuring .5 volts dc via my digital meter with the + probe in the water and the - attached to a 8ga rod about a foot in the ground just past the deck.
No AC volts are measured.
I know - I know - you are going to say the concrete isn't bonded and that is why it is there and that it "should" have had a grid under the concrete or attached to the rebar. I agree. However, I am not certain there is rebar in the deck. It is 4" thick by 4' all the way around. I talked to the pool company that did the work and they are not sure either. I frankly don't know how they wouldn't know, but that is a topic for later discussion.
I also know that when I do a continuity test, I am getting continuity at all levels of the bonding - i.e. both cups of the rail and ladder, the light, etc... so there are no breaks in the wire.
Our power line and phone line are buried and the grounding rod for them is beside the equipment pad.
I had the POCO come out and disconnect the meter, then the transformer, etc... Still there. They also disconnected the nearest neighbor a couple acres over and still there. We read the same dc voltage in their pond!
Therefore, I know it is not coming from our property as far as the POCO is concerned.
I had the phone company come out and disconnect their stuff at the pole and still there.
Just as some added info, we have an antenna tower on the side of the house that is connected to its own burried ground rod.
On that antenna is our dish tv dish and a digital antenna for off air which both have a ground wire attached from them to the tower.
I guess what this long post boils down to is:
Where would the DC voltage be coming from?
Is it possible that we would feel .5 dc? I am thinking the salt water is helping increase that but .5??
The POCO registered the same number, so I know the readings are correct.
They are stumped as am I.
Short of tearing out several thousand dollars worth of concrete, is there anything I can do such as creating an external grounding ring around the pool?
I am able to dig all the way around the concrete including under it if needed, but not sure what too do at this point other than keep everyone out for safety sake.
We are under the 2005 rules and in a rural area which only required a construction permit and no inspection.
The pool has a ladder, led light and rail.
The equipment pad is 20 ft from the pool and there is a pump, heater, timer and salt water generator.
An 8ga bond wire connects the pump, heater, salt water generator and then goes out to the rail and ladder cups and then the light.
I notice when kneeling on the concrete deck and touching the water, I get a very slight "sting".
However, if I crouch on the deck with my shoes on and touch the water - nothing.
I am also measuring .5 volts dc via my digital meter with the + probe in the water and the - attached to a 8ga rod about a foot in the ground just past the deck.
No AC volts are measured.
I know - I know - you are going to say the concrete isn't bonded and that is why it is there and that it "should" have had a grid under the concrete or attached to the rebar. I agree. However, I am not certain there is rebar in the deck. It is 4" thick by 4' all the way around. I talked to the pool company that did the work and they are not sure either. I frankly don't know how they wouldn't know, but that is a topic for later discussion.
I also know that when I do a continuity test, I am getting continuity at all levels of the bonding - i.e. both cups of the rail and ladder, the light, etc... so there are no breaks in the wire.
Our power line and phone line are buried and the grounding rod for them is beside the equipment pad.
I had the POCO come out and disconnect the meter, then the transformer, etc... Still there. They also disconnected the nearest neighbor a couple acres over and still there. We read the same dc voltage in their pond!
Therefore, I know it is not coming from our property as far as the POCO is concerned.
I had the phone company come out and disconnect their stuff at the pole and still there.
Just as some added info, we have an antenna tower on the side of the house that is connected to its own burried ground rod.
On that antenna is our dish tv dish and a digital antenna for off air which both have a ground wire attached from them to the tower.
I guess what this long post boils down to is:
Where would the DC voltage be coming from?
Is it possible that we would feel .5 dc? I am thinking the salt water is helping increase that but .5??
The POCO registered the same number, so I know the readings are correct.
They are stumped as am I.
Short of tearing out several thousand dollars worth of concrete, is there anything I can do such as creating an external grounding ring around the pool?
I am able to dig all the way around the concrete including under it if needed, but not sure what too do at this point other than keep everyone out for safety sake.