Electric and Plumbing Same Trench

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mkgrady

Senior Member
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Massachusetts
A plumber told me you can't put water and power in the same trench without 3 feet of seperation? True?.

The situation is I'm running an underground feeder in PVC from a house to a pool cabana subpanel. A plumber is running a water line in the same trench. Any separation required? I'm in Mass.

Mike
 
mkgrady said:
. . . you can't put water and power in the same trench without 3 feet of separation? True?

. . . Any separation required? I'm in Mass.
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The NEC is silent on this issue, the NESC requires one foot of separation (may be vertical separation) except under certain circumstances. Local codes and ordinances, someone else will have to address. :)
 
The situation is I'm running an underground feeder in PVC from a house to a pool cabana subpanel. A plumber is running a water line in the same trench. Any separation required?
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Not in AZ.


Common sense tells me to put the electrical in first and backfill 6" or so for separation.
 
ultramegabob said:
who is digging the trench? sounds like the seperation is a plumbing issue, not an electrical issue...
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The home owner is the GC and is hiring an excavation contractor. I suspect it is a plumbing code issue in Mass., based on what I remember hearing years ago. I'd like to caution the home owner to seperate the two but I'm not sure it is a real problem and if it is I don't know what distance seperation is required.

I guess I'll just tell the owner to check with the plumber but I hate admitting that I don't know the answer.
 
this is acceptable in my county if they are separated and lying side by side. we're not allowed to stack them.
 
mkgrady said:
A plumber told me you can't put water and power in the same trench without 3 feet of seperation? True?.

The situation is I'm running an underground feeder in PVC from a house to a pool cabana subpanel. A plumber is running a water line in the same trench. Any separation required? I'm in Mass.

Mike
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Where I live it is true yet still done every day and more often than not by about 75%
 
mkgrady said:
Wow, a code the majority ignore? I hate that. It makes the workers that do it right less competitive.
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Maybe it is not really a code, it could just be a rumor, or a rule that was removed.
 
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