Pool bonding and safety

[mike.stocker]

Full disclosure, I am not a member of the electrical community so delete this post if you need to. I have a question regarding pool bonding. I have read quite a few posts on this topic but am still a bit confused.

I bought my first house recently with an old in-ground vinyl pool. I think the pool was put in during the ‘90s. One of the electricians who did some work for me around the house doesn’t think the pool has a bonding grid. The pump motor definitely isn’t bonded as there is no bare copper wire attached to the bonding lug. He suggested at the very least I install a “water bond coupling” to bond the water and also to bond the pump motor. My question is, is this truly necessary? If there is no bonding grid, where would he run the wire? Is it even worth doing if no other pool related equipment is bonded? He suggested that it would provide some level of protection. I read on a thread on this forum I believe that unless everything pool-related that needs to be bonded is bonded, bonding one or two components could actually make things worse. Is that accurate? Am I better off leaving it as is?

The pool is pretty simple with removable metal stairs, a diving board that I would like to uninstall, and that’s about it. I don’t think there are any light fixtures inside the pool, I have yet to confirm though as I haven’t opened the pool yet. I couldn’t find any way of controlling a light within the pool though.

If this post gets approved, let me know if I can provide any other information to help your answers. Thank you in advance!

 

[Little Bill]

We sometimes allow general questions about electrical subjects. However, a pool, & equipment is a very serious item that needs to be safely installed. There are lots of things to be done to safely bond a pool. I can only tell you that all equipment, metal objects near, on, & in the pool need to be bonded. We can't very well address your situation without being there. I would suggest you contact an electrician that is familiar with not only bonding, but how to check if it is bonded. Regretfully, that's as far as we can go. Hope you get it resolved!