pool water bonding

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Joe Mush said:
Skimmers that have equalizers maintain water or skimmers that plumb the main drain line in to the bottom of skimmer have water in when winterized.
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Not that I have seen in this area.
 
I own a pool company and we never lower the water in a vinyl liner pool. If you have ground water you could float your liner. The lines can be blowed out with the pool full.
 
Joe Mush said:
I own a pool company and we never lower the water in a vinyl liner pool. If you have ground water you could float your liner. The lines can be blowed out with the pool full.
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I grew up with vinyl lined in ground pools and there where always drained below the lines. Times may have changed, that was 20+ years ago.
 
Pools that are built with vinyl over steps need to keep the water on the or they can shrink. Even the new safety covers need water to support them.
 
Thanks for the input. The homeowners run this pump continuously because it has a salt generator for the chlorine. The concrete deck is 6' wide...so it would be difficult to get to the skimmer box. The pump is 20' away from the pool and almost level with the water. I will go ahead and bond a brass fitting in the suction line and explain to the homeowner that the line has to be full of water for proper bonding.
 
A salt generator will make to much chlorine run 24/7 unless this is a very big pool. I have salt on my own pool run 12 hours a day set at 20% an had to turn it down today.
 
Why dont you just put the brass nipple in the 2" or whatever drain line @ the very bottom of the pool? THen clamp onto that and call it done? The pool could be 'empty" and still the water in the drain basket would be bonded.

~Matt
 
This is not a new pool he's working on.

The only problem I see with a brass fitting in the bottom of the pool is water that is out of balance can be very corrosive. A brass fitting there would be costly to replace.
 
Our area just adopted the '08 code in June. We haven't done a pool yet, but we are thinking of a metallic sweep elbow, or just a short piece of pipe buried below the water level just in front of the pump. It will still be underground, but in a relatively accessible place.
The vast majority of pool builders around here are using fiber optics, so there is no other metal in constant contact with the water.

That could be an easy change to the code section. "9 square inches in constant contact with the body of water.
 
IMO the best answer would be for a manufacturer to make a main drain with at least 9" sq in of bendable metal.

That way as long as there is any water in the pool it is bonded and it will never be removed from the pool like ladders are.
 
iwire said:
IMO the best answer would be for a manufacturer to make a main drain with at least 9" sq in of bendable metal.

That way as long as there is any water in the pool it is bonded and it will never be removed from the pool like ladders are.
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With all that is happening in regards to pool design and changes...plumbing as well as electrical, I would not be surprised to see a metallic type drain cover for this scenario.
Personnally, I think it would be an easy way to solve this new code requirement.
And, it is kind of ironic, as most pool designers have gotten away from metallic parts installed within the pool itself.
 
I believe most pool installers are getting away from metallic parts because of water chemistry. Customers are to busy working to pay for the pool to take care of it properly. I have seen pool heat exchangers damaged from water chemistry in as little as one month. Acidic water even as mild as 6.5 pushing through a pipe or tube at a rate of 50+ GPM will erode metals very quickly.

The drain cover is a good idea though, the flow rate is not quite as high and would stand up to the water longer.
 
hey_poolboy said:
The drain cover is a good idea though, the flow rate is not quite as high and would stand up to the water longer.
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Wouldn't a drain cover or body made of stainless steel last indefinitely?
 
pool water bonding

sparky59 said:
yes...i hadn't thought about that. i could put in a section of brass big enough for the required 9 sq. inches. thanks for the suggestion
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That is the method most installers are using and I am accepting.It is not listed however,but what else is one to do?
 
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