Well Casing Grounding

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sparky said:
Most of the well casings around these parts have been made of PVC for years.
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In my area the well casings are metal. They are also driven into the bedrock to seal out surface water. How is a PVC well casing sealed against surface water infiltration? Just curious....
 
georgestolz said:
I think Scott was trying to say, the well casing must be bonded to the EGC of the circuit feeding the well pump.


While I agree with your theory, there's one hitch: 300.3 requires all circuit conductors to be run together. I'm sure you probably run an EGC to the well pump, so it's not an issue - however, if you were to skip it based on the presence of a GEC also bonding out the casing, you'd have a 300.3 violation, IMO.

Another aspect to consider is, what if ... (hate to say that) ... but what if someone decides to remove the GEC for whatever reason down the road? For the sake of argument, let's say they upgrade/relocate the service, and realize one of the GECs is going to a non-required electrode, so they don't have to include it and don't. You just lost the bonding path.

I think one reason for the requirement to group EGCs and current-carrying circuit conductors is to minimize induced heating, but another good reason is it's hard to ditch a conductor or two and not notice others going the same way, if that makes any sense.


I think it's the same around here. I think casing is required for at least 20' (or maybe 50').

There is one local well driller that cases a lot deeper, and actually encases the casing in concrete (or something like that) and their price per foot was like $22/ft as compared to around $15/ft for a conventional well, seven years ago. I didn't really see the benefit in that and was on a budget, so I went with one of the $15 guys. :)
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Well, I definately run the EGC, so that's not an issue.

And as far as the "What if's go" well what if this and that.LOL (You knew it was coming).

And as far as it not being required wouldn't it BE required if it was initially installed. I think 250.52 A(7) allows it to be used. Thus effectively Bonding the EGC and Casing no? looking through Art 250 is giving me a headache right now but, I can't seem to find anything that prohibits this? If the GEC is sized properly for the Electrode, I am assuming it can handle the fault clearing effectively of a pump circuit.

That being said I will most likely install some sort of Lay-in lug for the EGC in the future to ensure redundant bonding.


Thanks Guys for the Input, I enjoy the discussion/professionalism.


Tom
 
romeo said:
John thank you for the kind words. I rather have a friendly and personal,relationship with the contractors that I inspect for and try to workout code issues, in an agreeable manner that will not create hardship.

I put many years of hard work into the electrical industry, and it has been rewarding. I have no objection to passing my good fortune on to others, so I will never answer a question by saying "Do It To code"
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Most of the inspectors I work with are like Romeo. I have had a few turkeys in the cities, but out here in the sticks we all seem to have an attitude that we are in this together. That is, to give the customer a safe, reliable, code compliant installation. With no "us against them" attitudes.
 
Davis9 said:
And as far as the "What if's go" well what if this and that.LOL (You knew it was coming).
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:D

And as far as it not being required wouldn't it BE required if it was initially installed.
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No - this is stomething that eScott once pointed out to me. Look at 250.50 closely, it says "All grounding electrodes as described in 250.52(A)(1) through (A)(6) that are present at each building or structure served shall be bonded..."

I think 250.52 A(7) allows it to be used.
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True, it can be considered a grounding electrode, but it is not a required one. It can be installed if one of the required ones is not present.

...I am assuming it can handle the fault clearing effectively of a pump circuit.
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Most likely - but that still leaves us with 300.3 to satisfy.

That being said I will most likely install some sort of Lay-in lug for the EGC in the future to ensure redundant bonding.
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The service's use of the pipe as a grounding electrode is redundant, but the circuit EGC bonding the pipe is not redundant, just to be clear. :)
 
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