Running power to a garden water feature

[Jay Hanig]

I live on a coastal island and have a circular pea gravel over sand driveway. In the center of that circle are two stone lined depressions that were part of a Japanese garden. One depression has a large rock (300-400lbs) in it; the other a small pagoda lantern. I have decided to have a pond with a bamboo fountain installed in one of the depressions, about 10' X 14'. The fountain is just going to be a piece of bamboo that drains out of a river rock backwall... should look both natural and in keeping with the Japanese theme.

The guy from the nursery who's going to install the water feature for me tells me I need to provide 110V service out there: just a receptacle in some sort of enclosure. So I'm going to need to run some wire from the house across the driveway to the central area of the driveway.

So my questions are these:

1) What kind of wire and what kind of conduit should I use? This feature is going to get its own circuit breaker so I can isolate any problems on down the road.

2) How deep do I need to bury the conduit?

3) Nobody has said a word about a permit. Do I need one?

One further complication is there is an irrigation line running from the house to that same area for the automatic sprinklers. How deep are they typically buried and how do I avoid cutting them when I dig? I have no idea where the irrigation line is but I suspect it's going to come across from the other side (at least that's the way I would have done it).

Jay

[Jeff The Drunk]

Have you asked the local government where to find the regulations? Surely they would be able to tell you where to get the specifics.

[John Grabowski]

*UF cable or PVC conduit.

"18" in soil and 24" under the driveway.

*Call your town and ask them.

*No way to be certain of the depth, but I tend to find them within 12" of the surface. You have to dig carefully.

[Jules Richardson]

I think that's entirely dependent on local code. Here, I think cable carrying 110V needs to be a minimum of 24" below ground with the 'tails' at either end protected by conduit - but horizontal runs at 24" or deeper don't need to be in conduit. I'd need a permit before laying anything, and a inspection afterwards.

Rules for low-voltage stuff are much more relaxed I believe, and possibly non-existent; perhaps a 12V pump running from a power supply in the house is an option if the distance isn't too great and your fountain is more throwing water out of a wall than squirting it up into the air (it doesn't sound like the sort of thing that needs a huge, power-hungry pump in other words)?

Hmmm, I think that maybe all you can do there is dig carefully! For water, I doubt there's any kind of depth rule. Maybe you can hope the pipe runs in a nearly-straight line, so if you can locate and dig one end and note the direction you can guess at the route and avoid it.

cheers

Jules

[Kurt Ullman]

I'd probably find the valve boxes and see where it runs from there. Find that, figure out the first head on that zone and then figure that the runs to the other sprinklers go the shortest distance from the last one.

[ransley]

How about a solar powered pump, they work.

[Colbyt]

I think, I would verify that if doing, that my local codes call for 12" if in conduit and GFI protected. 18" if UF cable.

Crossing the drive goes well beyond anything I have done, so no comment.

In most parts of the US you need a permit to wipe your butt, whether you get one or not is up to you.

Put the GFI in the house so if some poor soul cuts the line on a rainy day he won't get killed. Put a sticker on the bell box at the water feature.