I'd like to run electricity and water out to my backyard pond. Does anyone have any feedback on proper/safer methods/rules for digging a trench to do this?
-- BV.
Call your locating service, then dig carefully w
Plastic pipe, PVC minimum of 12 inches as long as your in the yard not the driveway Rigid threaded pipe, minimum of 6 inches. should be wrapped for corrosion protection.
10 years ago, when we put in a lily pool, I ran "direct burial" wire about 8 " deep. I just cut a slit in the yard with a trenching shovel & forced the wire into the slit. Having said that, I also live outside the city limits & there is no wiring code to worry about. I've not had any problems with the wire. I also put a GFI outlet on it at the pool.
If you had placed it four inches deeper and installed the GFCI at the house end of the circuit you would have had a safer and NEC compliant installation.
You may think you have no electrical code at your location but what is more likely is that you have no effective enforcement. Many rural areas are covered by a state wide adoption of the NEC. The regulations of the State's public service commission or equivalent body may require NEC compliance.
You might also want to take a careful look at your homeowners insurance policy as you may well find that it requires you to follow the US NEC. Since an insurance contract is a "contract of utmost good faith" the policy does not cover anything that results from your disobedience of the law or of a clause of the contract.
What is more important to most applications of the code is to understand the limitations that are inherent in such a regulatory document. The language of the first universal article of the code is fairly clear about the purpose of the code. ARTICLE 90 Introduction
90.1 Purpose. (A) Practical Safeguarding. The purpose of this Code is the practical safeguarding of persons and property from hazards arising from the use of electricity. (B) Adequacy. This Code contains provisions that are considered necessary for safety. Compliance therewith and proper maintenance will result in an installation that is essentially free from hazard but not necessarily efficient, convenient, or adequate for good service or future expansion of electrical use. FPN: Hazards often occur because of overloading of wiring systems by methods or usage not in conformity with this Code. This occurs because initial wiring did not provide for increases in the use of electricity. An initial adequate installation and reasonable provisions for system changes will provide for future increases in the use of electricity. (C) Intention. This Code is not intended as a design specification or an instruction manual for untrained persons.-- Tom
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