Don’t Forget to Ground the Pump

by Felicia A. Williams

Here’s a tidbit of advice that is probably unnecessary for most pool owners, but I found out quite by accident that my pool pump wasn’t grounded.

Let me back up a bit. I originally had a Sta-Rite pool filter and pump, but I threw it away. A couple of years later my neighbor was selling his Hayward pool filter/pump and I bought it for a great price.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I had to replace the pump/motor assembly and I bought a brand new Hayward power flow motor. I was so excited about learning about my Hayward pool filter and getting my pool clean, it was a couple of weeks later when I realized the pump wasn’t grounded.

I’m not an electrician, but I do know that when an electric device says it needs to be grounded, I ground it. When the electrician originally wired the house for the pool he installed an insulated copper wire for grounding the pump.

In between getting rid of the old pump and buying the new pump we had some brickwork done which covered the grounding wire. The wire left sticking out was not long enough (or so we thought) to reach to the new motor pump.

Off to Home Depot

Thinking that all I needed to do was get more grounding wire, splice the two pieces together and attach it to the pump. I was pretty surprised to find out that my solution was not acceptable. Local ordinances require a direct connection between the grounding wire and the pool pump.

I bought the extension stuff anyway, but went home and looked at the pump setup.

Making a Mountain out of a Molehill

After looking at the setup, I realized that if I turned the filter/pump/motor about ¼ turn counterclockwise, I could ground the pump and plug it into the electric outlet without having to extend the ground wire.

It’s funny, for two weeks I ran the pump without it being grounded, but the minute I realized it wasn’t grounded I shut everything down. That meant that I had to resolve the issue quickly before algae started to grow in the pool (again).

Pool Installation Checklist Item

When you purchase a new pump (whether brand new or from a neighbor), make sure to connect it to the grounding wire.

About the Author: Felicia Williams is a wife, mother and grandmother who likes to write about a host of topics.

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Last Modified: 24 March 2020