Stray Voltage: Where Does it Come From and How Can it be Avoided?

 

If you’re building pools, you need to know how to mitigate stray voltage. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to 100% eliminate it. Our team has worked with the laws of physics to create equipotential bonding grids that do a great job at lessening the risk of getting shocked in and around the pool due to stray voltage.

How to Mitigate Stray Voltage

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What Causes Stray Voltage?

In order to know how to mitigate stray voltage, you should have a basic understanding of how it is created in the first place. Many electrical lines are buried, and there are other power sources that can sometimes have energy “leaks,” so to speak. When voltage escapes these contained sources, it looks for an easy target; the one with the least resistance.

Not much is more tempting for that voltage than a wet concrete deck, or a swimmer stepping out onto it. That is why you may have felt a shock when getting out of the pool. It’s that stray voltage finding the path of least resistance by going through your body! Scarily enough, this has even been known to be fatal. This is something pool builders and contractors want to protect their clients against to the best of their abilities.

How Can I Get Rid of It?

One of the reasons the stray voltage problem wasn’t particularly known about until recent decades is that in earlier construction methods, rebar was laid down in concrete to help hold it together. Metal is more conductive than concrete, so the electricity would tend to flow through that instead. When concrete was mixed with fiberglass and formulas advanced that no longer required rebar, stray voltage became more and more common.

Get Rid of Stray Voltage

What we have done is create equipotential bonding grids that get installed below the pool and deck to be that outlet for any “loose” electricity. Stray voltage should prefer metal over most other materials. By implementing one of our systems, you can help mitigate a stray voltage problem in the pools you build.

You can view our catalog to see all of our grounding and bonding solutions, or learn more about equipotential bonding here.

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