ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Are Plastic or Non-Conductive Pools Safer?

Are Pools without conductive (no metal) parts safer? I can think of a number of scenarios that make me wonder.

What do you think?

Bill

I can't say it's something I've thought about much. What sort of situations did you have in mind Bill?

Paul,

I'm just thinking out loud here.
"Doodling" with my keyboard.


Bill

Bill,

A pool is only non-conductive, if it is
empty, with the plastic liner, however,
once full of water, it takes on a new set
of Regulations.
We have very strict Codes Of Practice, for
pools over here, regardless of type or size.
Every authority we have here has an interest
in swimming pools, and for God sakes do not
ask about Spa pools

Trumpy:

Please go on .... What about spa pools?

I second that -- Just how stringent are the NZ rules for spas?

Home pools don't figure very prominently England, but then considering the climate that isn't surprising!

Bill and Paul,
The reason why I asked not to ask about
Spa pools, is because, we have a real
can o'worms, being opened here,(at least
on this side of the Pacific).
You guys, may or may not know, how a Spa
pool, works, assuming you do not, I will
go on,(as both of you fella's are accustomed
to), a Spa pool, uses a number of systems,
including, a water pump circuit, to re-
circulate the water in the pool, as it is
heated, then there is an electrode- boiler,
type arrangement, that heats the water,
obviously via a Contactor.
But, there are also a large number of
safety systems involved, with these pools.
For a start, there are interlocks,
if the water pump fails, the system shuts
down.
Also, the electrode-boiler circuit, is fed
through an RCD (GFCI), there is also an
interlock on the Control circuit, that if,
this breaks, the whole pool shuts down.
But, it is not the Operational safety of
these pools, it is the Regulatory safety,
of the equipment used,
you can test this gear till you are Blue in
the face.
We now have a whole new breed of Spa pools
that plug into the wall socket,
these have to be certifyed as to complying
with AS/NZS 3000, and most of the time,
these Pools are not even fed through an
RCD, this is my one complaint (compliant?!)
Your thoughts on all of this.
(Feel free to edit this message)

The bureaucratic regulatory monster rears it sugly head again, eh?

I'm not sure I like the idea of using electrode water-heating on a spa pool. O.K. ,you can include all sorts of safety interlocks and so forth, but there's just something about the arrangement that makes me think "No thanks."

What I meant about the "can of worms", was
with the fact that most of the Spa pools that I have ever seen, have been illegally
plumbed in, some even leaking underneath,
because the wrong type of PVC solvent was
used, you can normally blame the owner for this.
This, in turn causes the owners to complain that the wiring was done incorrectly, as the over-temperature cut-out trips all the time, through lack of water in the pump circuit.:mad