electrical wiring for my pond

[Alapondguy]

Hello,
I am in the planning stages of my pond. I already have an outdoor outlet on the back of my house about 8 feet from the location of the pump. I am curious, do most of you have a plug wired to the pump location? OR- do you just have an extension cord in-ground? If there is a plug, how is it mounted? On a post in the ground? Is the pump on a separate breaker? This would be a bit expensive for me. Any insight would be very helpful. Thanks

 

[mrsclem]

Our ponds are over 100 feet from the house so we have wiring run to a post in the pond area. They are on a separate breaker. We have 3 pumps running on each pond plus lights.

 

[Jhn]

Have my current pond like mrsclem running from its own breaker to a post in the pond.

I have in some of my past ponds at previous residences piggybacked off outdoor outlets, w/o issue. Just depends what else in the house is run to that breaker.

 

[adavisus]

Your circuit needs to handle the surge at start up and the long cable run

 

[MitchM]

A setup like this would be best, 14 gauge wire, underground rated wire run through PVC piping to a post, mounted with a GFCI outlet.
A dedicated circuit would be ideal, but if there are only 1 or 2 outlets already on a 15 amp circuit, that would work.

 

[Lisak1]

We're close to the outlet - the pump cord is long enough to reach without an extension.

 

[bagsmom]

Our pump has a VERY long cord. Plenty long enough to reach our outdoor outlet without any extension cord. We dug a long trench underground and partially filled with gravel, then laid a PVC pipe (the kind used for electric.). We put enough bends, curves, and extra pieces so that the cord is pretty much completely covered - nothing exposed to the elements or pesky chipmunks and squirrels! The photo shows the electric work in progress. See the cap on the end of the pipe next to the pond? That is situated with the cap sticking up out of the ground. We cut a notch in the side of it to allow the cord to come out and run down into the skimmer. The cap keeps the rain and crud out of the pipe. The electrical cord runs through the pipe and right to the outdoor outlet. We have a similar cap situation at the house, only it is a piece more like a hood, protecting the entire outlet. It's easy to unplug when I want to service the equipment.

 

[bagsmom]

It is a little hard to see, but the cap is sticking out behind the flat white marble slab. The other end sticks up at the corner of the house.