Practice Electrical Safety Around Your Well Pump

You’ve likely heard the saying that water and electricity don’t mix. But what does that actually mean—and what happens when water and electricity do mix?

Learn more about the explanation behind that common piece of advice and how to stay safe when working with your well pump. This same guidance about proper safety techniques also applies when you hire a contractor to perform well pump repair in Columbia, TN. This professional will be familiar with the proper safety precautions to take and can advise you if they observe that your current setup could be putting you at risk.

Water and electricity 101

Simply put, impurities present in most water, such as dust and minerals, conduct electricity. Not keeping appliances or cords away from water can lead to a fire or electrical shock. The resulting electrical current will move through a person’s body on its way to the ground in the case of electrical shock.

Someone who receives an electrical shock may feel a minor tingle or experience a much more significant effect, such as cardiac arrest. It’s also possible to experience effects between these two ends of the spectrum.

The effect a person experiences when shocked is based on how much electrical current is moving through the body, the path the current takes as it moves and the length of time a person’s body is exposed to the electrical hazard.

Staying safe around your well pump

Here are some of the key safety measures you can take when working with your well pump:

• Place cords for your well pump out of the way of equipment, traffic or other potential hazards: This reduces the risk that the cord will become cracked or that its insulation will become torn.
• Do not touch the cables when the pump is on: If you need to adjust the pump’s high voltage cables, turn the power off or shut down the generator first.
• Perform a close inspection of your cables regularly: Check that they are still fully intact and without any openings or shorts. If you notice that your cables have become damaged, contact a well pump repair professional as soon as possible. The expert you hire can promptly replace any plugs and cords that may have become defective.
• Make sure you are using the safest plug option: Cords that have dead front plugs (a plug where the front has insulation to protect it from voltage, allowing a user to touch it without the risk of electrical shock) are the safest option to use with your well pump. Using open front plugs that are uninsulated can result in a higher chance of shock or short-circuiting.
• Avoid wiring plugs into outlets: If you experience a well pump emergency, disconnecting the plugs likely cannot be done quickly enough to prevent damage or injury.

If you’ve noticed that your well pump doesn’t seem to be functioning correctly, you may be in need of some well pump repair in Columbia, TN. The experienced specialists at Action Electric Motor & Pump Repair put our customers’ needs above all else, and our business is licensed, bonded and insured.

Our services include residential, commercial and industrial water pump repair, well repair and replacement, water treatment, water conditioning, electric motor rewinding and water filtration. To schedule service or to learn more about how we can help, call us today!

Categorised in: Well Pump Repair