UK Legislation surrounding air pumps delivering air into a swimming pool?

[Gareth D]

Hi,

I'm trying to understand legislation in the UK for using an air pump in conjunction with a swimming pool with regards creating and supplying a product utilising compressed air in a swimming pool as a commercial product.

My understanding of the regs is that as long as the air pump / compressor is mounted in zone 2 or beyond (i.e. 2meters or more from the pool edge, then as long as it is IPx4 rated for an outdoor pool or IPx2 rated for indoor pools, then there are no restrictions, but, is this sort of install covered in some other form of legislation beyond BS7671?

The air pump I own states that it not to be used in a swimming pool or water people swim, however, this feels like a legal statement to exonerate them from blame should any incident occur rather than a logical risk assessment based one. This is based on my belief that electricity cannot travel through air at mains AC current and voltage, so the chance of it travelling down an air hose is zero which makes me feel the statement would be equally apt on a hairdryer.

Thank you for your thoughts and advice

 

[Avo Mk8]

Have you investigated what product standards your device is going to have to comply with if you intend to put it on the market? It will need to be CB marked (used to be CE, or if to be sold in Europe then CE).
All manner of mechanical, electrical, microbial/health and safety requirements, creepage and clearance distances, materials, flammability, IP rating, etc. and within the design process, amongst other things, a hazard analysis and risk assessment to identify what issues might need to be mitigated (which is what maybe lead to the statement about pump not being used in a pool with people present).
There will be a number of Standards (BS/EN/IEC) that cover appliances, machines, swimming pools, electrical safety of equipment, EMC, etc. that will be applicable to your design.
If you are the designer, you will need to mug up on this before undertaking any detail design, or otherwise you'll need some advice from a test house on how to achieve an acceptable product. None of this comes cheap!

 

[Gareth D]

Avo,

Thank you for your response. There's a lot there.
I've read the BS standards pertaining to the electrical safety of swimming pool pumps (BS7671 and BS EN 60335-2-41) on a related but separate matter. I'll see what else I can find in the area as the latter doesn't really apply to this application.
I wasn't aware of the new CB marking, only CE. I'll investigate, thanks.