Water Well Journal

precautions necessary to work safely around electrical power. This includes knowing the basic procedures such as the use of insulating tools, gloves, safety glasses, test meters, and hard- hats, as well as the basic OSHA and state safety rules that apply to lock out–tag out procedures, barriers and shields, personal protective equipment, and grounding procedures. If necessary, insist your employer send you to the appropri- ate electrical safety class or seminar before beginning any practice of electrical troubleshooting. The most important safety rules I can relate to you are: Always de-energize and test live electrical circuits before approaching or working on them as if they were live. Always use the proper safety precautions and meters when working around electrical power of any kind. Continually verify the proper operation and accuracy of your test meters. Never trust anyone who tells you the power is off without checking it yourself. Another important factor for all troubleshooting procedures is not to allow yourself to get in over your head or try to take on more than your level of skill, knowledge, and licensing. In other words, don't allow your ego to write a check the rest of your body cannot cash! If necessary, enlist the assistance of a qualified electrician when the situation warrants, especially whenever energized equipment must be examined or serviced. If you're questioning as to whether or not you are qualified to perform electrical troubleshooting, chances are you aren't. After all, being a little bit embarrassed for a few minutes is a whole lot better than being dead forever! This wraps up this month's column on electrical safety. Next month, we will return to our series on the fundamentals of irrigation system design. Until then, work safe and smart. Ed Butts, PE, CPI, is the water and wastewater design manager at Project Delivery Group LLC in Salem, Oregon. He has more than 40 years of experience in the water well business, specializing in engi- neering and business management. He can be reached at epbpe@ juno.com. WWJ Safety Products by NGWA Available Online The National Ground Water Association has a product titled Safety Meetings for the Groundwater Industry consisting of 52 sheets that have talking points on a variety of industry-related topics and a place for signatures for those in attendance. Among the subjects are electrical safety on a drilling rig, lock out-tag out, shock from electrical tools, treating someone in shock, and more. It and other safety products can be found in the online store at www.NGWA.org/Bookstore. Twitter @WaterWellJournl WWJ June 2019 47 866-851-2227 • www.centennialplastics.com Meets Buy America Act requirements. WITH EXCLUSIVE TEST-CAP TECHNOLOGY! SECURE SYSTEM Installing Geothermal HeatPump Systems is Now Faster and More Secure EarthLoops ™ Secure System starts with two industry favorites: Centennial Plastics' NSF/ANSI 358-1 certified Cenfuse Geothermal HDPE pipe, and Bullet ™ U-Bend fitting. Now, we offer an exclusive test-cap system with one-step air testing to make installation faster and more secure – all at no added cost! Our new test-cap system sets the gold standard of factory-sealing! • Built-in pressure valve lets you check loop pressure with a tire gauge and add air during field pressure tests. • By cutting installation time, the new Test-Cap System helps reduce labor costs! • EarthLoops ™ are factory-pressurized and sealed with our new Test-Cap System to assure the loops you install are free from leaks and contaminants. • Using Exclusive Patent Pending Technology. EarthLoop ™ Test-Cap with Field Testing Capabilities 09-2013

• Cover