To tell the truth I don't do any thing to protect my pump wires other than to plug them into a gfi. Knock on wood but never had any problem. Good luck.

When I had a submersible pump I ran the cord through a 2" piece of ABS pipe that was buried about 6" underground from the pond edge to the outlet. Pipe ran about 8 ft away from the pond to the GFCI outdoor plug that has a protective cover. I used the 2" pipe so that the plug was easy to pull out for winter.

Wires can be buried without conduit if the wire is rated for underground use. Ask your hardware store. It does have to be in conduit where it is exposed, as in above ground. The conduit can be steel or plastic. In other words, there needs to be conduit to protect the wires where it goes into the ground, and conduit where the wires go into the outlet box. In between it can be bare if it is buried. There is a depth requirement, but I'm not sure how deep it needs to be in order to be conduitless. I think it might be one foot. It might vary by state.

I know of no extension cord that is rated either to be buried or put in conduit. They are made for temporary hook up. Not forever!

Please get a licensed electrician to run conduit and the correct type of wire to the pump location. This way you will not need to run extension cords. The pipe can be pvc, metal pipe is not needed, but you will need to bury it 18". Rigid metal pipe only needs to be buried 6".

Matt

How long of run is this? If the pump's cord will reach without an extension, then I would go with JALAL's idea. Schedule 40 pipe. A cord in good condition (outside jacket intact - no cuts, etc.) sitting in water is no different than the cord at the point of entry to the submerged pump. While not to strict electrical code, I believe this qualifies as a temporary installation. And if you supervise all digging in the area between GFCI and the pump (just a few feet, right?) no one else will cut through it.

Lot of good info, definitely the best is to have a pro do it as mjmcdevitt said. Extension cords are a bit dicey, a lot of times they void warranties with manufacturers, but they won't come by your house to check either. If its not heavy enough it can do damage to the cord or pump. If your worried about the cord in water (you don't have to be) just seal off the ends with silicone if need be. Otherwise its really not a big issue, conduit is great to protect it, but many people don't. Just make sure to keep the cord away from the pump so it doesn't get sucked up. Probably won't but just to be safe. Good luck.

thank you all for replying

I'm sorry if I didn't make my question clear. The cord I am talking about is the pump's 32' cord and not an extention cord. The skimmer/submersable pump is close enough to the house that I don't need an extention, I'll be ale to plug it in directly to the side of the house.

It's 17' directly to the skimmer and 28' if I skirt around the edges of the patio and pond to it.
see pictures... (I hope)

please note: I do not plan on using the extention cord - it is just an example.
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Rexanne the simple solution is usually the best and in this case is to use 1.5 or 2" PVC so you can get the cord in and out and than drill holes in the pipe so water can drain out. As long as this pipe isn't going to be sitting in standing water for periods of time it will work just fine. So unless your ground water is within a few inches of the surface of the ground the pipe will have no standing water and the pipe will protect the cord from people digging.
Mike

thanks everyone. Hey Mikeil if you're getting dejavu from my pictures it's because you've been there. I talked to you a year ago I think. Finally getting up the nerve to get it done.
RexAnne