<br>My understanding is that if the water pipe is ferrous metal for a certain length into the soil - I think 10 or 15 ft. - then it is an NEC compliant grounding electrode. <br><br>Not the easiest thing to confirm on a retrofit. If we can't find an existing ground-rod we drive one ourselves.<br>
<br><br>Andrew Truitt<br>Standard Solar Inc.<br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 11:00 PM, Nick Soleil <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:nicksoleilsolar@yahoo.com">nicksoleilsolar@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The primary reason to ground water pipes is to provide a path to ground in case an ungrounded conductor shorts out against water pipes or equipment in a water system. Have you ever been shocked by touching a sink, instant shower heater in Central America, or touching water in a poorly wired house? It is not so uncommon for a person to become the shortest path to ground. It is good practice to bond the water system to the grounding electrode or other grounding conductor.<br>
<div> </div>Nick Soleil<br>Project Manager<br>Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC<br>PO Box 657<br>Petaluma, CA 94953<br>Cell: 707-321-2937<br>Office: 707-789-9537<br>Fax: 707-769-9037<div><br></div><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><hr size="1"><div class="im"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Ryan LeBlanc <<a href="mailto:ryan@naturalenergyworks.com" target="_blank">ryan@naturalenergyworks.com</a>><br>
</div><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> <a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wed, January 6, 2010 3:00:45 PM<div class="im">
<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [RE-wrenches] Water Pipes as Grounding Electrodes<br></div></font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
I've had so much conflicting input on the points of Grounding Water pipes or<br>using them as Grounding Electrodes for systems in places like New York and<br>San Francisco. <br><br>Could someone be kind enough to set me straight on the intentions, functions<br>
and applications of this?<br><br>Ryan J. LeBlanc<br>NABCEPT Certified Solar PV Installer<br>Cell: 707.591.1950<br>Direct: 707.536.9839<br><a href="mailto:ryan@NaturalEnergyWorks.com" target="_blank">ryan@NaturalEnergyWorks.com</a><br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"<br>
<br>~William McDonough<br><br>