RBM wrote:
When "because charlie morgan says" becomes the bible on electrical
wiring, I'll listen to you, but until then I tend to go by the
"National Electric Code", which backs up my statements in the section
referenced

Then your code book is wrong. The purpose of attaching a ground to a water
pipe is to ground the water pipe!

This protects the homeowner or plumber when dealing with a (possibly broken)
electrical appliance near the pipes.