Now I am confused about something. When you say "the first five feet
of a buildings water supply", do you mean the first five feet AFTER it
enters the building or BEFORE it enters the building?

I assumed this meant after entering the building. If that is true,
then I could see where you could go into the crawlspace and have
access to that pipe to connect a ground clamp. But if you mean before
the building, how in the world could this be done without excavating
the area before it enters the building?

RBM wrote:
The problem with it laying in the dirt is just sloppiness. The first five
feet of a buildings underground water supply is part of the grounding
electrode system, which grounds everything electrical in the building.
Internal piping is not necessarily contiguous


"John Ross" wrote in message
oups.com...
Are you saying that you have no problem with the wire laying on the
dirt, but just a problem with where it is connected?

What is so special about "the first five feet of metal water pipe,
where it enters the building."

I should note that this particular water outlet runs from the water
supply entry then under a concrete slab (garage) then up and on the
wall. So if it's the fear of someone replacing a part of it with
plastic, that is not going to likely happen (rest of house has
crawlspace with opportunity for changes). Also, the phone company
grounded the phone service with a clamp on this pipe also (in 1960).


RBM wrote:
The wire itself is fine for retrofitting a ground conductor to a non
grounded outlet. Connecting it to an internal water pipe was acceptable
at
one time but isn't anymore. It can be connected to any part of your
electric
service's grounding electrode system, including the first five feet of
metal
water pipe, where it enters the building


"John Ross" wrote in message
ps.com...
I had an electrician over and asked about grounding an outlet (early
'60s house with grounded wire only to baths and kitchen).

This was an outside wall with a water pipe faucet near. He said he
could just poke a hole through the wall and run the ground wire to the
pipe and attach it there. So he does this and I end up with a green
ground wire coming out of the wall about a foot up. He then said he
could just have it go straight down to the ground and then over to the
pipe, which is about 6 feet away. I was surprised when he offered to
just make a very shallow impression in the dirt and then just cover
directly with dirt. So basically it is just put on the ground with a
little dirt thrown on it. I did ask if this was code and he said
"sure" (just so you know, he is licensed and has been around for
years).

Well now I don't feel so comfortable with this. Is it ok to have a
wire like that in/on dirt with no hard weatherproof casing? Is this
considered normal practice for a ground wire?

Interested in opinions on this and what problem(s), if any, would you
be concerned about. Note: to be clear, this is not bare copper, it
does have the green sleeve.

--
John