"Nate Nagel" wrote in message

stuff snipped

Good point; I didn't think of that as it's been 30 years or more since I
lived in a house with a water meter actually indoors - but if you do
have that kind of setup definitely there should be a jumper across it.

Next thing to check for is a heavy bonding wire between the same area
and the main electrical panel. (was the main feed from the city water
line originally copper or galvanized but recently replaced with PVC?)

Hmmm. I am having a little trouble imagining what happens if there's no
good ground in a house, i.e. the cable going to a ground rod is broken and
the water pipes are not continously connected to the feeder from the street.
Is the piping now energized because it's bonded to the neutral at the panel
but it's not connected to a ground?

What's even more interesting is that my bathroom sink faucet lights up the
Sperry tester on its highest setting but the shower faucets do not. Now
it's time to break out the DVM and see what's going on. (-:

--
Bobby G.