On Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 6:49:25 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 9 Dec 2015 15:23:15 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 5:42:51 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 9 Dec 2015 04:44:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

All,
Many thanks for all these excellent responses.
I checked this morning, it's 3 grounding rods outside.

The older, existing, grounding wire to the well casing is definitely less than #6. It's armored cable, and WITH the armor it looks like it's as thick as a #6 conductor (without sheathing). Perhaps that's just the type of wire used to ground stuff in the 1950s? Anyhow, it's connected to the well casing with what looks like a bolt clamped onto the casing's top flange. As far as I can tell, the other end of this original grounding wire is still connected to the panel.

The underlying reason I ask all this is because I'm about to install a water softener that would electrically insulate the section of copper pipe where this grounding wire is connected to, making it irrelevant. Perhaps I should move this grounding wire downstream of the water softener? Or again, jump across it, AND across the pump to the well casing, such that all of my plumbing is grounded. Thoughts? More importantly, any reason why I shouldn't?


Best practice is a single ground poit - with everything grounded to it

Taken literally, that would imply that the well should not be connected
to the grounding system. And also that only one ground rod should be used.
The question was if the well pipe should also be part of the grounding system
and NEC says "yes".

As long as your whole grounding system winds up at the main binding
jumper (the ground bus in the panel for simplicity) you do have a
single point ground and all of your other services should be bonded
there. (that is where the intersystem ground bus lands).
You may be buying some fat copper if the satellite dish is not close
by. The 10ga wire to the 3 foot copper nail the sat company uses is a
joke if you are worried about lightning.

From the perspective of it being at one end of the house tied to the
panel it's single point. It's single point from the perspective of not
having another ground rod on the other side of the house, not directly
connected to the one at the panel. But if you have a couple of ground
rods and and a water pipe going to a well connected together, I'd say each
of those is in fact a ground point that forms a single ground *system*.
If there is current in the ground system, some will flow at each of
those separate ground points. And the
way it was brought up here, kind of implied that connecting the well
pipe would be a violation. But CL never addressed that, which was the
actual question.