According to Rob :
I don't know if it is different in your state, but in Ontario I was told in

I _am_ in Ontario.

writing by the electrical safety guy that I could bond the ground wire to
any copper water pipe close to an outlet.

When was this?

Think about something. The ground
is not normally used in a circuit unless there is a short or a problem, so
you would not be "dumping" electricity under normal circumstances.
Second, All the water pipes would be joined, obviously, to your main
water coming in.

Yes, obviously the water pipes would be joined. But these days, there's
a very good chance that it's NOT all electrically conductive.

With the advent and popularity of plastic water pipe, and the fact that many
new homes are on plastic main water pipes too, the plumbing system is no
longer considered a reliable ground generally.

Both the NEC and CEC have moved away from using water mains as ground
electrodes. You _still_ have to connect the water pipe _to_ ground (if
it's metallic), but that's to protect you from getting shocks from the
plumbing, not to use the plumbing as a grounding conductor.

The CEC states very clearly now that you shouldn't use the the plumbing
system as a grounding conductor, except in special situations requiring
the plumbing to be tested for electrical conductivity.

The ground in most cases is attached here. A simple
ohmmeter would let you know if the pipes are conductive or not.

An ohmmeter is in inadequate test. It doesn't prove that the
plumbing has enough ampacity to push fault current - it could be
a stray whisker through a rotting dialectric connector. For that, you
need to test under load. See the electrical wiring FAQ.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.