The grounding wire might carry current if there is a leak and no GFCI to
catch it. Grounding to a cold water pipe is OK as a last resort, but
can be a hazard later to the plumber unlucky enough to cut the pipe
somewhere between your ground clamp and the water meter. I've also
heard (but don't necessarily believe) it can cause the pipe to corrode
and eventually leak. Why take a chance?

In this case, I would replace the outlets with ungrounded replacement
outlets and GFCI's in the bathroom, kitchen, etc. Or run a ground wire
as best you can all the way back to an electrical panel.

I have lots of ungrounded outlets in my 50 y.o. house. I wanted at
least one grounded outlet in every room, so I ran green wires through
the wall cavities back to the service panel and fastened them to the
service grounding conductor with a big split-bolt connector.

Best regards,
Bob


Rob wrote:
I don't know if it is different in your state, but in Ontario I was told in
writing by the electrical safety guy that I could bond the ground wire to
any copper water pipe close to an outlet. 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. The ground in most cases is attached here. A simple
ohmmeter would let you know if the pipes are conductive or not. The only
exception to this would be if there are plastic pipes in line.
"w_tom" wrote in message
...

Never use pipes for safety grounding. Safety grounds connect to
pipes only to 'remove' electricity. Never dump electricity into pipes -
a serious safety hazard.

Rob wrote:


Hi, I just had an electrical inspection done by Ontario Hydro, forced on

me

by my insurance company. This was on a house that I just bought that was
converted into a triplex sharing the same hydro meter. Some of the

wiring is

older two wire with no ground, but using three pin outlets. His advice

was

to either block the ground hole with epoxy to make it two pin, or to use
GCFI's where a ground was needed, or run a ground cable to one of the

water

pipes. This put the wiring within code and also acts as a safe or safer
circuit as any shorts to ground are picked up quicker than conventional
wiring using the ground to blow the fuse or breaker.
Unless you can get to a copper water pipe, the GCFI will more than

meet

your needs.