Ground Wire Laying On Dirt

Get a new electrician you ground to the house ground which should be a copper ground cable near your panel. If you are having no promblem with shorts just ground the new plug switchs or whatever to the ground screw of you boxes in the wall, then install gfi pugs which are manditory in these parts ,

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,

You've been cheated. That outlet is not safely or correctly grounded if you description is correct. Ask the "electrician" when he's going to install the grounding rod. Bare wire is ok, not having a grounding rod isn't. A little dirt thrown around a wire does not make a ground. 8 ft. of grounding rod pounded into the ground is the usual way.

Dave M

At best, he grounded the pipe, not the outlet.

That's not an electrician, it's a nutcase. DONT PAY THE F***ER. Tell him if he wants to be paid to come and do it right. If he refuses, and if you already paid him, call your local building inspector and show them the job and your receipt from this asshole. His license will be revoked.

It actually might be OK if it's 6 gauge solid wire (or if the wire was protected by a conduit) and it connects to the main water supply line with a listed clamp.

From your description, it's probably not kosher but it's probably not dangerous either. And it's not clear if the green wire does anything at all. Is it actually connected to a water pipe?

Bob

If the water pipe all metal to the feed and is grounded it will probably work.

I don't know if it is code or not.

But if it is a bare wire, I would worry about corrosion after a few years of the wire where it touches the dirt.

Mark

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:

I think there may be some confusion here about the wire in the dirt "being the ground." To be clear, the wire ends up on a clamp that is affixed to the water pipe. My concern was with the wire being directly on dirt (not that just putting wire in dirt would ground something).

OK, just re-read your answer and you said the bare wire was ok. So you are not against the wire laying on dirt, but are only opposed to where it is connected? Just to make sure, suppose he drove in a ground rod at the other end of the house and ran the ground wire on the ground under the house with just some dirt thrown on it. Would that be OK with you?

Can you explain what you mean? I know it is not thought highly of here, but I thought that grounding to a metal water pipe would give a ground. And like I said before, the phone company grounded the phone system to the exact pipe!

Again, I want to be clear and point out that the wire DOES end up on a clamp on a water pipe (I didn't mean to suggest he was grounding it by just putting the wire in the dirt). Did you understand that or are you saying the laying the ground wire on the dirt would "get his license revoked?"

Sorry for the confustion. YES, it does end up on a clamp on a water pipe.

I don't know enough about this stuff to tell you the gauge. He had a huge spool of green grounding wire and it is not flimsy at all. Does the green coating count as "conduit" as you termed it? In any event, is laying a ground wire such as this directly on dirt considered acceptable?

I don't understand what you mean by "and is grounded." I thought the ground was achieved because the metal water pipe goes for a long distance and deep into the ground.

The wire is covered in the green grounding coating (or whatever you call it). Do you consider that a "bare wire"

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

Some people have misinterpreted what he's done. He is attempting to ground an ungrounded outlet. He's not intending to ground your electric service. Regardless, his work was sloppy and incorrect by current NEC

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 enter> The problem with it laying in the dirt is just sloppiness. The first five

The attachement of an electrical ground to the water pipes is for the purpose of neutralizing the hazard due to the plumbing system - it has nothing to do with the integrity of the electrical system.

A substantial copper wire in direct contact with the dirt is OK. The water pipe that he connected to is probably part of the grounding electrode system (it's the water main, right?), so that's OK. The main problem I see with this is the wire is not protected from someone cutting it with a shovel if they dig there.

Bob

The first five feet after it enters the building,of metal water pipe, along with the required driven ground rods and sometimes other things as well, are the grounding electrode system, which grounds your electric service. A separately run grounding conductor can be run and attached from the non grounded existing receptacle, to any point along the grounding electrode system. This also includes the neutral/ground bar in your service panel