JUST A BIT UNSURE

How safe is it to drive? My point is there are a lot of factors which determine the relativity of "safe".

First and foremost, the water piping has to be metal, and at least 3 meters (10 ft) or more in direct contact with the Earth, be electrically continous ( or made electrically continous by bonding around insulating joints or insulating pipe) and be no further than 5 ft from the point of entrance to the building.

Even if you meet all the requirements above, you still have the future to deal with. Should you or someone else decide to use PVC, CPVC, or any other nonmetallic piping for a water line repair, you risk losing the electrically continous requirement for using the water pipe as a grounding electrode depending upon the location of the repair.

Unless you have absolutely no other choice, I would not recommend this method. It should be used as a supplementary grounding electrode if it meets the requirements above, but I would not recommend it as the primary or stand alone electrode. spend a few bucks and drive a ground rod if that is an option.

Hope this helps -

Mike

"A Patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government"

It isn't permitted in the UK any more because so many pipes are now polyethylene, which is not conductive.

A domestic TT installation in the UK requires a local earth rod and a whole-house RCCD tripping, typically, at 100mA imbalance between live and neutral. Of course, all the earth conductors in the building do arrive at the local distribution board earth terminal, don't they?

If it's metal, it used to be required! Now, since many homes are plumbed with PVC, metal ground rods are typically used. In commercial and industrial buildings, the building metal must also be grounded along with any metal domestic water supplies.

If the pipes are metal, run a green wire from your bond terminal inside your service panel (circuit breaker box) to your water meter. Make sure there is no paint on the pipes and it is attached to both sides of the meter directly to the pipes with the proper connector. This should be done with no break in the wire. ALSO run a wire from the panel to a grounding bar driven into the ground outside your house as close as possible to the panel. Some local codes also require you to attach another wire to any other metal pipe which is buried into the ground as an added safety measure.

If you are unsure of the proper grounding procedures or working with electricity, your best bet is to hire an electrician to install your grounding. Work safely by turning off the electricity to the panel and then testing that the voltage is not present before continuing.

In other words YES it is safe to connect to the metal cold water pipes on both sides of the meter, but addition of a grounding rod is also required.