Any Sparkies out there? House Earthing question.

[IPIT]

Hey guys

I don't want to bore everyone else with the details but if there's a sparky out there who can help me with a query it'll be much appreciated. I can just PM/email them the details. I know wackstar's always happy to help but I haven't seen him around lately so not too sure if he's still on here.

It's basically to do with how my place is earth-ed which seems to be through the water pipes which aparently is creating some electrolysis and rusting out my drinking water stainless steel filters (according to the manufacturer of the filter).

I've taken a couple of pics which I need someone to confirm and advise me what to do .

thanks

[Aphex]

Old house?

[19andrew59]

Got an earth stake?

[TRX]

PM Firestorm

[IPIT]

3 years old and yup there is a 'rod' in the ground however there's also a couple of earth wires attached to the inlet water pipe going into my hot water system just above it which has got me confused.

What the heck I'll attach the pics anyway.

The first pic is just below the hot water system showing the earth wires attached to the inlet pipe. The second pic is just below the first pic and shows the earth rod in the ground and the wire coming out of the wall. So I'm not sure if they have simply used the water pipes to connect the top section to the bottom instead of just running the wires directly into the ground.
PS: I could be talking completely out of my arse.

[IPIT]

ooops just saw that. I might PM firestorm too.

[Brougham]

kinda hard to rust out stainless steel....

[BlackFZR]

no its not...... it all depends on the water quality, sacrificial anodes, along with a few other things.....

[Aphex]

Im not a sparkey but have a basic understanding.

My understanding is there are normally two earth points in homes these days one of which is an earth stake the other a water pipe. If the water pipes under the ground are not copper, chances are this is whats causing the issue due to a difference in potential between the earth points in your home. Obviously in the pic they're copper but whats running from the meter to your house etc.

Its odd though that they've chosen the hot water inlet as an earth point. Normally its an outside tap near the front of the house.

[RagnaroK]

Equipotential bond.. it's all good mate.

[IPIT]

Equipotential bond.. it's all good mate.

me no understand. Are you saying the connections look fine?

[Arwon]

equal potential between main earth stake and the water pipes. this is very important in the event of hot water elements blowing out and other earthing issues.

[IPIT]

aaah gotcha thanks! Now I gotta still figure out why the hell is my stuff rusting out. The guys reckons my earth stake can be too close to water pipes and the moist soil is conducting electricity. It's got me stumped anyway.

[FireStorm]

Ok.

Basically from what I can see in the photos your eathing system complies with the relevant electrical standards. All houses must have an earthing electrode (earth stake) and an equipotential bond to the water pipes. The reason for bonding the water pipes is to stop you getting all tingly in the shower. As Apex said I normally put the earth stake near an outside tap, and normally the closest tap to the switchboard. This saves me running more earthing cable than I need to. But you can bond to any cold water pipe in the house, as has been done in this case, so long as the bonding location is written on the switchboard.

You cannot remove either of these 2 earth connections. Not for any reason.

Basic electrical principals 101:
Electricity is lazy. It will take the fastest and least resistive path to earth. this is why all metal appliances/fixtures in this state must be earthed. Theory is that copper wire has less resistance than the human body, and in the event of a fault the current will travel through said wire and not cook you from the inside out.

Ok with that said. For electrolosis to occur we need electrical current to travel through said water filter. Given that from the photos (and im going by photos only) your earthing system is correct, and therefore if there were any electrical current flowing through your water pipes your circuit beakers should be tripping and your RCD's (safety switches) would almost certainly be tripping out.

So, I would be looking at your water quality. My main income is hot water service, repair and installation. The water in some suburbs in perth can destroy a sacrificial annode that usually lasts 10 years in less than 2. Don't believe the government. The ammount of calcuim in Perth water is fucking bad for you. Ive seen a 50 litre hotty that was 12 months old half full of calcuim scale. The tank was destroyed. Rusted through in 12 months (hope no one here lives in Buttler).

Other than that dude I can't really give you anymore advise without seeing the house. Not ruling out electrolosis but it's highly unlikely. Every house in Perth has the same earthing system. Stands to reason that everyone with this product would be experiencing the same issues if this was the case.

Could just be shitty filters from the manufacturer.

[IPIT]

Thanks for the explanation mate, it does make sense.

I live in leederville and the quality of the water seems to be pretty hard just judging by the calcium deposits I have to scrape off the shower tiles more regularly than I care to.

At this rate I'll probably give you a buzz one of these days when my HWS shits itself.