Earth Bonding

[mdbalson]

Do I have to earth bond the water supply, if the incoming pipe from the street is plastic

 

[luminaire]

It will still need bonding because even if everything was in plastic, someone could come along at a later date and change it to copper.
Use 10mm. at the mains stop cock.

 

[davy_owen_88]

You do not bond plastic pipes! If the service pipe is plastic and the installation pipes are metal then you bond the metal pipes and the metal pipes only. Attaching an earth clamp to plastic is a waste of time and money.

 

[luminaire]

Yes agreed, not considering attaching to plastic, only on copper.

 

[ColJack]

you never bond the supply side anyway..

if it's copper your side of the stop tap, bond it, it it's plastic your side, don't..
even if the supply side is copper / lead etc..

they don't like it and may even disconnect it if they come out to do work on their side for whatever reason..

 

[mdbalson]

If the cold water supply in the kitchen is bonded, would the main cold water supply under the hall floor need to be bonded


I am asking this because to run a earth wire from the MET in the meter cupboard, to the mains cold water supply, will be near imposable.

As the meter cupboard is in the kitchen, & the mains cold water supply is in the hall under the floor. So it would mean taking off a run of skirting in the dining room, to take off the piece of wood which covers where the cables come through the kitchen wall (from the meter cupboard) to run under the floor. Also it would mean having to take up the laminate floor in the dining room, & the floor at the bottom of the stairs, & also the parkae floor in the hall. to be able to run the earth cable to the water supply, which is by the front door.

 

[davy_owen_88]

Main bonding should occur at a point closest to where the service enters the house and on the consumer side of any meter/stop-cock. If this is under the hall floorboards you shouldn't bond there as the clamp should be accessible for inspection and testing. If the pipe emerges from under the floor in the kitchen, and it is bonded there, then you have no problems.

 

[plugwash]

it it's plastic your side, don't..
even if the supply side is copper / lead etc..

If the supply pipe is metal and the stopcock is metal then surely the stopcock would need bonding since its introducing a potential to touchable metalwork within the equipotential zone.

i thought with water that the consumers responsibility started after the outside stopcock anyway. I remember when we changed from lead to plastic incoming pipe that we had to replace the bit on our side of the outside stopcock and the supplier only replaced the bit from the outside stopcock under the road (they used a mole for that) to the water main.

 

[mdbalson]

Main bonding should occur at a point closest to where the service enters the house and on the consumer side of any meter/stop-cock. If this is under the hall floorboards you shouldn't bond there as the clamp should be accessible for inspection and testing. If the pipe emerges from under the floor in the kitchen, and it is bonded there, then you have no problems.

There is a access cover in the floor of the hall to get to the main cold water stopcock.

 

[Lectrician]

People always say running an earth cable will be "near impossible".

I bet if you wanted a shower, hot tub, cooker you would find a route?!?

Even if ALL pipes where plastic, I still would run a main eq bond to the origin in any case - future, and the fact that plumbers often change their minds....

If the incomming pipe is copper/lead etc, I would FORCE the plumber to offer us a length of copper to attach to - period.

 

[mdbalson]

People always say running an earth cable will be "near impossible".

I bet if you wanted a shower, hot tub, cooker you would find a route?!?

Even if ALL pipes where plastic, I still would run a main eq bond to the origin in any case - future, and the fact that plumbers often change their minds....

If the incomming pipe is copper/lead etc, I would FORCE the plumber to offer us a length of copper to attach to - period.

The incoming pipe is blue plastic (in the hall), the others are copper, the cold supply in the kitchen is bonded.

 

[mdbalson]

Here is a picture of the incoming water supply, which is under the floor in the hall.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/mdbalson/P4030041.jpg

 

[Paul Barker]

It should be obvious to you to 10mm meb on that short stub of copper to the met and if what you say iscorrect about the rest of thepipe being copper obviously bond across that lime fighter which a/ is a waste ofspace and b/ is probably plastic.

how your question has become so complexed baffles me.

 

[mdbalson]

It should be obvious to you to 10mm meb on that short stub of copper to the met and if what you say iscorrect about the rest of thepipe being copper obviously bond across that lime fighter which a/ is a waste ofspace and b/ is probably plastic.

how your question has become so complexed baffles me.

I am asking this because to run a earth wire from the MET in the meter cupboard, to the mains cold water supply, will be near imposable.

As the meter cupboard is in the kitchen, & the mains cold water supply is in the hall under the floor. So it would mean taking off a run of skirting in the dining room, to take off the piece of wood which covers where the cables come through the kitchen wall (from the meter cupboard) to run under the floor. Also it would mean having to take up the laminate floor in the dining room, & the floor at the bottom of the stairs, & also the parkae floor in the hall. to be able to run the earth cable to the water supply, which is by the front door.

 

[bernardgreen]

You appear to have a suspended floor with space between joists and the ground.

A similar "cannot get the cable through" problem was solved in about 15 minutes with a few drain rods used to push a draw cord under the joists. The cord then pulled in the cable.