How important is water pipe earth bonding?
Ret.
around twenty years. The water pipes have never been earth bonded.
I recently had my old fuse box replaced with a consumer unit and, as part of
the job, the electrician fed an earth cable through into the downstairs
cloakroom, where the mains water comes into the house, and bonded it onto
the incoming cold water copper pipe. He also 'cross bonded' all the copper
piping below my new combi which is installed in the attached garage.
It was not until he had left that it suddenly occurred to me that 12 months
ago I had completely refurbished my bathroom, removing the old airing
cupboard and replacing it with a shower cubicle. Most of the hot and cold
water pipes in the bathroom required re-routing and so I replaced them all
with plastic piping. The incoming cold water supply, and the hot water
supply from the combi in the garage, enter the house via the downstairs
cloakroom, and then go up into the bathroom, and from there down into the
kitchen.
Because I have replaced the hot and cold piping in the bathroom with plastic
piping, there is no earthing continuity between the bonding point and the
kitchen (and no easy way to by-pass the plastic piping in the bathroom now
either!)
So, how important is it that the water pipes in the kitchen are earth
bonded - and is there an alternative to getting an earth bonding back to the
consumer unit from the kitchen?
Ret.
ARWadsworth
"Ret." <xxx> wrote in message
news:N8mdnTaxLfoGP5jX...@pipex.net...
>I have lived in my current house, which was built in the mid 1970s, for
>around twenty years. The water pipes have never been earth bonded.
>
> I recently had my old fuse box replaced with a consumer unit and, as part
> of the job, the electrician fed an earth cable through into the downstairs
> cloakroom, where the mains water comes into the house, and bonded it onto
> the incoming cold water copper pipe.
And so he should. Main equipotential bonding is required (google it or ask
for more info)
> He also 'cross bonded' all the copper piping below my new combi which is
> installed in the attached garage.
Ask for some of your money back. Your new CU is fitted to the 17th edition
regulations and supplementary bonding (AKA cross bonding) is no longer
required.
>
> It was not until he had left that it suddenly occurred to me that 12
> months ago I had completely refurbished my bathroom, removing the old
> airing cupboard and replacing it with a shower cubicle. Most of the hot
> and cold water pipes in the bathroom required re-routing and so I replaced
> them all with plastic piping. The incoming cold water supply, and the hot
> water supply from the combi in the garage, enter the house via the
> downstairs cloakroom, and then go up into the bathroom, and from there
> down into the kitchen.
>
> Because I have replaced the hot and cold piping in the bathroom with
> plastic piping, there is no earthing continuity between the bonding point
> and the kitchen (and no easy way to by-pass the plastic piping in the
> bathroom now either!)
>
> So, how important is it that the water pipes in the kitchen are earth
> bonded - and is there an alternative to getting an earth bonding back to
> the consumer unit from the kitchen?
It is not important at all with your new CU. Even under the last regs then
only bathrooms and shower rooms needed the supplementary bonding. Boilers
and kitchens never needed supplementary bonding
> Ret.
HTH
Adam
Ret.
Thanks for that - I won't bother trying a work-around then!
Ret.
ARWadsworth
"Ret." <xxx> wrote in message
Have you sorted the lighting out yet?
Adam
ARWadsworth
"Ret." <xxx> wrote in message
Ret.
Have a read of
Adam
Ret.
I've decided not to bother. The only downside (SFAICS) in relation to having
both upstairs and downstairs lighting on the same protected circuit is that
a 'trip' will put all the house lights out. But in our main room (the
lounge) we rarely have the ceiling lights on. We use a modern lamp standard
plugged into the mains - and wall lights which are on a fused spur taken
from the mains - so we would still have lighting. The effort involved in
resolving a problem that is not really a problem is more than it's worth I
think.
Ret.
Ret.
That was very interesting Adam. I'm further puzzled, however, by your
insistence that there is no earth bonding required in the kitchen. SFAICS,
under the 17th Edition, there is a need for main equipotential bonding to
the incoming water pipe on the 'house' side of the main water stop-cock.
(Which is what my electrician has recently done). I am assuming that the
understanding is that by making this connection, the copper piping
throughout the house is protected via this earth bond. In my case, because
of the plastic piping I have put into my bathroom, the kitchen piping is
separated from the earth bonding and is therefore unearthed. Although I can
see that there is normally now no need for additional supplementary earth
bonding in the kitchen - is it not the case that the kitchen piping *should*
be earthed via the main equipotential bond? In my case, because it isn't,
is there not a need to use earth bonding to by-pass the plastic piping in
the bathroom to electrically 're-join' the kitchen piping to the earthed
piping on the consumer-unit side of the bathroom?
Ret.
ARWadsworth
"Ret." <xxx> wrote in message
Not quite. Yes the incoming metal supply needs to be main bonded. Only
bath/shower rooms needed the supplementary bonding. It does not mater what
room the incoming supply is in it still needs main equipotential bonding. I
know that it is usually in the kitchen.
In my case, because
> of the plastic piping I have put into my bathroom, the kitchen piping is
> separated from the earth bonding and is therefore unearthed. Although I
> can see that there is normally now no need for additional supplementary
> earth bonding in the kitchen - is it not the case that the kitchen piping
> *should* be earthed via the main equipotential bond? In my case, because
> it isn't, is there not a need to use earth bonding to by-pass the plastic
> piping in the bathroom to electrically 're-join' the kitchen piping to the
> earthed piping on the consumer-unit side of the bathroom?
There is actually no such thing as "earth bonding". Your pipes (other than
the incoming supply) in the kitchen need not be connected to earth.
> Ret.
Can I get back to you later with a better reply and explaination as I have
just done a 13 hours hard slog at work? I need a shower and I need a rest:-)
Adam
Ret.
LOL! Yes, of course - sorry to be bothering you like this! Incidentally,
the incoming water supply is via a plastic pipe. The first foot or so of
pipe coming up out of the floor in the downstairs cloakroom is plastic - it
is only copper from the 'house' side of the stop-cock.
Ret.