Earth Bonding

Key point:
As a major point of safety you should never disconnect and or remove any earth bonding wires without making sure it is safe to do so. If you are not confident and at all uncertain, then it is wise to seek the advice and skills of a professional tradesmen with the necessary tools and experience.


When you look at your gas meter or maybe your incoming water supply and you may see a green and yellow wire connected to the pipe, you may wonder what that is? Well, this is called an earth bonding connection. The bonding consists of earth cables which are connected to water service pipework on entry to the house and also on pipework in rooms such as your kitchen and bathroom. Greenwich Plumbers can advise on this. Where a water, gas or oil pipeline comes into and also passes out from the building there is a potential for stray electrical currents, resulting from faulty electrical equipment, to pass through as they flow down to earth that can be dangerous for anyone touching the metal pipe work itself. To ensure that these stray currents comfortable safely to earth through a specifically designed electrical route, a bonding wire of 10 mm2 minimum size is attached to the pipe at the point of entry/exit of the building and this in turn is connected to the main Earth terminal in the consumer unit. In addition to the bonding wires making a connection to the incoming services, there should be additional supplementary wires linking together all the metalwork within wet areas, such as the bathroom and kitchen etc. This will ensure that everything within the zone is at the same electrical potential, which is designed to prevent users of any appliances or equipment receiving an electric shock. A Greenwich Plumber is trained to deal electric shock.



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