Will water bond carry neutral load and balance legs with lost neutral?

[infinity]

-The utility neutral is the best return for any utility hot entering the building, which all electrical systems in the facility utilize for proper function.

Yes, because the neutral will have the lowest resistance of any parallel path for the neutral current.

-The earth grounded reference usually a ground rod/s driven into the earth or a ufer type system connects to the utility neutral reference for no other purpose than to provide a path of least resistance in the event of a lighting strike surge or similar from the utilities or within the facility if present. Chances are the earth ground will have less resistance than the utility neutral at that given point of the building/utility supply.

The earth is a poor conductor and under normal conditions should never have a lower resistance than the neutral conductor.

-The bonding of the water system, usually within 10ft of entering the facility is also connected to the utility neutral reference of the main gear to protect and/or create a least resistive path back to the utility neutral/earth electrode reference in the event of a fault current accidently applied to the water system, the same goes for the gas and metal building structure.

If there is a metal water pipe with 10' or more of that water pipe in contact with the earth then it qualifies as a grounding electrode and must be used as one. The GEC connection must be within 5' of where it enters the structure. Not sure why California would have an exception to eliminate that but it is required by the NEC.

If the building supply water pipe in the ground is non-metallic or less than 10' in the earth then it is not an electrode and is not required to be used as one. However if the building uses a metal water pipe system then it needs to be bonded. That connection can be at any convenient point on the system. You're correct that bonding keeps the water piping system from possibly becoming energized. Gas piping systems other than some CSST brands do not require additional bonding.

 

[wwhitney]

I have never seen a joint in the underground copper water line between connection to the meter and the outside shut off valve. That is always soft copper in a long roll around here.

Presumably underground installations that enter into a basement, with the water meter in the basement, so the GEC/bonding jumper can be attached to the soft copper before the meter?

In moderate climates (or at least in my part of CA), the water lateral may turn up outside the house, hit a shutoff valve, then an outdoor spigot, then enter the crawlspace, and that is where the GEC/bonding jumper is attached. So multiple fittings are between the soft copper and the indoor portion. The meter is in an underground meter box near the water main.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[MD Automation]

With regards to the title of this thread – the very first time I encountered a lost neutral I found that, yes indeed, the water bond would carry (and balance) the load.

Full disclosure – I am an engineer and not an electrician – but the story might be funny to some.

Early 1980s – I am fresh out of school, long on theory and short on experience. Got called to my friends house because he said the lights were going dim and bright, things were crazy and could I help. The story has everything you all have come to expect from a lost neutral, including the classic first visit from a POCO lineman who came and went and said nothing wrong on their side and the problem is in the house.

After I (eventually) figured out what was happening, it’s way late at night, POCO would not come out again till the next day, and the only things I could MacGyver a solution with were whatever I had in the trunk of my car. So I “fixed” the problem temporarily by using a 16/3 extension cord (with a quad outlet 1900 box end) and a set of car jumper cables to tie the steel outlet box (which was grounded if plugged in) to the copper water pipes under the kitchen sink. Got the POCO back the next day so they could discover the open neutral – on their side of the meter.

What makes the story funny is that my friend’s wife was absolutely convinced we were pulling her leg – she kept asking me if we were making a Three Stooges movie with the jumper cables running to the sink. She was smart enough to know that that was not something you see every day. It took a while to convince her it was a legitimate band-aid for the night.