Another way to ground house electrical system

Q. When a copper water pipe sprang some pinhole leaks on a weekend, and I couldn't reach a plumber, I shut off the water, mixed some fiberglass resin, and soaked it in matting. Then I wrapped the matting around the leaky pipe. Presto! No leaks. A plumber told me that a grounding wire attached to the pipe may have caused the leaks because of electrolysis. Is there any way to ground an electrical system other than using a water pipe?

Henry B. Dunseith, Mattapoisett, Mass.

A. The pinhole leaks could also have been triggered by imperfection in the pipe. There are light-gauge as well as heavier gauges of copper pipe. Naturally, the heavier the gauge, the better the pipe.

What type of copper pipe do you have in your house? Is it L, K, or other? Your method of stopping the leaks was ingenious, plumber or no plumber.

While it is infrequently used on dwellings but is common with larger commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings, a rod, often bronze, is driven into the soil for an electrical ground.

That is at least one alternative for grounding the electrical system.