Earth Rod - Advice please!

[Kaydee]

Hi, I am not an electrician, but need some advice from one, if you wouldn't mind helping, please?
We've just paid £3,500.00 to have a 3-bed semi completely rewired and are told the job is now finished. (We paid half up front, they now want the other half).
Outside the front of the property, they've installed what they've told us is an 'earth rod'. There's a long piece of thick, black, plastic tubing, leading to a unit that is fixed to the ground.
It comes almost onto the driveway, right in front of an attractive bush to the side of the front door and looks really unsightly.
We questioned them about it and were told it was 'regulation' that it had to be installed that way, a metre from the house, in a straight line.
I haven't seen anything like this in front of any other property, including ones that have been recently rewired, but want to check my facts before challenging them on this.
Is this normal? Can it/should it be buried underground?

 

[davesparks]

I can't provide any back up info right now Dave but I'd say the problematic network cabling would have been far more likely to be aluminium that caused problems in the 70s and 80s ?

I would have thought the same, I didn't think steel had ever been used for a live conductor in underground LV mains.
I think there was an aluminium sheathed cable similar in construction to PILC cables used at one point.

 

[freddo]

I didn't think steel had ever been used for a live conductor in underground LV mains.

It would be a rather silly arrangement, not one I've ever seen or heard about.

 

[FatAlan]

Isn't planet earth one dirty great big magnet? Funnily enough they reckon it's in a state of flux at the moment and it's about to swap poles!
What I like to know is... if the earth flips poles does that mean all the penguins will have to swim north?

 

[telectrix]

Isn't planet earth one dirty great big magnet? Funnily enough they reckon it's in a state of flux at the moment and it's about to swap poles!
What I like to know is... if the earth flips poles does that mean all the penguins will have to swim north?

they won't go till all the polar bears have gone south.

 

[Jurassic Sparks]

I am slightly surprised that near Gloucester city centre the electricity distribution network is not PME (T-N-C-S) with the Earth connection being supplied with the network supply to the house. I wonder if there was a problem with that and the Earth Rod was a dodgy relatively quick fix to lower Ze rather than getting the DNO in to sort their problem. Check if your neighbours all have Earth Rods. If you need one, they will also need one. If they don't have them, then I would ask for a second opinion. You could check with Western Power Distribution on 0845 601 5972 and ask them if your house should need a separate earth rod. If there is a PME system then you should normally not also have an Earth rod as it can lead to stray currents in the network and elevated magnetic fields in your house.

I live and work in that area
many of the houses I visit are TT systems
I have also seen chumps fitting a BS951 earth clamp onto the old lead sheathed oil filled cables ( unsafe practice) to get an earth rather than fitting an external electrode

 

[Midwest]

Isn't planet earth one dirty great big magnet? Funnily enough they reckon it's in a state of flux at the moment and it's about to swap poles!
QUOTE]

QUOTE]

?

Swapping Poles, is that the immigration plane that flies back Polish Criminals, only for them to arrive back a few weeks later

 

[David M]

My understanding is that the low frequency electromagnetic waves produced from power lines/stations is well below what would be required to cause serious damaging effects to cellular life. In fact much higher frequency electromagnetism is often used to treat certain medical conditions.

 

[FatAlan]

It would mean that Poland would become South Poland and Pete999 would technically be living in Southampton