Residential Earthing

The earth systems installed in residents are neutral earthing for protection. Earthing is essential from
generation to consumers installation. As a matter of fact most people neglects to install earthing or
regularly maintain safe earthing. First major reason for that is the complex nature & secondly, the cost
associated with it. It is shocking to see that the personnel who install earthing (generally electricians) do
not know the terms soil resistance, soil resistivity, etc. & their involvement in it. In most of their opinion,
earthing means just to dig a hole, place a conductor inside generally of 1m length & joint it to ground
terminal. This tradition of earth is running till these days. It is due to lack of knowledge & awareness of
the consumers. So, my intention is that anyone with the instruments can install a new earthing or can
measure an existing earth with following information.
For installing a new earthing following definitions must be understood clearly.
1. Earth electrode- A rod, pipe, plate or array of conductor embedded in earth horizontally or vertically.
In distribution system, the earth electrode may consists of a rod, about 1m long driven vertically into
ground.
2. Resistance of earth electrode- The resistance offered by the earth electrode to the flow of current
into the ground. This resistance is not the ohmic resistance of electrode but represents the resistance of
mass of earth surrounding the earth electrode.
3. Step potential- The potential difference shunted by a human body between two accessible points on
the ground separated by the distance of one pace assumed to be equal to one meter.
4. Touch potential- The potential difference between a point on the ground & a point on an object likely
to carry fault current (e.g. frame of equipment) and which can be touched by a person.
5. Tolerable limits of body current- The effect of electric current passing through vital organs of the
body depend on magnitude, duration & frequency of current. The most dangerous consequences is a
heart condition known as ventricular fibrillation which results in stoppage of blood circulation.
a) Effect of magnitude of current1 mA Threshold of perception.
1-6 mA Let go current.
9-25 mA May be painful & impair the ability to release energized object.
<25 mA Cause breathing problem.
<60 mA Effects are not permanent & disappear when current is interrupted.
>60 mA May lead to ventricular fibrillation, injury & death.

b) Effects of duration of current- The magnitude of 50 Hz tolerable current is related to duration.

According to test reported by Dalziel, 99.5% of person of 50 kg weight can safely withstand the current
given by equation-

IB=0.116/(t)0.5
Where, IB= rms value of body current in amps.
t= Time in seconds.
If the weight of body is 70 kg, the equation for tolerable current is-

IB=0.157/(t)0.5
These two relations are valid for 0.03<t<3 seconds.
c) Effect of frequency- The tolerable currents mentioned above for 50-60 Hz. It has been found that
human body can tolerate about 5 times direct current. At higher frequencies (3000-10000 Hz) still higher
currents can be tolerated.
6. Soil type- The type of soil governs the resistivity to a large extent. Some typical values are: Sea water
25 -m, Tap water 20 -m, Clay 50 -m, Sand clay mixture 100 -m, Sand 2000 -m, Wet concrete 100
-m, Dry concrete 10000 -m, Rock 10000 -m.
7. Moisture content- Electrical conduction in soil is electrolytic. Soil resistivity decreases with increase in
moisture.
8. Depth of burial of earth electrode- The soil resistivity at a particular location changes with depth.
Generally, the lower layers of soil have greater moisture content & low resistivity. However, if the lower
layer contains hard & rocky soil, resistivity may increase with depth.
The measurement of existing earth:-It is done by fall of potential method. The measurements are made
varying the distance of electrode P from E as shown in fig. It can be shown that optimum location of
electrode P is 0.62 of the distance between E & C. The depth of burial of conductor of 2 ft. length may
be of 5-10 cm for better accuracy. If test are done using main supply, an isolating transformer should be
connected between main supply & test set up to eliminate the effect of residual earth currents. For
measurement using digital earth tester with P1, P2, P3 , P4 terminals on device, the connection are made
asP1

P2
P3

P4

For earth resistance measurement minimum 10 readings must be taken & average of these will give the
resultant earth resistance.
For a new installation, the fig shows the land plot of 3mX3m. By these configuration 9 measured
value of earth resistivity with different positioning of conductors is possible as shown in same figure.
Average of these measured values will give the resultant. Generally, for a 2 ft. long rod, equal distance of
D=1 m between each electrode with 5 cm burial vertically is most accurate practical consideration
satisfying b/D<0.1 ratio. With same digital earth tester that is used for earth resistance measurement in
previous case, the resistivity of soil can be measured. The connection are made asP1

P2

P3

P4

It should be mentioned that, for both measurements, if measurements are done by digital earth tester,
no external supply is required. The readings obtained in this case is the V/I ratio with which earth
resistivity can be calculated using the equation-

Where, V/I= Meter reading in .

b= Depth of burial in cm.

=Soil resistivity in -m.

D= Horizontal distance between 2 successive electrode.
If b<<d, then above equation reduces to=2 D . V/I
For standard value of D=1 m, =6.28 X V/I
Once the value of soil resistivity is evaluated, next work is to derive the depth of burial of earth
electrode required to get the necessary earth resistance (<10 for residents). The typical values of soil
resistivity for different type of soil as mentioned earlier should be compared with the evaluated soil
resistivity & based upon following condition the depth may be decided.
Type of Soil

Soil Resistivity

Depth Required

Clay

50

min 1m

Sand clay mixture

100

1-2m

Sand

2000

2.5-4.5m

Wet concrete

100

1.5-2m

Dry concrete

10000

>5m

Rock

10000

>5m

Note that, better earth can be obtained by increasing the depth step by step & measure accordingly only
if moisture content increases with increases in depth of burial (not above 20% moisture).
For dry & hard soil, it is very difficult to obtain desired earth resistance using these procedures of
earthing. The new advanced earthing named chemical earthing may be applied in such cases which
deposits chemicals to absorb moisture content from the surroundings to keep soil resistance low. The
chemicals used areThe earth due to its complex nature changes its resistance/resistivity from season to season every year.
Once you have installed earthing with correct measurements doesnt mean that it will stay same as
always. So, atleast once every year, the earth must be tested. If earth resistance exceeds tolerable limit,
then, earthing should be replaced or to upgrade it. For upgradation, chemical earthing may be handy.
Another option is to increase the depth of burial of earth electrode & dumping salt, water, coal etc.
inside the dogged hole to decrease installed earth resistance. Other options like Al conductor may be
replaced to Cu conductor, plate conductor may replace round conductor, etc.
Remember this, do not depend on others and believe in yourself to extend the knowledge of earthing to
people around you. Learn first & then teach to desire for a development in this field. As we are electrical
engineers, the sole responsibility of us is to keep our localities free from any earthing problem. So,
decide your position & act accordingly.
AUTHOR-ABUL KALAM AZAD
RIST ASSAM
INDIA
Contact-+91-9613661742