Sunday, April 14, 2019

Why You Should Do Soil Resistivity Testing

By Anthony Hall


Grounding is important to do where electrical systems are utilized. However, one would have to take into account certain qualities and characters of the soil in which this procedure is done on. This assessment is called soil resistivity testing.

First of all, how do you establish or calculate this. The methods and measuring procedures are actually many. The most common and over utilized one is probably the Wenner method. The first part in the formula can be derived through dividing the ohm centimeters by a hundred so that it will change its unit to ohm meters.

Among others, you should take a good look at the soils moisture content, which can be a no brainer. And then you have the temperature, especially when above the centigrade freezing point. You have salt content to consider as well. The nub of the matter is that resistivity is not a quality that you can pin down. It is variable and changing, depending on circumstances that may not even be obvious off the bat.

One would also have to consider the other goings on in the earth or ground. It can be a noisy place, generally speaking. Of course, we dont mean that in the literal sense. However, it would still do to mind all the extraneous implements all throughout, like utility lines, power lines, railroad tracks, signal transmitters, and electric substations.

You must make good sure to do the testing before you get down to installing your electrode system. Being particular in this step will make you thankful much later on, as you get to save lots of time, resources, and effort. Planning is essential in this enterprise. If the conditions and circumstances are not such as to drastically change the reading, then you may get away with using simple tools and devices. And it all takes just less than an hour.

Resistive testing is therefore instrumental, if not definitive, when it comes to creating an effective ground system. When done rightly, then you do away with the risk of electric shocks, distortion issues, instrumentation errors, power factor problems, and a host of other detrimental happenings that will make you bewail your misfortune. Ground systems have the most important purpose of providing a path for fault currents so that this rogue does not wind up finding other outlets, like people.

Anyway, in determining grounding systems designs, having a good grasp on the particularities of soil resistivity is very much important. This is what will enable you to jibe everything well with the requirements. This will enable you to morph your plans as soon as your realize that the first location was not apt for it. However, you can also plan to make your grounding system more elaborate, should you rather decide to.

Grounding is very much imperative because it is what puts a stopper on rogue currents when there are faults in the system. The earth serves well as a conduction path from the power outlet to the transmission facility. Theres a lot of nitty gritty here, such as in making sure that the ground impedance must not go beyond itself, and the same applies to the maximum voltage, which, when it goes overboard, can be quite detrimental to people and other living things.

With the slightest discrepancy, the results may wind up as misleading or incorrect. Perhaps the most definitive thing that must be carried out properly, to avoid going back to square one, is on following standard testing guidelines and following data gathering procedures. Many things are at stake. With a good grounding system, you stand to benefit a lot, from personal to corporate productivity, and for personal and communal safety. Nothing should hold you back.




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