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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.

SRT is the procedure wherein you measure the soils conductivity relative to its volume. The units used here are the ohm meter and ohm centimeter. Anyway, this process is an important and crucial factor in electrical designing and grounding. It applies with whatever the case, even if it all has to do with a simple design or a low resistance one. All the more when the design is complex, giving rise to issues like ground potential rise.

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.

The applications are also many and sundry. Or instance, the information collated can be used in designing ground systems, electrical substations, lighting conductors, transmission systems, earth electrodes, and the measurement of moisture content. Some of these applications may sound too highfalutin for common use. However, it stands to reason that they are very much useful to the human enterprise, with uses in wiring systems and even agriculture.

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.

Some technicians proffer that for everything to be more stable, then the soil should be placed at significantly deeper strata, since factors like temperature and moisture are nearly fixed therein. When the ground rods are installed therein, you might be assured of greater sustainability and maintenance. As they say, for the system to be really effective, then you must design with the worse conditions in mind.




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