Electrical Ground to Water Pipe, No Earth Ground

...but you can't make a pig sing ;-)

Our previous home had the ground to a water pipe. We had a lightning strike hit the ground and cause a leak in the water line in the slab. Get somebody to ground you directly to earth with a copper rod.

Jea48, thank you for the time it took for your detailed post! Yes, the panel is a Pushmatic. Looking at the water meter, I see one wire going to it and that wire goes to the inside of the meter housing. I also see another short metal wire that goes through a couple screws at the metal bottom of the meter. I may have an electrician look at the water meter to verify if there is an earth ground there since I'm not sure if the electrician that was here before looked there or not. But, Jea48 the electrician pulled the panel cover and said he did not see a place (I can't remember the term he used it was something like "tag" or something), for an earth ground wire and did not see an earth ground wire. He only saw a wire he said was going to the main water pipe and pointed over to the left of the panel box near the ceiling of the basement. The water meter is on the other side of the basement.

Great answer by Jim, as usual! Regarding ...

Does not having an earth ground to my panel all these years cause a negative effect on the various audio systems I've had? Does this affect things like bass weight, or solidity of the image etc?

From a technical standpoint I can't envision any way in which an absent or ineffective earth ground could affect sonics in those or most other ways. And I'll add that I too have an older home (1950's in my case), and until I had the electrical panel replaced and a couple of ground rods installed several years ago I too had the panel grounded only via a water pipe. During the approximately 30 years I was in that home prior to the electrical upgrade, those years encompassing several upgrades of my speakers and various other parts of the system, I never sensed any lack of bass weight. Or of imaging and dimensionality, at least once I had moved to tube amplification many years ago.

Best regards,
-- Al

I only see one wire going to it and that wire goes to the inside of the meter housing.

Foster_9,

That sounds like the remote read wiring for the water meter itself, has nothing to do with the grounding of the electrical service neutral conductor connection to earth.

In 1965 for the state and city you live in the AHJ, (authority having jurisdiction), the governing body electrical inspection department and probably the utility power company dictated the requirements for the grounding electrode, earth connection. NEC Code is only bare minimum electrical safety standards. I do know even back in 1965 the electrical service should have been grounded, connected to an approved grounding electrode per AHJ and or the utility power company.

From your original post,

When he checked out the panel, he noticed there is no earth ground to the panel. There is a ground wire going to the main water pipe, however. The electrician told me that the system is electrically safe with a ground only to the water pipe,

Rereading the above comments you did not say the electrician actually said the incoming domestic water pipe was used as the grounding electrode, earth connection. He only said it would be safe it was used as the earth connection, the grounding electrode. Do you know for sure if the incoming domestic water line, pipe, is metallic, example copper, water piping at least 10' long buried in the earth outside your house?

You do need to hire an electrician from your area. He will know what the local code for your area requires for the earth connection of the electrical service. You need to find out 100% whether the electrical service is earth grounded or not. If not get it done as soon as possible.
You also should think about replacing the Pushmatic electrical panel.

Just curious, the electrician that inspected the electrical service that told you it was not grounded, connected to earth, did he tell you then what would be required for him to ground the electrical service to meet electrical code for your area?
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