This is an interesting question. I think the answer probably depends on the economics of what you are trying to do. In soils where corrosion is a problem, I think people have used zinc and iron as an alternative to copper. There is also a company in the United States that is specializing in copper clad steel wire as a theft deterrent. For the consumer market in the US, there is a company that specializes in making a metal cage that surrounds the HVAC system to make it harder for the theft to occur.

From a engineering perspective, I think the high conductivity, flexibility and availability of copper are the driving factors. If you are willing to sacrifice the flexibility and compromise on the conductivity choosing a cheaper metal seems to be probably the best solution. Or as mentioned above copper clad steel might be a viable alternative with braided steel helping with the flexibility.

The other solutions posed in the question I think require rethinking the system design, especially if the issue is lightening protection.

This is an interesting question. I think the answer probably depends on the economics of what you are trying to do. In soils where corrosion is a problem, I think people have used zinc and iron as an alternative to copper. There is also a company in the United States that is specializing in copper clad steel wire as a theft deterrent. For the consumer market in the US, there is a company that specializes in making a metal cage that surrounds the HVAC system to make it harder for the theft to occur.

From a engineering perspective, I think the high conductivity, flexibility and availability of copper are the driving factors. If you are willing to sacrifice the flexibility and compromise on the conductivity choosing a cheaper metal seems to be probably the best solution. Or as mentioned above copper clad steel might be a viable alternative with braided steel helping with the flexibility.

The other solutions posed in the question I think require rethinking the system design, especially if the issue is lightening protection.

I really appreciate the answer expressed by

Mr John Muth · North Carolina State University

i) During Manufacture of this earthing wire can we add additional wire orthogonally, I mean perpendicularly encirculating to the earth wire and feed some addtional supply.

The proposed supply must have some little impact of electrical shok!! and during maintenance this addtional supply to the coil can be switched off.

ii) On line measurment of potential difference at both the ends of wire and from this we can identify % distance where eactly the wire cutting is going on and then is it possible to find the same.

iii) Because earth wire is usually burried in the earth within 2 meter, can we use jointed length of earth wire on +50% plus +50% basis i.e. copper clad steel plus copper.

iv) Are there any other alloy which can meet the property of the copper earth wire based on it size and current carring capacity.

Security marking inside the wire. While it does not prevent theft, it makes it easier for the recycling company to identify stolen wire and aid law enforcement in convicting thieves. Companies like Southwire actually laser-mark a code on the core of the wire. The code is registered and traceable. See:

http://www.southwire.com/distribution/ProofPositiveCopper.htm

Mr Devendra Singh Thank you and would you like to join the team.Because I explained the theft problems being faced by all most all electricity boards with Copper cables used for earthing on poles. I suggest Glabal Team to study, analyze and recommend suitable technical alternatives to solve this problem. This involves study and comparison with galvanized cables, alternative materials like , copper clad steel, conductive liquids, chemical earthng etc

This can be taken up as a department project. What is the cost analysis for this project and what are the test facilities requires. Initial analysis and investigation may lead to good R and D . Once the team identifies alternative alloy i.e. other than Copper. Then, it may nrequire more resources / expertise on materials to accept the materiall based on performance and testing.

Finally, this problem is also linked with secutity isssue, wherein law and order has involved for proper action.

Use galvanized wire. This has been the standard practice for the USA electric power industry for more than 100 years. More information on earthing/grounding in general, see: www.lightningsafety.com

GI is the best solution but in saline atmosphere there is no alternative.

Dear Suresh,

How much is the profitable way we can find in GI for the country like Oman's atmosphere. Here, usually the weather temperature is hot about 9 months in a year. Can you be comprehensive to explain the cost difference between Copper and Copper Clad Steel and GI with one simple practical example.

The issue of steeling copper wires are of importance to other areas as well. In some (poor) countries the wireless systems of providing the internet like WiMax had been a good alternative to cable or DSL mainly because of copper steeling problem. Of course, we can not earth our systems wirelessly!.

Dr Dharmasa had raised a thoughtful ideas in an earlier note of him above. I find that it might be useful that we discuss some of them, though, some of them might appear the first glance impractical or contradictory as I explain :

Dr Dharmasa suggested

i) During Manufacture of.....................we can add additional wire ...... and feed some addtional supply. .......... have some little impact of electrical shok!!.................. (please review full note above)

Well, I say, in one case a piece of a live 3 phase power cable with metallic clad was cut and stolen.!. They learn. so, electrifying the ground conductor may not be a solution. Other than that, one purpose of the ground conductor is to provide a zero voltage reference, kill noise, and provide protection in the case of a faulty cable coming into contact with a metallic chassis causing high currents to ground and tripping a breaker. Providing extra supply, even if circulating (as suggested) and not through the ground wire itself may cause harmful noise to electronic equipment through pick-up and cross noise. However, the idea may be applicable in certain situations in which the grounding main purpose is to provide protection with no low voltage communication and electronic equipment present. However, nowadays, it is hard to find such systems.

in no 2 Dr Dharmasa as well suggests that

ii) On line measurement of potential difference at both the ends ..............we can identify at distance where the wire cutting is going on ....... (Full note above)

I would say again that in ideal situations the ground conductor should carry very little current or ideally zero current in balanced systems with a zero voltage across it or no faults times . However, ground conductor may carry large currents due to in-balanced loads or because of harmonics and that is why the ground wire should be of a high cross section so as to make the voltage across it as small as possible insuring a very low voltage (as close to zero as possible) at the devices chassis and so. In cases where the ground wire is loaded with a current of a certain value, the intentional cut of the ground wire will result in an increase of potential at chassis end which in some cases can be dangerous. Detecting this voltage rise is needed then not only needed to detect the robbery but also to protect by shutting down the supply. In factories circuits work as high voltage detectors and therefore may act as a robbery detectors as well.

Thank you again Dr. for raising the question and for the ideas that followed, hope my comments help answering your suggestions or help maturing them to some more robust solutions.

Generally, I think that the suggestions made by some colleagues above, especially the marking, may be helpful in certain places with good law enforcement measures. Also, insuring that the ground cables run under the soil of a sieged private property accompanied by monitoring systems may help reducing such thefts.

In my country we implemented the use of Copperweld conductor (as the most economic alternative). Copperweld is a conductor with steel soul and cooper external layer (small) as the grounding copperweld rods. With this solution, you can resolve the theft problem and corrossion problem (typical inconvenient if you use steel as alternative)

A french SME proposes a monitoring solution for wired infrastructures. Please have a look at : http://www.win-ms.com/activite.php?id_activite=2

Their system is based on a specific TDR-based technology, which enables to detect instantly the cut and locate it, only from one mleasurement from one end of the wire. Location accuracy is better than 100m for more than 5km long wires, which is quite impressive and enough to provide valuable information for maintenance and repair. Also, they can provide the length of the stolen cable, which enables quick repair as the maintenance can prepare the exact required wire length.

Dear friend, in my experience in Venezuela, the cheapest option was the implementation of galvanized steel conductor instead cooper or copperweld conductors. The results based on corrosion and costs, demostrated the viability of the option and in the study the selection of the conductor diameter was based on electrical losses calculation. In some countries the coperweld conductor was the best option but in my case the galvanized steel result very good for neutral exposed conductors, grounding conductors and electrode conductors.  Best regards.

Can we motivate the significance of this simple wire in a simpler way for the thieves of the same. Awareness to the purchaser of the same.BOTH having an extraordinary brain. Off-course there must be a strong Government  policy to control the same[ Special Law].Because as per the data given in TIMES of OMAN statistics the highest approximately 1225 fire incidents, which is top among any other cause  such as:  fire due hear transfer ; chemical; smoking etc.