The system earthing is a fundamental safety feature that protects people from electrical leakage by directing any fault currents toward the ground instead of through the human body.

A standard system requires the earth wire (yellow-green) to be connected to every socket, light point, and appliance. This network must then discharge the current through specific ground electrodes (earth rods) driven into the soil.

Warning: You must never use water or gas pipes as conductors for earthing. While this was a common practice in the past, it is now prohibited and extremely dangerous: in the event of a fault, the faucets and the water itself could become energized, leading to fatal electric shocks.