The thing that I can't get off my mind, about this setup of common grounded conductors, is this. . .
If I shut off the service disco and pull the meter at my house, and then put a clamp on ammeter on the GEC leading to the metal water service pipe, I will measure current. This will generally be on the order of a few amps. A nice steady background uncancelled alternating magnetic field. Far too many homes have the water service in the front and the electrical in the back, so this magnetic field creating GEC runs right through the house.
Now, admittedly, some of this current is going to be from the collective load unbalance of my neighbors homes and business, but even when they are balanced, the place where my child sleeps is bathed with the field left by the parallel return path for the 8 KV primary current.
I just wish I knew what that means.
