Corroded electrical service entrance conduit.?
The conduit has completely corroded in two at ground level before coming into the meter box. What is the best way to correct this? Naturally, I would prefer not to have to pay for the service providers people and an electrician to get it replaced. Maybe there is a snap-over repair kit available?
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The wiring between the transformer and your meter box is owned by and the responsibility of the electric service provider. It is illegal and dangerous (deadly) for you to mess with it. Call the provider, and they will turn off the power (you can't do it), and replace the wiring at no cost to you, if it's a typical residential (non farm) situation.
Corroded electrical conduit is fairly common in many areas. You could fix this yourself, but please understand that it is really just like putting on a band-aide. You're just covering UP a problem, it doesn't go away.
The easiest fix for you is to measure the diameter of your corroded conduit. It's probably a 1 1/2" or 2" conduit, I'd guess. Then you will want to purchase the next larger size PVC Schedule 40 or Schedule 80 conduit (make sure that it is ELECTRICAL conduit - gray in color - NOT plumber's conduit - which is white) and two or more radiator screw bands. (those are the little metal bands with a bunch of slots that when you screw the tighting head on it, it bands together....). Use a sawsall or something to cut your PVC in half down the LENGTH (long ways) of it. That creates two half shells. Then clamp them over the outside of the conduit and use your radiator bands to squeeze them together. Use some silicone caulking or foam filler to fill in any gaps that may appear.
Please understand that I'm not suggesting that this is your best idea. The safest and best long term solution is to hire an electrician to simply replace the corroded conduit. Don't let them talk you into replacing the wire too, because it is most likely just fine and wouldn't necessarily warrant replacement. It should be about a two hour job and I expect that it would cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of about 275-350 dollars (just a wild guess, I don't know what your local area's labor rates are). It is a good investment for you to spend as it will cure your issue instead of just a temporary repair...
Call a qualified professional electrician to do the conduit replacement and to install proper ground rods. The conduit should not have corroded like you describe. The probable cause is electrolysis caused by a bad ground grid. This problem is possibly fatal to you or yours. Call a professional electrician. The corroded conduit is the final symptom not the problem.
Im with you on th $$$ thing, not sure if this would keep it to code or not. But, my idea would be to dig a bit, and use a piece of grey pvc pipe(split it to get around the conduit), and use silicon to seal it up. That should water proof the conduit.