Swimming Pool Electrocution and Safety

[Electroenthusiast]

I just read a news that was over a week old, it was about electrocution in a local city's apartment complex's swimming pool. A girl child has said to be dead due to electrocution in the swimming pool, while she was in the waters. She had screamed in pain during the process, and was taken over for treatment to a hospital, which didn't overcome the effects caused during the electrocution. The authorities of the buildings have been booked by the cops, and have been arrested for this.

I have myself been to swimming pools with under water lighting, and have also touched the light boxes while swimming few years ago. I always felt that i knew electricity well, and felt that there won't be any issue if the current leaks through the lightening lamps. These were lamps which were used years ago, which relied on mains voltage lights, and not the ones which come these days.

How would some one get electrocuted, when the water is good conductor of electricity, and if the electric current takes the least resistive path? I always felt that lights under water are safe, but the news that which i heard now, makes me doubt whether i know electricity (through research) well.

 

[Pommie]

Here in Australia private swimming pools are very common. We had an 11x7 M pool in our backyard and that had underwater lights, however, I believe these were low voltage (probably not LED). I'm pretty certain that all power to pools has to be protected by an ELCB (Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker) or equivalent. Shouldn't this have tripped and saved the girl? Even an empty (of people) pool would trip it (the ELCB) as there must be a rather large current to earth or is this not the case? Or, in this case was the flow from live (active) to neutral and an ELCB wouldn't have tripped?

Incidentally, most pools here are salt water pools and it makes me wonder if salt water is a better conductor than humans?

Terrible incident.


Mike.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

How would some one get electrocuted, when the water is good conductor of electricity

Pure water (such as deionised) is actually a pretty good insulator!

The conductivity depends on the ion concentration as the ions are the charge carriers. The human body has a higher conductivity than plain tapwater; the skin, being fairly dry, is normally a bit higher resistance - but being wet bypasses that fairly well.

It would be a similar effect to current taking a path through a person if they were standing near a tree struck by lightning - they body is in parallel with a resistive current path, so some current passes through the body.

See "Ground current" here:

Lightning Science: Five Ways Lightning Strikes People

 

[Diver300]

Also it takes very little current to kill someone, compared to the current available to a lamp. If there are tens of amps flowing in the water, less than 1% needs to go through a person to kill them.

 

[Electroenthusiast]

Isn't it fair enough to say that this kind of accident happens one in a million? Isn't it very rare to happen? Because, the current doesn't seem to flow to this extent even in insulation failures. What are the visible faults by the technicians or engineers who undertook the work of assembling the lights?

What can be the safety precautions that can be taken care in designing such swimming pool lightening systems? How can the water and the light systems be insulated to the highest possibility? Can we not also have an ground to the water inside the pool to make unwanted current flow through?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Isn't it fair enough to say that this kind of accident happens one in a million? Isn't it very rare to happen? Because, the current doesn't seem to flow to this extent even in insulation failures. What are the visible faults by the technicians or engineers who undertook the work of assembling the lights?

What can be the safety precautions that can be taken care in designing such swimming pool lightening systems? How can the water and the light systems be insulated to the highest possibility? Can we not also have an ground to the water inside the pool to make unwanted current flow through?

It seems pretty obvious that there was gross negligence at that particular swimming pool, hence the arrest of those responsible.

 

[Electroenthusiast]

I know. The authorities seem to be unaware of the hazards as such. But, how to design and implement a foolproof and safe system?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I know. The authorities seem to be unaware of the hazards as such. But, how to design and implement a foolproof and safe system?

Follow the rules and regulations, particularly those from Western countries.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

Incidentally, most pools here are salt water pools and it makes me wonder if salt water is a better conductor than humans?

Salt water is a better conductor than a human. Saltwater is generally 3-3.5% salt and a human (and most mammal) is only about 0.85%.

If a human is swimming in a fresh water pool, there is enough chlorine or sodium hypochlorite added to make it somewhat conductive.

 

[Pommie]

The hypochlorite is provided by an electroliser which electrolises the salt into active chlorine. Not sure how salty the water is but not tasteable.

Mike.

 

[Electroenthusiast]

I know that Chlorine is used for cleansing of Swimming Pool water. And, that too can conduct the electricity possibly (?).

Nigel Goodwin Can you send across any link that provides standard procedures or construction/maintenance procedures which help in understanding how these can be taken care of.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I know that Chlorine is used for cleansing of Swimming Pool water. And, that too can conduct the electricity possibly (?).

Nigel Goodwin Can you send across any link that provides standard procedures or construction/maintenance procedures which help in understanding how these can be taken care of.

No, I'm not involved in swimming pools - I have no access to such information.

 

[ZipZapOuch]

No, I'm not involved in swimming pools - I have no access to such information.

What? Are you saying you don't want to be blamed for someone's death if they follow or misunderstand any description of how to do something that only a master-electrician - qualified in waterproof pigtail connections - and waterproof/weatherproof cable selection should do?

I just went through the process of finding a qualified electrician to replace cables on an aging fountain in a decorative pond. What a nightmare.

 

[Tony Stewart]

This one? https://pune.news/nation/tragedy-st...following-girls-electrocution-in-pool-135741/

It says child made contact with a live wire in pool ?? (hidden wire?)

 

[Tony Stewart]

The body fluids are about as conductive as ocean water. Tap water chlorinated would be an insulator .

Water conductivity rises rapidly from uS to mS rapidly with ionic contamination & Chlorine makes that worse. Conductivity can be easily measured. Shocking incident is a crime of negligence.

10-year-old girl dies after falling into swimming pool of posh residential complex in Bengaluru, residents blame electrocution

The Prestige Lakeside Habitat apartment was developed on 102 acre of land near the Varthur lake and several occupants of the complex work in the IT sector.

indianexpress.com

In the USA Consumer Product Safety Commission, 33 people lost their lives and 33 were injured due to pool electrocutions over a 17-year period

 

[ZipZapOuch]

In the USA Consumer Product Safety Commission, 33 people lost their lives and 33 were injured due to pool electrocutions over a 17-year period

Probably 15 pages of regulations and severe penalties around this topic for 33 people dead over 17-years. I agree that there should be. Based on the millions of people who use and maintain swimming pools, I'd estimate that it's working. Not perfect but effective.

 

[Reloadron]

Never underestimate what could possibly go wrong when electricity and water are in the mix. I remember when this happened just up the road from me. The story out of India later mentions the live wire. This begins with lost her life after being electrocuted in a swimming pool and later claims when she came in contact with a live wire in the swimming pool area. So what was it? In the pool or in the pool area? Other than a child dying of electrocution the story lacks any actual detail as to what exactly happened? While we have rules for electricity it's apparent that electricity does not always play by the rules.

Ron