5 Tips for Working With Electrical Issues Near Water
Electrical problems and flooding can both be bad on their own, but when you combine these issues, the situation can get scarier and a lot harder to manage. To keep yourself safe, here are some tips for dealing with electrical issues around water:
1. Stay Out of the Area
Water is a conductor, so if you suspect that there are electrical issues in an area with standing water, you should not enter that area. To explain, imagine that your basement has flooded in a storm and that you have seen the lights flickering on and off down there. The flickering could be from loose wires. If those wires touch the water, the electricity could be conducted to anything that is touching the water, including your body.
2. Thoroughly Dry the Area
Take time to thoroughly dry any watery areas. Use towels and pumps to remove most of the water. Make sure you also increase ventilation and heat in the area to evaporate any lingering water droplets.
3. Check the Breaker When Dealing With Pumps
If you're dealing with an electrical pump that has stopped working, you should always check the breaker before doing anything else. The breaker may have tripped due to a power overload, and that could be causing the pump not to work. You can fix the issue just by turning the breaker back on, but if the breaker keeps tripping, that signals a more serious issue.
Usually, when you're dealing with electrical pumps, you don't have to worry about the water becoming electrified. However, to enhance your safety, you should look over the pump for any potential issues. In particular, if you see exposed wires or missing casing, you need to stay out of the area until you're sure there's no power running through the pump.
4. Turn Off the Power
Before working on any electrical issues, always make sure that the power is turned off. Ideally, to be on the safe side, you should turn off all the power to the property -- you shouldn't just turn off the breaker that corresponds to the area where you're working.
5. Contact a Professional
Finally, if you want to be as safe as possible, you should call an electrical repair professional. They can ensure that the area is safe for you. They have the experience to fix nearly any issue, and most importantly, they can do the repair in a way that helps to prevent future problems.
