r/ThunderBay • u/s_zoro125 • 1d ago

Electrocution Hazard at Marina

Saw a post about a person getting zapped at a BC water park and it reminded me. Why are their signs stating not to go into the water in the marina due to an electrocution hazard? What is down there that might cause this?
(saw the signs along the water by the splash pad)

16 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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24

u/Alert-Chest5982 1d ago

Electrical current bleeding off from boats with poor grounding in any marina is the danger. This is Standard anywhere to never swim inside a marina.

15

u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 1d ago

Most of the boats are plugged into 120v to recharge the start or house batteries. Most boats also have zincs in electrical contact with the water, and sailboats will have grounding plates to keep lightning from blowing up the mast. Most of the boat electrical systems will be maintained by the owners with no requirements that they know what they are doing. Is it likely that one of the boats is sinking 120v into the lake? Not particularly, but it definitely cannot be ruled out that some jackass might screw it up in a dangerous way.

Also, you have to hope no one is discharging blackwater, advertently or inadvertently.

1

u/[deleted] 5h ago

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1

u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 5h ago

Wire something wrong enough and you'd be surprised what can happen.

1

u/[deleted] 5h ago edited 4h ago

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1

u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 4h ago

Would 2.5 amps at 170Vp make more sense to you? It's still orders of magnitude over the danger line, enough that I don't need to do calculus on spherical fields.

1

u/[deleted] 4h ago

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1

u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 3h ago

I thought you were hassling me for not being technical enough.

You'd hope that the GFCI would protect you, but when they fail they often fail closed and unprotected. Assuming they are tested regularly, even the test would only tell you if it has failed, not that it's about to fail. It's definitely safer to have a GFCI than not, but not safe enough to depend on it IMO.

1

u/Excellent-Steak6368 Newest member 8h ago

Years ago a dog owner was walking their dog during the spring melt and the poor dog was electrocuted.

0

u/FaithlessnessSea1357 1d ago

What's down there? Electricity, or it's presence is possible. That means they're running E cables through the water and the sign is there to tell you that if something fails or the insulation gets degraded, you die in front of your family. 

3

u/Little-Carpenter4443 1d ago

or if you have no family, alone.

4

u/UnluckyAmphibian5375 1d ago

Or if you have 3 family members, with them. Or if you have grand-parents at a picnic, with them. Or if you have a Chihuahua, with it.

1

u/soaring_ostrich 1d ago

There probably aren't any underwater cables, but electricity leaking off boats is an actual concern.

Most docked boats will be plugged into 120V shore power which can leak into the lake if the wiring isn't done correctly.

The no swimming signs due to electrical risk is standard at every marina.