The myth
Water conducts electricity. (That’s why you’re not allowed to use a corded power saw in a municipal swimming pool.)
The “truth”
Forgive the pedantry, but water doesn’t conduct electricity – i.e. allow electricity to pass through it easily. On the contrary, water is, in fact, a very effective insulator. All the same, everything we’ve been told about the dangers of mixing water and electric current is demonstrably true. The reason for this paradox is another quality of water: it’s the most versatile solvent known to science, meaning it can dissolve a great variety of substances. Pure water is indeed an insulator, a barrier to electricity – but the only way you’ll ever encounter the pure stuff is in a bottle of deionised or distilled water. In the quotidian…
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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 444