# Electricity and Water **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2001, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446 "2001-08-01T07:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/1 "2001-08-01T07:01:41Z")
We all know that electricity and water don’t mix, but why? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/2 "2001-08-01T07:05:08Z")
I have no problem mixing them. Maybe you’re not doing it right? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/3 "2001-08-01T12:24:19Z")
Water conducts electricity. That creates problems. (BTW, distilled water in nonconductive. It’s not the water itself, but the ions in it that let the electrons flow.) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/4 "2001-08-01T12:43:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*. . .distilled water in nonconductive. It’s not the water itself, but the ions in it that let the electrons flow.) \*\* Distilled water just has impurities removed. It still has ions and therefore will conduct. Deionized water doesn’t and won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/5 "2001-08-01T16:47:51Z")
Ok, Thanks for the responces. Now, I don’t know much about how electricity works, so what does the ions in the water have to do with anything? If someone could explain it or post a link that explains it I would be very happy. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/6 "2001-08-01T20:00:24Z")
According to my college electronics proffesor, water is an insulator, it doesnt conduct. He said that it was impurities that actually conduct, and that pure H[sup]2[/sup]O wouldnt. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/7 "2001-08-01T21:44:15Z")
Distilled water just has impurities removed. It still has ions and therefore will conduct. Deionized water doesn’t and won’t. What? I think that the above statement is just wrong. As far as I know water does not ionize much. What are the ions in distilled water if not water ions? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/8 "2001-08-01T23:50:54Z")
What makes water most condictive is dissolved salts. These salts are what conduct electricity. Anything which dissolves in water will create ions, and ions give the electricity a path to flow. Truly, however, everything conducts electricity, its just a matter of how and how much. **gazpacho** , water molecules themselves are not neutrally charged. There is a slight positive charge “side” and a slight negative charge “side.” ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/9 "2001-08-02T00:01:36Z")
erislover says: gazpacho, water molecules themselves are not neutrally charged. There is a slight positive charge “side” and a slight negative charge “side.” Which from my understanding of chemistry is completely different from being ions. And will not conduct electricity because the + side cannot move in the opposite direction as the - side. If they do you no longer have a water molecule. You have ions. I guess my basic point is deionized water will have just as many or more ions as distilled water. Neither deionized or distilled water are good conductors. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/10 "2001-08-02T00:13:12Z")
Yeah, but how do you get electricity to dissolve in water? Do you have to heat it or stir it or what? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electricity-and-water/74446/11 "2001-08-02T01:03:44Z")
water and electricty are a bad mix when you are also in that water and the water is fresh (not salt) as you become the best conductor available. When you are in salt water the electricity would rather travel through the water then you.