A Tingle From the Tap or Shower: What It Means and Who to Call

You turn on the shower or grab the garden tap and feel a faint buzz through your hand. It is easy to shrug off as static or imagination. It is neither, and it is one of the few electrical symptoms where the first phone call is not to an electrician.

A tingle is a warning, even a small one

A tap or showerhead should never carry current you can feel. United Energy says a shock or tingle from a tap or showerhead could mean there is an electrical wiring issue in or near your home that might lead to a more dangerous situation. It names poor internal wiring and faulty appliances as the usual causes.

The words "in or near" matter. The fault might be inside your house, or it might be on the supply side. You cannot tell which by feel, and you should not try to find out by touching it again.

Water raises the stakes. Energy Safe Victoria notes that shocks received around a swimming pool are more likely to be fatal than shocks elsewhere, because bare feet, minimal clothing and wet skin reduce the body's insulation and resistance. Bathrooms, laundries and garden taps bring the same wet skin and bare feet into the picture.

Call your distributor first

Energy Safe Victoria's advice is direct: if you experience tingles or shocks from an electrical appliance or water taps, call your electricity company immediately. A licensed electrician must then check the property's wiring.

The electricity company here is your distributor, the business that owns and maintains the poles and wires. It is not the retailer that sends the bill. The Victorian Government lists five distributors, each covering its own region. Two of them are:

• United Energy: southern suburbs and the Mornington Peninsula. Faults line 13 20 99.
• AusNet Services: outer northern and eastern suburbs and eastern Victoria. Faults line 13 17 99.

If you are not sure which network your street is on, the Victorian Government's Find your energy distributor page has a map of all five.

What to do while you wait

• Stay out of the area. United Energy's advice is not to touch or enter that area again, and to call and report it straight away.
• Keep children and pets away, and make sure everyone in the house knows which tap or room it is.
• If the tingle came from an appliance, stop using it. Energy Safe Victoria says never to use an appliance that has given someone any kind of shock. Do not open it up to look.
• Do not take covers off, pull at fittings, or go under the house looking for the cause.
• Write down what happened: which tap, hot or cold, whether it had been raining, and what else was running at the time. It helps whoever investigates.

If someone has actually been shocked

A faint tingle and a shock that knocks someone back are different situations. For a serious shock, United Energy's advice is:

• Turn off the power at the mains first.
• If the person has to be moved away from the source straight away, use a wooden broom handle or your shoe to push them free.
• Take care around water, because it can be electrically charged.
• Call 000 immediately.

For a less severe shock, it advises seeing your doctor for a health check.

A safety switch does not mean it is fine

It is tempting to decide nothing can be wrong because the safety switch did not trip. Energy Safe Victoria's household wiring guide says a safety switch turns the power off within 0.03 of a second when it detects a problem that may pose a risk to personal safety. The same guide says safety switches may not protect all wiring and electrical appliances, and will not prevent all electric shocks.

So a board with safety switches is good protection, and it is still not a reason to live with a tingle. Reporting it to the distributor is the first step. The wiring inside the house still needs a licensed electrician, which is the second half of Energy Safe Victoria's advice, and United Energy likewise says a registered electrical contractor needs to investigate.

What to do next

If you feel a tingle from a tap, shower or appliance, stop using it, keep everyone away, and call your distributor's faults line. Then book a licensed electrician to check the wiring, and do not go back to that tap or appliance until it has been found and fixed.