For the past seven years, a family from Taiwan’s Chiayi county had only been able to access their kitchen with rubber boots on or risk getting electrocuted. Even turning on the faucet with their bare hands was a risky affair as current could be running through it.

The man of the house, known only as Mr. He, was recently featured in a short news segment on the bizarre phenomenon affecting his household. Seeing him getting ready to enter his kitchen, one would assume that he’s dealing with a flooded room, but in fact the rubber boots he always puts on are supposed to protect him from the electricity running through the kitchen. Every time he touches the metal walls of the kitchen, or even the water faucet with his bare hand, He claims to get an electrical shock. To avoid that, he always operates the faucet with a soup spoon equipped with a wooden handle.

Mr. He told reporters that in the last few years he had the electrical installation in his house replaced, and consulted several electricians, but no one could offer him a solution, or even an explanation. He and his family, didn’t dare touch the metallic walls and roof of the kitchen, even though they could have used some cleaning, for fear of getting electrocuted.

Recently, an electrical engineer spent several days inspecting the kitchen and finally figured out the problem. After checking that all the electrical wires were in good condition, the engineer cut off all power to the house but after using his electrical multimeter on the metallic wall of the kitchen, he noticed that it was still electrically charged. Having figured out that there was a hidden electricity source, it didn’t take long for the engineer to identify it.

Looking at the house from a distance, it was easy to see that a Chunghwa Telecom cable from a nearby wooden electrical post was resting on the metallic roof of Mr. He’s kitchen, and upon further inspection, the engineer found that the insulation had been damaged and the cable was in direct contact with the roof. Since no grounding had been installed in the kitchen, and most of it was made of metal, it’s no wonder that current flowed freely through the whole place.

 

He’s family is obviously relieved that they will finally be able to use their kitchen without having to wear rubber boots and avoid touching metallic surfaces, but it’s hard to believe they had to put up with that for seven years.

via EBC