Smith Mountain Lake business offers free stray voltage testing following deadly electrocution incident

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – Blackwater Diving Company at Smith Mountain Lake is turning a tragedy into an opportunity for prevention and education.

This comes after an electrocution incident claimed the life of an 18-year-old at Smith Mountain Lake earlier this month.

When the owner of Blackwater Diving Company, Chad Quinn, heard about this, he wanted to do something to help.

“After the incident—we are a small company; we have children—my wife and I decided to start trying to go out and do some stray voltage checks. So we purchased two meters and kind of hit the road,” said Quinn.

The response was overwhelming. In less than a month, the company has checked for stray voltage at 125 docks across the lake and still has 75 other docks booked out.

Stray voltage was found at about 70% of the docks checked.

“Now that could be very small readings of stray voltage to a higher stray voltage. And the two things we check is not only is the stray voltage present but how far it radiates from the area that we find it at,” said Quinn.

Stray voltage can be caused by a variety of things, from boat lifts to ground wires.

Quinn and his company are not electricians but rather community members trying to educate and do their part.

So if stray voltage is found, Quinn tells customers it’s time to call an electrician to find the source and fix the problem.

“We can’t really diagnose, but if we can get there and let someone know that they either do or don’t have stray voltage. And just to educate them,” he said.

Some things to keep in mind to prevent stray voltage: never swim around a boat lift, keep boat lifts out of the water when not in use and don’t hold on to anything metal while in the water.