Lightning & Skimmers

As you could probably guess these two do not mix well. I quite honestly did not believe the owner when he called and said his skimmer was liquid. There is a two story house and large trees surrounding this pond, how could lightning hit something that is pretty much underground?

Apparently, after talking to multiple firemen, it was concluded that it was lightning and it was probably headed for the house, but 'found' the current from the pump and followed it to the skimmer. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. And now you can too.















We attempted to find the remnants of the irrigation box that housed the check valve, shown below, but no evidence was found. It was completely incinerated. I don't know if anyone else has ever had this experience, but it was definitely a first for me.















I guess I get to find out how creative I am with rebuilding a pond that has been struck by lightning. Now I've heard of a pump getting burnt out by a power surge from a lightning strike, but never liquified by a direct strike!