How a backyard swimming pool can become an electrical death trap

Electrified pools are a silent killer that can strike without the slightest warning, an electrician told The Post Tuesday — as authorities in New Jersey investigated whether three family members found dead in a backyard pool were shocked to death.

“It wouldn’t look or sound any different. You could jump in, swim around and be fine in the water with the electricity but once you become the bridge to ground by touching the ladder or rail you’d die,” said the licensed electrician with 20 years of experience — who happened to be installing pool equipment in Queens when he spoke to the Post by phone.

“Then someone tries to help and they die.”

The water may not even be painful to the touch, he added.

Incorrectly installed mechanical equipment can turn a backyard oasis into a death trap, according to the electrical worker, who asked that his name be withheld.

“You need ground fault protection on the filter motor. It shuts off the filter motor immediately if there is any fault,” he added.

On Monday, three members of a family were found dead in their above-ground backyard pool in New Brunswick, New Jersey — and neighbors fear they may have been electrocuted after an electrician’s truck pulled up to the house to investigate Tuesday.

Police had been called to the home around 4:20 p.m. when a neighbor heard screaming, thinking someone had fallen, police said.

“We believe the mother was screaming from inside the pool for help,” police spokesman Sutter said at a press conference.

Their next door neighbor — who said she did not hear any of the initial commotion — said cops initially came to her house thinking that’s where the scream had originated.

“I told them, not here, and they ran next door,” she said. Police attempted CPR but pronounced all three dead at the scene, they said.

Officials revealed after the publication of this article that all three of the New Jersey family members died of accidental drowning.