Last April 2015 I went for a swim with my iPhone.  A new one.  And it cost $700.  And I didn’t have insurance.  It was in my swim trunks pocket and I was probably in the pool for 7-10 seconds before I realized it.  I’m sure all of you can either relate personally to this tragedy or know someone who has had it happen to them.  But what happens if this happens to you?

Reality
The hard facts about water and electronics is that they don’t mix.  Ever.  Smartphones are no different.  When I stepped into the pool my phone was in my pants pocket which means it was probably 3 feet under water.  That may not sound like much but it really means there’s a 3 foot column of water ON TOP of my phone pressing down on it.

Depth Matters
That 3 foot column of water is a lot of pressure sitting on top of the phone and that pressure forces the water into the phone faster.  Water is is going to enter into the earphone jack, the power slot and around all the buttons.

Time Matters
So now we know that 3 feet of water for 10 seconds means a dead phone.  But what if I had noticed right away that the phone was in my pocket?  Perhaps for only one second?  It may have survived.  We’ll never know.  Afterwards I was dumb enough to put my phone in a bag of rice and order a special iPhone disassembly kit and wait a week for it to arrive.  Foolishly I believed rice would be such an effective desiccant that it would dry the insides of phone completely.  When I got the kit I was able to pry the cover off and marvel at the engineering wonder which is the modern smartphone.  I was 99.999% sure the phone was toast but I took it apart anyway.  All 26 screws and 5 or 6 ribbon cables.  The smartphone is a miracle of miniaturization and I am 100% convinced that if ONE drop of water got into the phone it would be wrecked.

A More Typical Scenario
The majority of water damaged phones don’t happen by slowly entering the pool like I did.  These are quick accidents that you can’t predict.  Like bending over the wishing well with your phone in your pocket or getting thrown into the pool by your wedding best men.  Or by pulling your pants up too quick after sitting on… wait for it… the toilet.  Yes, this is the place where the majority of phones get water damaged.

OMG That’s Yucky!
Remember that depth and time matters.  You pull up your pants and splash – it happens.  What do you do?  What you don’t do is stand there thinking about the tragedy starring you in the face.  You don’t let your mind wander about  about the most sanitary way to get it.  Should I get a towel?  Rubber glove?  Salad tongs?  All of this thinking is wasting precious time.  You must act and not think.  JUST GO AND GET IT.  If you do this INSTANTANEOUSLY there is a very good chance your phone will live.  Your self esteem is shot to heck but your phone will live.

Splash & Grab
This is what happened to my daughter last weekend.  She heard a splash and quickly got it out.  She put it into bag of rice (now I know that’s dumb and useless) and about 18 hours later turned it on and it worked.  This happened AFTER the Summer Bash party so if you shook her hand you’re safe…

What Have We Learned

1. Get a water-resistant case.  No case is waterproof especially if it has hinged doors for the audio and power plugs.  But they will buy you time.  But not that much time.
2. If the dunking happens in the “baño” you gotta just go and get it asap and take a shower later.
3. The bag of rice is dumb.  And it might damage the phone further if any rice bits get into the audio or power ports.
4. If you did 3 feet of water for 10 seconds don’t waste $8 on a repair kit unless you’re like me and just want to look inside.
5. Keep those silicon packets that seem to come with many consumer items.    Put the phone in a bag full of those and wait.  Resist the urge to turn on the phone for a couple of days.