Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)This work was initially based on the casual observation of an electrostatic phenomenon, in which particles of amorphous silica were attracted by a dc electrical field. The first observations were recently shown in a communication in this journal. To explain the electrical charge transport process observed in this work, all forces acting on silica particles were estimated and the significant ones were used to formulate a model made up of three elementary steps. Analyzing the experimental observations using this model, it was possible to suggest that electrons can be introduced into and removed from electronic bands of water. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3597777]13421Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)