Water Witching/Dowsing?

[Anonymous Poster]

I always was a skeptic on this whole dowsing/witching thing. There is no logical reason that it should work. Anyway, I have some acerage that I needed to put a well in on. Lasf fall I had the well driller came out, he had a dowsing setup with 2 nylon rods, connected at one end with a cap of some type. He did his thing, and no doubt the rods spun in a circle when he came across what he said was a vein of water.

Between last fall and this spring I ended up moving the planned building site, to where this original well location wouldn't work for me. I had a old guy that does dowsing (recommended by a neighbor) come out. He used the fork stick routine, the stick spun like crazy when he was over what he claimed was a vein. He let me try it, really couldn't feel anything.

OK, I really figured these guys were basically putting on a show. Still, I drilled where he said, we hit 20 GPM, at 400 ft, rather than the 67 feet the second dowser said. Still, this is pretty good considering some of the other wells in the area. To me, this is not conclusive-may have hit water anywhere at that depth for all I know.

Anyway, this past weekend, my neighbor was mentioning that someone had told him about using 2 pieces of brazing (brass) rod, bent into an L shape. He said he had "hits" in sevaral places on his property. Offered to let me try them. I was pretty convinced that nothing would happen. I was wrong! While walking over portions of the property the rods very defiately rotated (crossed). We walked down towards where my well is, on the way down I kept getting "hits" along his driveway. Kind of made me think there was nothing to this-then he told me his waterline follows his driveway.

I'm not one to believe in things I can't explain. I am an engineer, so went into this as one heck of a skeptic. I deliberatly held the rods slightly downward, thinking that tipping the upright protion of the L would make them swing-it didn't matter, happened anyway. Can't begin to explain it. I think I'll make up a wooden block with drilled holes for the L's (rods), and add a level to take that bit of variation out and try this again. Can't explain it, shouldn't work, but something is making those rods move. It's not magnetic fields, since brazing rod is non-magnetic.

What are other peoples experince with this, or have any explanation?

Bri

 

[Harv]

Yep, Brian, I had my <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=rural&Number=135477&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1#Post135477>own encounter</A> with a bent rod dowser -- an engineer, no less.

As impressive as that guy was, it was <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=rural&Number=134935&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=dowser%20pop&Match=And&Searchpage=0&Limit=50&Old=allposts&Main=134811>this dowsing episode</A> that has really had me wondering ever since.

I'm a scientific fact kinda guy myself, but I leave the door open for things like this that we can't explain. Yet.

 

[chim]

I have a pair of the brazing rod "sniffers" that I use to locate underground lines. They have handles made of copper tubing so they rotate easily. My first experience with theses was about 20 years ago when we were working at an airport and needed to find where another contractor had buried Greenburg (a nonmetallic tarpaper type of pipe) conduits under the existing runway. Two of my guys were longtime users of the rods, and it was hard for me to believe it worked even though I was seeing it. Of course, there came a "Gimme them things" moment, and much to my surprise the things worked for me. It was actually unnerving to have something like this work for me. I've never seen a good explanation of how this works.

Wifey's one Grandad had a reputation for finding good locations for wells. He used a pocketwatch (I think after finding the spot with a Y-shaped twig) to determine the depth and capability of the well, based on swings/rotations of the watch. I regret that I never spoke with the old guy about his talent. He passed away before my own experience, and I had written his "waterwitching" off as hocus-pocus.................chim

 

[alan40]

I'll have to agree with everyone else. I also have had some experiance with dowsing. I use a coat hanger cut about in half. I tried a appletree dowsing stick but it wouldn't work for me but would for the experianced guy that got paid for it. I did dowse out a septic tank and lines for my cousin one time. It's hard to figure out what's going on but the first time you get a stick to move sort of give me a funny feeling. Nature's unexplained!!!! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[TerryinMD]

I've seen dowsers at work twice.

Once at my parents house in Pittsburgh, Pa and once on my property to find a good spot for the well.

The dowser in Pittsburgh was a guy who grew up in our neighborhood and worked for the Pgh Dept of Public Works. My parents had to replace the water line going into the and had no clue as to where it may be connected in the street. So, they called the Pgh DPW and the guy came to house, look around and asked for two coat hangers. He cut the hanger into pieces about 18" in length and bent them into an L shape. He then started to transverse the front of the house and every so often the "indicators" would cross. He marked the area and said start digging. Low and behold, the water pipe was exactly where he indicated and it was buried about 7-8 feet under our front sidewalk.

On our property, I was the general contractor and I arranged for all of the different contractors to do the work on our new house. I found out the name of a good pump man who worked in the area and he suggested that I have my property dowsed for a good well site and that he would be more the happy to dowse for us. So, we arranged to meet him on the property and we pointed out where the house was to be built and where the septic system was to be installed and he went to work. He found a wild cherry tree and cut a small branch off of the tree. It was the top portion of the branch and Y-shaped. The indicator end of the dowsing rod was the bottom of the Y. He then held the bottom of the Y facing upwards and held Y's tops in each hand with his thumbs facing down and applying some pressure on those ends so that some tension was applied to the pointer. He then began to walk the property to find the "best" best location. He worked about a quarter of an acre and found the best spot that was close to the house. The top of the Y would begin to wiggle and then just point down when he found a spot for the well. He found three or four spots but chose the one that gave the strongest indication. It was something to watch.

I took the cherry indicator with me and tried it at the house we were living at the time. (I didn't want to embarass myself in front of the dowser mind you. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif) I held it just like he did and walked my front yard and it worked. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif We were renting from a co-worker and I asked her if she knew where the water line was and she pointed them out to me. The line was where I dowsed and the pointer indicated. (play music from the Twilight Zone please....)

There are things in this wide and wonderful world that just cannot be explained. When it comes to dowsing, I've seen it work and I've done it myself. I would not bet the farm on my abilities - no way. I've only done it once and it may have been a fluke. Or maybe I have the ability and not know it. However, I would use a dowser again and recommend the use of an experience one.

Terry

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Northern Supply carries a dowser thingy. It's a plastic handle sorta kinda about the size and shape of a bicycle grip. Inside of it is a telesoping whatchamacallit about like a radio antenna. When it's fully extended the rod folds to a ninety degree angle from the handle and swivels easy as a BB in a boxcar.

You hold the puppy out front of you like as you walk. When you hit a field of something flowing, electic, telco, water, gas, etc the rod will hang a ninety just like it seen something a whole cuter over thataway.

I've used the copper and or brass or wire "L's" many times for locating utilities. Supposedly my dad's dad was born with a dowser's spirit deluxe.

Here's an interesting glitch for you to pause over. I can locate and dowse. My dad who's probably the closest person to me in thwhole world on many levels can't. I can locate a signal with the locator, hand the thing to him and it won't do squat no matter if'n he stood on his head and wiggled his ears to make it grin. The only real big difference between dad and me that I've found is our reactions to fire ants. They bite him and he's sick big time. They bite me and all I get is mad.

Now I'm not saying you should ask your dowser about how he reacts to ant bites. But it makes about as much sense as the rest of this. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[dourobob]

<font color=blue>the experianced guy that got paid for it. </font color=blue>

Interesting - in my neck of the world the "real" dowsers will not accept "payment" - now a cold one rarely goes amiss /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif but no cash changes hands. Part of the mystique I guess.

BTW - the rods do work for me but I don't really have enough experieince to be confident about the results./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[stmiller2]

I had a well drilled on my farm last summer. I had two separate drillers visit the farm.

The first used a Y-shaped wild cherry branch to locate a site where he said two veins crossed.

The second used the dowser thingy. I was amazed when he chose the same site.

A friend said that he could dowse with two L-shaped copper wires. Sure enough, he chose the same site. He let me use the wires, and they crossed at that site.

(I chose an inconspicuous way of marking the site, so none of the dowsers knew what the others had done).


The proof is in the pudding. I got 60 gallons per minute from the 200-foot well that was drilled at the site.

 

[dourobob]

Following this string I was reminded of our early time on this farm where we have been for 20+years. A friend of my Dad's witched wells and I asked him to come over and tell us what sites would be good if we had to put in a new well - the one being used was a dug well only 24 feet deep and we really didn't have a sense of its capacity. Well Jack wandered all over our property within 1000 feet of the house using a crabapple branch and identified three or four likely locations but he kept coming back to the site of our well and said "You'll never run out of water here. Whoever picked this location knew what they were doing." Well 20 years later my wife is running a B&B with two luxury suites (therapeutic whirlpools for two etc.) and lots more laundry and, even through a couple of drought summers and watering 45 head of cattle the well has only been pumped dry twice - both times were my fault/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif (no cure for stupidity) /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif 'cause I left hoses running in the barn for 8 -10 hours, but the well recovered in about 2 hours.

Jack also told me he once offered to pay the costs for a conventional well driller to move his rig from a 250 foot deep dry hole to a site Jack had witched about 100 feet away if he didn't hit water within 30 feet. Well, at 18 feet he hit an Artesian well - it goes without saying the land owner was pleased.

The proof ---- well it just works!

Bob

 

[PitbullMidwest]

<font color=blue>...he hit an Artesian well </font color=blue>

what exactly is an Artesian well?