Subject: Re: Dowsing (was Re: Real people of the earth)

From: Don Bowen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 09:53:13 -0700

>I'll take you up on this offer.  We are located on a ridge.  I know that
>water runs through it.  So, how I can locate this water with a dowsing
>wire.  I've been thinking if I can find the right location I should be
>able to tap into this water source on the upper part of my property and
>gravity feed to my garden.  The soil type is a mix of sand and clay
>layers.  Oh, once I do locate the water I need to find an inexpensive way 
>to tap it.

        Dowsing is one of those things that tend to be a trip wire.
"Science" says it does not work, "observation" says it does.  My father was
a dowser and a good one.  According to my grandmother, it was because he had
the devil in him. He dowsed and dug several wells in the USA midwest.

        I have never seen the metal dowsing rods work very well for water.
They do work quite well for finding underground pipes and wires.  For water
you really need a fork from a tree that grows near water.  Any tree will do,
its just that trees near water work better.  My father liked to use willow.

        I remember the whole process because part of the trip was that he
would build a willow whistle for me.  He would cut a forked branch about a
couple of feet long.  He would hold it by the legs with the base pointing
out.  THe hands would be palm up with the thumbs pointing away.  The thumbs
would be in a line which put a bend in the willow with the base parallel to
the ground.

        He would then walk back and forth over the ground.  When he passed
over underground water, the base would dip then recover after the water had
been passed.  After several trips over the ground the underground streams
would be mapped and any intersections located as a place to dig.  I watched
it work several times.  When he said that there were three streams, we would
hit three in the well.  I have seen him find water when others have said
that none is there.  I have also seen him tell that no water was to be found
then watched as another driller said there was only to dig a dry hole.

        As for getting the water out, that depends upon where it is.  Deep
water wells can cost thousands while a sand pipe can be pounded in your
self.  I have helped drill many a shallow well (< 100 ft) by drill rig.  The
rig dug about an 18 in hole which was later lined with clay well casings.  I
have also helped hand dig a 20 ft deep well in sand.  I should note that our
water supply on the farm was a pond.

  Donald E. Bowen                       Software Engineer
  Valley Center CA.                     [email-masked]
  USDA zone 9,  Sunset zone 21          [email-masked]
  bee point acres

  woodworker, historian, beekeeper
  1936 Farmall 12          1966 Corvair CORSA 140 convertible
  1 wife, 3 kids, 2 acres, 1 cat, 2 dogs, no TV

---

From: Jeff Jacobsen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 12:53:25 -0700 (PDT)

Thanks Don,

A couple more questions ...

We have upland willows (I forget their exact name) on the property. 
Should I use a branch from one of them or find a weeping willow which I 
know really stays close to water?  

It sure would be nice if I could find an underground stream or perched 
aquafer and tap into that without going too deep.  According to plant 
indicators we should have water showing up within fifteen feet (various 
reeds, the willows, etc.)  The question is how to tap it.  

Don, you mentioned that you helped with drilling wells.  What kind of
rigs?  Bringing in a driller is an expensive operation and in my situation
I don't think it would get me the best water.  They tend to be getting the
water from 90ft or more and in all cases people are having to add
expensive filters to get rid of iron, sulfur, etc.  Given the lay of our
land I suspect I should be able to tab into a source of faster moving
water at about 15 ft or so.  Once I've located a good spot for
digging/drilling the question is one of what are my options;  dig it by
hand, a driven well, get a small drilling rig, etc.  So far the most
appealing idea is to go into the side of the hill such that the water
would flow out on its own.  Not sure how this is done, providing I can
find the right location. 

By the way, I have another option.  We have a seep near the bottom of our 
property.  One hydrolgist suggest we do a collection gallery at this 
point.  But this is such a nice potential pond location that I'm not 
inclined to tie it up to collect our drinking water.  It also requires 
that I pump the water 100 feet uphill to our collection area where it 
will eventually gravity feed to house location.  This source would also 
need filtering to make it drinkable since it is seeping out from only a 
few feet underground (some of our clay layers at work).  If only I could 
map the underground clay layers ...

Open to ideas ... We are just novice farmers trying to figure out 
how to make a living off our 12 acres without ruining it and in 
particular how to get a good quantity of good water.  

Thanks

Jeff Jacobsen		[email-masked]  

On Thu, 14 Sep 1995, Don Bowen wrote:

3~>