I have had folks tell me straight up, it can and did not only find water, but at what depth, and potential volume. Others say it's complete B.S., amongst other choice descriptions.

Curious what SF thinks. Thanks.

Pure hokum.

any success a dowser has is purely coincidental.

I'm in the science first kind of crowd. But I'll be damned if my parents didn't hire some water guru to walk around the yard for 5 minutes, pick upped a stick and stuffed it in the ground and said drill here.

We have had some of the freshest water you can find for 25 years ever since. It was about 12 feet down.

I think he was looking at tree growth as much as anything.

We got his recommendation from a friend who he helped do the same thing about 1/2 mile away.

Sent him to another neighbor about 10 houses down and he did it again.

Put me on the BS side of the ledger.

However, people who's opinions and intelligence I respect believe in it so...

quote:

Originally posted by Timdogg6:
I'm in the science first kind of crowd. But I'll be damned if my parents didn't hire some water guru to walk around the yard for 5 minutes, pick upped a stick and stuffed it in the ground and said drill here.

We have had some of the freshest water you can find for 25 years ever since. It was about 12 feet down.

I think he was looking at tree growth as much as anything.

We got his recommendation from a friend who he helped do the same thing about 1/2 mile away.

Sent him to another neighbor about 10 houses down and he did it again.

was this also in Boca?

Like many things, we tend to disbelieve the unexplainable. I don't have any personal experience with it, but I willing to consider that there are those with a talent/gift that I cannot duplicate or understand.

I tried this using brass rods and walking up and down and across my 2.5 acre lot the only places the rods crossed was at my well line, septic line and underground garden hose line. The rods crossed over each other and went straight in the direction of the lines in each case. That is all I know or have experienced. My grandfather made a set for me in the sixties, he was a plumber and came over from Germany around 1895..I don't recall any divining rod stories though and my Dad, also a plumber, never really talked about them- unfortunately, it's too late to ask him. I made a set a few years ago when I was goofing around with my son.

I recalled seeing this article at some point:
http://www.popularmechanics.co...ience/a3199/1281661/

I'm not saying I believe in it, but when we had our well put in, the gentleman walked around for a little bit and said, we are digging here. We now have a well that is 48 feet deep and water 14 feet fro the top of the casing.

Before I went to the trouble I asked the well driller... he said why not do it, nothing to lose!

Well it works. My uncle implied but didn't say It's a gift from God. Either you have it or not.

Often people call it BS just because it doesn't work for them. Some have never seen it or even tried yet call it BS.

I had a well witched by my Uncle. He used a forked stick from a fruit tree. Found an underground stream about 10 feet wide going at an angle across a 12 acre field.

He handed me the stick and I tried really hard to make it work... it didn't...

Then, he walked up behind me while I was walking back and forth across the "stream" he found, without saying a word he laid his hand on my shoulder... shit! It worked, I tried to hold it but i could not, until we got past the "stream". If he let go, no more workee.

So Yea, count me a believer!

He was in his 80's and had spotted wells all his life and he claimed he had never been wrong, some times he found water, sometimes he didn't find any water.

Like anything I guess there are fakes as well... my uncle would not accept any compensation for his work, said that profiting from a gift might result in loosing the gift. He said to never trust someone who did charge for the service...

Drilled and got good water.

You might look at the scientific studies linked at the Wikipedia article on dowsing: Dowsing

A geologist friend of mine explained that, except for a few places in Sweden, water can be found within 1000' of any place on earth and is usually much, much closer to the surface. I have never heard of a dowser that both found a well, and then proved water, or good water, wouldn't be found anywhere else nearby, thereby demonstrating their dowsing was actually prescient.

my grandfather could do do this

he actually made his own divining rods and not only located a well for his house in Halifax, but also located the well for our family home in Truro

there is no way it should have worked, but it did

There have been scientific-level controlled experiments to test people with solid reputations for being successful at the … um, art, and their performance was no better than chance (and sometimes less).

As has been pointed out by skeptical investigators, it’s quite possible for people who know where water sources are, either consciously or unconsciously, to influence the wands. The way they’re shaped allows them to move and cross with very little movement of the hands or even just certain muscles. As for finding water in unknown locations, many times water can be found anywhere within a limited area or the most likely location may be obvious to someone who knows what to look for.

To test a water “witcher,” enlist the help of someone who doesn’t know where the water lines are (and someplace where their location isn’t obvious) to accompany the person and mark where he/she says they are. Then the person who knows checks to see their accuracy. If the witcher indicates water where the lines aren’t located, though, expect to be told, “Oh, there must be a source deeper.” People readily admit that there’s no scientific basis for the process, but still cling to their beliefs. Well, if there’s no natural explanation for supposed successes, what other explanation is there? Demons, angels, God, other spirits? Once we stop accepting such things on faith, they rapidly fall apart.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

It could be a gift from God.....or.......

I have a problem with inviting help from spirits. You may get more than you bargain for.

It is commonly used here in the northern reaches of the Chihuahuan Desert, and I have seen evidence that suggests there's something to it, which I admit came as a surprise to me.

I have used copper wires to find water, sewer, and septic tanks many times and as recently as 2 weeks ago. I can't tell how deep the lines are though. All I can say is it works for me.

I call BS as well.

OTOH, I watched my dad do it twice, and thought it complete and total BS and trickery. Then I gave it a go with success about 10 years after he had passed.

I've got an MS in Engineering, have witched myself and it does work. I use two pieces of copper wire, prefer #4, but have used down to 14ga. I was only n Mozambique Africa in the middle of a multi-year drought. The well the missionary had produced water, but not a lot. I spent a few hours traversing their 20ac property. I located 4 well locations and told him to drill one I got a really strange my pull on. A few months later when I was back in the US I gave t a message they had drilled the well and were getting 2-3 times new the volume as the old well. My grandmother was able to do it too. She located 3 wells, all produced high volumes of water. Regardless of why it works, I have done it and seen others do it successfully.

No way can i do it. Ive watched my uncle do it though. Seems like craxiness to me too though.

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:
You might look at the scientific studies linked at the Wikipedia article on dowsing: Dowsing

A geologist friend of mine explained that, except for a few places in Sweden, water can be found within 1000' of any place on earth and is usually much, much closer to the surface. I have never heard of a dowser that both found a well, and then proved water, or good water, wouldn't be found anywhere else nearby, thereby demonstrating their dowsing was actually prescient.

Sshhhhh, you're spoiling it.

It is pure bunk. Snake oil. Space aliens. Ghosts. Telekenises. Mind reading. Amazing Randi stuff.