I don't have personal experience but my in-laws do. My nanaw-in-laws sister is a big believer in this method. She found water at a vacation house by using this method.

I can do that_too. I've used it several times_to locate underground pipes and cables_too. I just use copper wires, bent in_to a L shape. Steel wire works ok_too.

A builder friend where we are building uses an old,seasoned water witcher to locate water well sites on his builds where wells supply the water.He is always amazed at how accurate this guy is in finding the best location for the well.On his own property, the water witcher had our builder friend give it a go to see if he could locate a site for his own well and no go. I think water witchers have a gift that others dont have.

We used a water witch for our well. He claimed we could find water that the location he showed us at 23 feet. The drillers went down 1 length of drilling (20 feet) and hit water almost immmediately after adding the 2nd length of rod. Very cool.

As it turned out the water was in clay and costly to treat. We continued down and hit water much deeper in quartzite and have a good supply of clean water.

I think if we had decided to dig instead of drill we would have used the clay water but since we had the drill company there it was worth it to go deeper for better water.

Is this thread going to lead to a discussion of broom straws and watermelons too? ;)

How's it going, Mee_Tooo (another "o" I see!)?

DH has mentioned a well a couple of time this summer due to the drought. Luckily, we've had rain come along often enough that the grass has been killed. He considered a well for the landscaping, but we lived on a lake so it would cost less to set up a system that runs from there.

The water witch business is for real. We had one walk all over our property to find a spot. He said the water would be found at around 323 ft. The well drilling company said that was the most unlikely spotfor water. We got 27 gals per minute at 320ft.This was in the mountains of N.C.

While the volume of testimonials is significantly in favor, I am not a believer in water witching.

Water witching is not some thing you are born with. It is a learned trade. Rule number one is you must believe. If you have the slightest doubt you will fail.

Sometimes I can smell moisture coming out of the ground when I walk around my property. I'm not a water witcher, but the smell is sometimes obvious and most people can probably notice it. I believe water witchers have a very very sensitive sense of smell -- they might not even realize it.

Electrical Contractor showed me the bent L shape wire trick. Surely easy enough .. can find burried pipes with them. I don't have enough experience with their signal strength to tell how deep those pipes are though. Pretty darn deep to a sewer line a few months ago, was a very strong signal.

We didn't use a water witcher, but our well driller knew our area to the exact depth he would have to go. He hit a hard shale and kept drilling and drilling. After the second day, he consulted his father's books (his father was a well driller also) and noticed a trend that our little row of properties went a bit deeper than just two properties away. Sure enough, the next day he got a good flow. We went 140 feet, our neighbor just to the north of us went over 240 feet. I guess we are lucky in comparison to the previous poster who went 320 feet.

-Teresa

Here is a link that might be useful: Drilling our well

Thanks for sharing your experiences. What I always find amazing is the way that these "dowsers" not only locate a water source, but can pinpoint its depth with such accuracy.

Allison, all is well here, how have you been, young lady?

I guess that great minds think alike, because I, too, was going to mention using the broom straw to determine watermelon ripeness. I think maybe "catchmeifyoucan" knows a bit about that. And the extra "o" was necessitated after an unscheduled visit to a well-known amusement park!

Years ago, my mom found water on our vacation property using a Y-shaped divining rod. She was dead-on and it was amazing to watch.

Just a month ago, one of the workers putting in our new pool fence used L-shaped brass wires to find all the pipes and lines from our house to the pool and out to the barn. It was amazing to watch him work and he was also extremely accurate.

I should note that both of these people are or were farmers and to them it's perfectly natural. It may be kinda strange, but I've seen it work.

We wanted to put a well on our property for the landscaping, our builder pulled all the info. on wells from several miles around us. Most of them were dry even at hundreds of feet, so we abandoned the idea. It amazes me because our area gets some of the highest rainfall in the USA, I expected it would be easy, but apparently that has nothing to do with water underground. How do you find a local waterwitch? I would be interested in seeing what they find on our property?? Stranger things happen all the time in the world, I would be willing to see what they can tell me (and I have a science background)!!!

My grandfather has a friend who's a water witch. I had always known he did it, but never really believed that it worked. Anyway, a few months ago he found out I was getting ready to build my house on the family farm. He offered his services. I thought, "couldn't hurt".

Back in May, I walked around the field with him and watched as he claimed to join two streams of water (with the stick it took us 30 mins to find) under ground and then mark the intersection point. He said to drill right there. Not a foot in either direction - right there.

Last week, my builder had the drilling company in for the well. We hit water at 360' (not really that deep for the area) and with 100 gallons/minute capability. Shocked me to say the least. I still don't know if I believe that it works, but I sure thanked him nonetheless. :)

Not to be contentious but James Randi, the famous skeptic, has been challenging drowsers to duplicate their skills in controlled settings and so far none have been able to.

I can find pipes etc. under ground. It doesn't always work though. The amount of sweat on your hands, even mole tunnels can give false readings. Most of the time it's about 90% accurate for me. Not every one can do it, I don't know why. Lots of people say it doesn't work, I've heard people say that to me, then change their mind when they saw it work.

I don't believe in it, but with a pair of bent wires, you can find water, pipes, and wires. I've held them in my hands, felt them move, found the source, still don't get it. It's funny to watch skeptics try it, and see the look on their face when those wires cross!