At breakfast the other morning, the subject of water dowsing came up. I was surprised to find that about 3/4 of the people present believed that it is possible to accurately locate water wells, sewer pipes, septic tanks and all manner of things buried in the ground, by the use of bent coat hangers.

 

I just wondered if one or more of you folks could explain the scientific principals behind this phenomenon.

 

Here is a sceptics report on it.

 

http://skepdic.com/dowsing.html

 

And oh, I almost forgot, about 1/2 of them believed that throw rugs always move towards the East. That is to say that a throw rug outside a doorway will creep towards the East when trod upon. Anyone ever hear of this?

never heard of the rug one.

rug one is new, but I think there is an auror of mystery around water dowsing (or divining) that none can explain. *cue eery music*

I did manage to point out that in this area, water can be found almost anywhere one drills, and that new home builders were so confident that water is avaliable that they go ahead and build the home first, then drill the well, and not the other way around.

 

Also, that as the dowser walks about, suddenly the wires cross. Can we conclude that if one drilled a well 12 feet away--befor the wires crossed--that we would come up dry I inquired? "No, of course not" was the reply, so what is the significence of the wires crossing? "well we don't know, but it works" they said.

 

I have got to find better companions for breakfast.

It may not be the same everywhere, but around here, water is found in strata of water-bearing sand called "aquifers". There are layers of clay above and below them called "confining units". Usually aquifers are at a pretty constant depth in a particular area. However, this area was hit by a large impactor 35 million years ago. The unconsolidated material that washed into the crater has cause the strata that were subsequently laid down to subside unevenly. Therefore, in this particular area, the depth of the acquifer (or whether it is present at all) can change in a very short distance.

 

I have seen a Native American well driller use a divining rod to find water when modern well drillers didn't hit it. I can't give an explanation of how he did it.

 

Here are some links to the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater that explains the aquifer problem:

http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/epubs/bolide/aquifers.html You can double click on the graphics to enlarge them.