permaculture

[Don Bowen <c_dbowen@qualcomm.com>]

>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.                     c_dbowen@qualcomm.com
  USDA zone 9,  Sunset zone 21          donb@cts.com
  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