Finding potable water in my garden

[Satyr]

My husband and I are thinking of having a borehole in our garden due to the water shortages here. As I am still new to dowing, we are going to get a professional to indicate where to have this borehole, but before he does that, I would like to try and pinpoint any water myself so I can see if my results agree with the professionals.

So, to that end, could you please advise me in detail what I need to be doing? What questions do I need to ask my source to acertain if there is potable water in suffiecient quatities/volume/whatever to make a borehole feasible (& depth etc).

Thanks in advance.

[Grahame]

Hi Satyr;

I'm not a professional water dowser, so hopefully someone else might chip in here; but the procedure is basically as follows -

• 1. Establish the quantity of water you are likely to need, and calculate this in whatever units you are comfortable with, e.g. gallons/hour, litres/minute.
  2. Set your initial dowsing intent to find that quantity of potable water, flowing all year round. Also decide on a depth range, e.g. "less than 100 feet", "between 100 and 200 feet" and so on. This will be determined by local geology, surface pollution by agricultural chemicals, cost of drilling etc.
  3. Dowse to find an underground stream fitting these parameters.
  4. Find another stream crossing this and mark that point - a crossing point will maximise your chances of getting a good supply.
  5. Establish depth of these streams, either using a technique like Bishop's Rule, or by counting with your pendulum.
  6. You can check potability of water by using a Mager rosette, or by counting a percentage using your pendulum.
  7. If your knowledge of the local geology is good, you can also 'scan' downwards using your pendulum to indicate the depths at which the geology changes. Your borehole driller will find this information useful.

When the drill is being set up, try to get it exactly over your marker stake, and make sure the drill is completely vertical. Even a small deviation from the vertical can mean that you miss the streams by several feet.

It can also be important that you don't drill too deep - in some cases this can ruin the artesial pressure of the water. But your driller should know about this.

[Satyr]

Well, I have now found where I think there's water, so I'll have to wait till we get a professional in to see if I'm right. I'll let you know.

[Satyr]

Well, the water diviner has just left, he found water in various places in our garden including where I found it which is where two veins cross. So, hooray for me.

[Grahame]

Well done Satyr!
Did he also give you depth & quality information?
A friend and BSD member (who shall remain nameless tp prevent embarrassment) once called in a professional water dowser on her property in New Zealand. Like you, she dowsed the same spot in advance and was delighted to find that she agreed with the professional's findings. However she was somewhat taken aback to discover that the pro dowser had absolutely no idea how to gauge depth information or water purity - she had to teach him how to do it!

[Satyr]

Thanks Grahame. Actually he did not know how to work out depth and quality but he has been doing this for a long time and his instincts are pretty good. The depth he "guessed" is more or less what I worked out using Bishops rule (which he didn't know about, so I told him about it). He was also fascinated when I told him about my pendulums and was very interested in learning more and I told him I would be only too happy to share with him what I know. He also guessed the yield, which was a lot different to what I had been told by somebody else and confirmed myself. We will find out the actual depth and yield when he comes back tomorrow to drill a wellpoint.

The point he's going to drill at, is not actually the place I pinpointed (although I have used my own rods to confim his findings), but the place we chose where he found water, is nearer our house, which is easier for power for the pump. The place I pinpointed is right near the back of our garden so it would be a bit of a nuisance to get power there.

I must say, it was fascinating watching him and he was very willing for us to follow him around and ask questions. He used Y-rods, but also demonstrated with a brick on his hand which was amazing (he says he also uses a bottle on his hand sometimes).

All in all, it was a very enjoyable and informative morning and I think we'll end up having a long chat tomorrow.

[Satyr]

Well, we now have a working wellpoint. Water was found at 3 depths, including 6m which is where I dowsed it would be. They decided to keep it a 6m cause thats where the best flow was. I still have to fill a bucket and time it to work out what the yield is. Our sprinkler is going at this very moment, HOORAY!