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Anyone successfully dowsed?

208.86.125.198
Posted on June 13, 2021 at 15:06:20
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 I'm trying to locate a buried PVC water line. I've read about different methods, and am initially trying dowsing. I recalled seeing this movie when I was a kid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFsiI_jAURk

If you watch a bit starting at minute 40 you will get the idea. I'm not an albino, but I figured what the heck. I tried it this morning, careful to do it early enough so my wife wouldn't see what I was up to. I figure laughter wouldn't help. I used copper rods, bent 90 degrees, one in each hand. They did cross. I repeated it, they crossed at the same place. Digging here is difficult, I dug a bit, soaking it now to make it easier. No sign of the pipe yet.

So my question, anyone have any experience or words of wisdom for me?

 

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RE: Anyone successfully dowsed?, posted on June 13, 2021 at 15:15:01
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 yes, but it took most of a pint of good scotch (Chivas) to do so.
Too much is never enough

 

No but if you need rain.., posted on June 13, 2021 at 15:55:06
Goober58
Audiophile

Posts: 5590
Joined: November 15, 2016
 my Uncle can make you some.

 

RE: No but if you need rain.., posted on June 13, 2021 at 17:26:23
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 Heck yes, we're in AZ, could use some rain. Send your Uncle.

 

eagerly awaiting an update! (nt), posted on June 13, 2021 at 18:55:32
mhardy6647
Audiophile

Posts: 16019
Location: New England
Joined: October 12, 1999
Contributor
  Since: October 23, 2016
 srsly.
all the best,
mrh

 

Why do you need to find it?, posted on June 13, 2021 at 20:50:08
Rod M
Web Geek

Posts: 16246
Location: So. California
Joined: March 1, 1999
Contributor
  Since: March 1, 1999
 Leaking or to tie it into to something?
-Rod

 

RE: Why do you need to find it?, posted on June 13, 2021 at 21:32:58
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 I need to tie into it. My first attempt was a miss. I first tried it with a garden hose, water running. It seemed to detect it. And I got a similar response in the same place, multiple tries. I'm probably deluding myself.

 

RE: eagerly awaiting an update! (nt), posted on June 14, 2021 at 06:15:50
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 So far the result is a sore back. I dug a trench, didn't find the pipe, thought I heard the gods snickering. Most of the trench, I hit caliche about the same depth. Maybe I need to watch the movie again. I haven't given up. There are also phone lines and power buried near where I am digging. I am going to try dowsing again, although I think Einstein had something to say about this endeavor.

 

So, you were soused when you dowsed?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 06:57:36
Jay Buridan
Audiophile

Posts: 10284
Location: Michigan
Joined: January 21, 2004
 Or vice versa?

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. "
― W.C. Fields

 

RE: Anyone successfully dowsed?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 07:40:43
dean_martin
Audiophile

Posts: 1747
Location: lower alabama
Joined: January 26, 2006
 Can't help you with dowsing, but God's Little Acre is a hoot - great story by Erskine Caldwell ("Tobacco Road") with a steamy Tina Louise, an albino Michael Landon and a politickin' Buddy Hackett. As an English major with a concentration in lit, especially the Southern Gothic/Grotesque, my compliments for the reference.

 

RE: Anyone successfully dowsed?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 07:43:34
JURB
Audiophile

Posts: 2056
Location: North Ohio
Joined: May 29, 2016
 You should be able to call the city, when I had sewer problems I did and they sent me a diagram to the whole schmaltz all the way to the street.

Also we got a number here - 811 I think, which is call before you dig. They will tell you where not to dig, or in your case where to dig.

If you put it in yourself all bets are off.

Another way might be like a dog shock collar, put the fence wire in the pipe and push, then take the collar a see if it responds. There is also a way to do it with a radioactive substance.

 

Did you try calling 811?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 09:13:28
G Squared
Audiophile

Posts: 8491
Location: Washington, DC Metro Area
Joined: November 16, 2004
Contributor
  Since: May 23, 2023
 811 is the national call-before-you-dig phone number. Anyone who plans to dig should call 811 or go to their state 811 center's website before digging to request that the approximate location of buried utilities be marked with paint or flags so that you don't unintentionally dig into an underground utility line.

We have something called JULIE here. They come mark the lines for free.
Gsquared

 

RE: Anyone successfully dowsed?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 09:43:04
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 I saw that movie when I was a kid, made a lasting impression. Anytime dowsing, looking for water, anything along that line, I always inquire if they knew any albino people of color.

 

RE: So, you were soused when you dowsed?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 09:45:13
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 When I came up with the idea I was. Prior to that I was going to get a wire in the line to track it.

 

RE: Anyone successfully dowsed?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 09:56:13
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 No city, no sewer, only underground electric and phone. Last time(s) I dug them up with a backhoe neither the phone company or the utility company had any idea where the lines were until I showed them. The phone company was the best, they walked up here, said they didn't think their truck would make it. I ended up fixing it myself. We had a similar problem when tried switching to Allstate home insurance. They hired two companies to do an inspection, both reported there was no way to get to the house. Next Saturday morning my soon to be insurance agent showed up with her 6 day old daughter, stood in front of their vehicle, house in the background while her husband took a picture to prove yes, you can get here.

 

RE: Why do you need to find it?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 13:53:34
Rod M
Web Geek

Posts: 16246
Location: So. California
Joined: March 1, 1999
Contributor
  Since: March 1, 1999
 My only advice is to find a hose bib or some place where you know the line is and dig down until you find out how deep and which way it goes. Then, find another known point and draw a straight line in between. You may be in the right spot, but not deep enough.

Luckily, we have an old house and did a lot of work at the beginning for landscape irrigation and whatnot and either found or broke most of the lines, so we know where most of them are now.

-Rod

 

RE: Why do you need to find it?, posted on June 14, 2021 at 15:37:19
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 There aren't any bibs, just two ends to the line, which is about 450 feet long and curves. Along with the curves, it appears to avoid areas of large underground boulders. Over the years I have hit it a number of times, but not near where I want to find it, and stupidly did not mark even where those spots are. I did dowse beyond where I did the first time and got another crossing about 5 feet beyond the length of my trench. The temperature is currently 112 degrees, I will dig some more in the morning unless I come to my senses.

 

Surprising dowsing update, posted on June 17, 2021 at 09:08:20
fredtr
Audiophile

Posts: 1987
Location: Phoenix
Joined: January 4, 2005
 Yesterday I got my wife out to bang on the closest end of the pipe, about 125 feet from where I was trying to find it, while I listened to the ground with a stethoscope. I could hear it best right above the exact spot the copper rods crossed the first time. I dug deeper at that spot and found the pipe. I couldn't have been more surprised.

One thing that really helped with using sound, was that my wife was tapping out a discernible pattern, tapping a wrench against the PVC pipe.

 

that's how they find crew trapped in submarines! , posted on July 15, 2021 at 14:17:20
mhardy6647
Audiophile

Posts: 16019
Location: New England
Joined: October 12, 1999
Contributor
  Since: October 23, 2016
 mines, too, I guess.


all the best,
mrh

 

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