Summary: A brief history of water finding methods shows that in the past, they have been more about faith and need, rather than science. This article discusses why we have believed some methods that never really provided relevant information.
Water is essential and without it, we cannot sustain life on our planet. It is so essential to life that today’s scientists and space explorers know to look for water before they look for life. In fact, whenever man wanted to expand his horizons beyond where they knew, they begin by searching for water. If it is not obvious above ground, we have searched and drilled below ground, with a fair amount of success. For a thousand years or more, we had no proven method, until our technology caught up.
The main thing about searching for water is that it can be expensive, and time consuming. It can also be damaging to the land to continuously drill and not go deep enough, or to just miss the water, or to have the water be inadequate when it is found. People have always tried to make this process a little bit easier by trying to drill for water where the water is, which means having a pretty good idea of its location breaking the ground.
One of the oldest methods was divining, also known as water witching, or dowsing. That method has always been controversial since it seems to work now and then, but there is no scientific evidence behind it. The skeptic’s explanation is that there is enough water underground for it to work most of the time. Another reasonable explanation is that the muscles in the arms of the diviner become tired especially after carrying the Y-shaped stick in an uncomfortable way. Often, the presence of water can be reasonably assumed by the type of vegetation growing above ground.
What cannot be assumed however, even if the prediction of water turns out to be accurate, is the amount of water underground and how deep the source may be. So without any scientific evidence to support dowsing, and without any specific information on quantity or quality, why do people continue to use it? Because water drilling is costly and it gives a bit of comfort to have at least a best guess before drilling. Fortunately, because it continued to be important, human beings have continued to look for better methods for finding the water, and better technology for bringing it out of the ground.
American Water Surveyors uses one of these methods, designed for the twenty-first century, not the fourteenth. We use computer software, seismoelectric pulses, cables and electrodes, all of which fits nicely on the back of a pickup truck. Get a groundwater survey down before you drill. The equipment sends signals into the ground that return detailed information on the presence of water. More than that, however, the survey can also give details about the amount of water, the speed of the flow and the years that it will last. There is no better way to be sure of finding water before you start to drill.
Call American Water Surveyors and find out about our method of finding water before you call in the drillers. We can save you a lot of money since you won’t drill a dry well, and we give a logical, and scientific explanation for where your water is located.
