# Water dowsers **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141 "2011-08-09T23:38:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/1 "2011-08-09T23:38:04Z")
Straight forward question: How do they (supposedly) work? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/2 "2011-08-09T23:44:38Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > Straight forward question: > > How do they (supposedly) work? Enthusiasts are vague, talking about “vibrations” or “fields”. Many admit that they themselves don’t know. Certainly modern physics doesn’t support the notion. Look in Martin Gardner’s book **Fads and Fallacies** for a very out-of-date summation. Therre are plenty of more recent reports in books and journals. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/3 "2011-08-09T23:50:23Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > How do they (supposedly) work? They don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/4 "2011-08-10T00:01:49Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > They don’t. They _purportedly_ do, which is what the OP is asking. I’ve heard people try to explain it in terms of buried objects disrupting the Earth’s magnetic field, and these disturbances somehow subtly affecting the motor control of the dowser - and this subtle effect being mechanically amplified by the dowsing kit. I wouldn’t want anyone to imagine that I think the above explanation has any credibility, because I absolutely do not. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/5 "2011-08-10T01:58:36Z")
My parent were fairly good at locating water or water sources. But they both agreed that the water had to be flowing, and they were not sure how it worked. The guess was it had something to do with magnetic fields. On the ranch we dug more than one well based on Mom’s dig here. Never dug a dry well, but dig the bottom out of a few wells by going too deep. More than once on a water line that was buried ground that need to be worked on or replaced, Dad could locate the line and the turns and twists. And when we would start dig the line would be in the middle of our ditch. But one time Dad laid out the line to dig and we ended up digging into a direct burried electrical line. So you claim flat out that it does not work, I can not do it, but I have seen it done. ---
**Author:** ![Wallydraigle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wallydraigle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallydraigle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/6 "2011-08-10T02:06:41Z")
No one who claims to be able to do it has ever been able to do it under controlled conditions. Which is good enough for me to draw my own conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/7 "2011-08-10T02:15:44Z")
I took a class on it once. The phenomenon that water dowsing or water witching depends on is a very strange one and is a cool psycho-motor trick in its own right. It is a little similar to a ouija board except more powerful. Take a forked green hand or a flexible wire and hold it under tension in your outstretched hands. Now, think of something you want to find and walk around. The branch or wire will bend quite powerfully at certain spots and you could swear you aren’t the one doing it even though you are. A forked branch can even seem to snap off in your hands on its own under the right conditions. You are supposed to dig when it points straight down and it will in certain spots because of this phenomenon. That is the phenomenon that leads certain people to honestly believe in it. The real trick is in confirmation bias. You will hit water if you dig far enough down in most places. There aren’t just a few underground streams to tap into. People use this trick and then find water when they dig a well so they start to believe it. A rare failure can be written off a number of different ways mentally. The odds were already in their favor for finding some water to begin with and they often have a good idea of which place is best to start looking based on other cues like damp ground or depressions. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/8 "2011-08-10T02:16:42Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > So you claim flat out that it does not work, I can not do it, but I have seen it done. I’ve seen someone guess “heads or tails” correctly, too. But I didn’t ascribe any psychic powers to their correct guess. Now if supposed dowsers could reliably predict the _depth_ where water could be found in _random_ locations, THEN I would be impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/9 "2011-08-10T04:15:09Z")
Unca Cecil’s take on [dowsing for water.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/159/does-dowsing-for-water-really-work) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/10 "2011-08-10T05:10:02Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > Straight forward question: > > How do they (supposedly) work? **Laggard** provided the GQ answer in post #3. Dowsers will talk all day about how reliable dowsing is, but as soon as they’re provided with a rigorous scientific test, they can’t do squat. Do a search on “dowsing” on these forums (especially in Great Debates) to get lots and lots of information. If someone wants to debate whether dowsing is possible, by the way, Great Debates is the forum to do it in. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/11 "2011-08-10T05:13:38Z")
asking for testing…? dowsers found water veins on my property… now have the best well ever. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/12 "2011-08-10T05:20:40Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > asking for testing…? dowsers found water veins on my property… now have the best well ever. You could probably have just thrown a lawn dart and got the same result. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/13 "2011-08-10T05:36:45Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > You could probably have just thrown a lawn dart and got the same result. I do not want to insult, but I am sorry to to say that this seems to be a typical armchair skeptic comment… many folks who live in rural areas know this to be a true art/science. Not to say there are not fakers. My experience, personally experienced: Needing water I had an older gentleman dowse my land… he pointed out the location a couple of veins… I kept this information for later use. About a year later I saw a drilling team on a neighbour’s property, we also needed a well, because I had previously used the “dart technique” and had drilled a more or less dry well. The driller came over and dowsed my land ending up discovering the same exact veins. He drilled and brought in a gusher. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/14 "2011-08-10T05:43:01Z")
My gramma’s house had a well, too. You know how they found it? They went outside just outside the kitchen, in a convenient place to carry water into the house, and dug there. And lo and behold, it worked, no dowsing necessary. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/15 "2011-08-10T05:56:22Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > I do not want to insult, but I am sorry to to say that this seems to be a typical armchair skeptic comment… many folks who live in rural areas know this to be a true art/science. Not to say there are not fakers. Unfortunately, like it or not, hundreds of people who purport to be able to do this have failed to do better than random chance in EVERY test. There is a million dollars waiting for the first guy to convince Randi and company otherwise. I grew up in a rural area and I have seen dowsers at work, finding water in a given spot is well within good betting odds. Kinda like dropping a rock from 10,000 feet over manhattan and betting on hitting a building. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/16 "2011-08-10T06:11:55Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I’ve seen someone guess “heads or tails” correctly, too. But I didn’t ascribe any psychic powers to their correct guess. > > Now if supposed dowsers could reliably predict the _depth_ where water could be found in _random_ locations, THEN I would be impressed. Now if you guesser could guess right 100 out of 100 times just luck? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/17 "2011-08-10T06:16:24Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > My parent were fairly good at locating water or water sources. But they both agreed that the water had to be flowing, and they were not sure how it worked. The guess was it had something to do with magnetic fields. On the ranch we dug more than one well based on Mom’s dig here. Never dug a dry well, but dig the bottom out of a few wells by going too deep. > > . A well can be too deep? ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/18 "2011-08-10T07:03:41Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > Now if you guesser could guess right 100 out of 100 times just luck? what the guy told me was that he could sense the veins but NOT the depth. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/19 "2011-08-10T07:17:20Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:10, topic:592141”] **Laggard** provided the GQ answer in post #3. Dowsers will talk all day about how reliable dowsing is, but as soon as they’re provided with a rigorous scientific test, they can’t do squat. Do a search on “dowsing” on these forums (especially in Great Debates) to get lots and lots of information. If someone wants to debate whether dowsing is possible, by the way, Great Debates is the forum to do it in. [/QUOTE] With respect, I think you’re wrong - not about dowsing, but about what the GQ question _is_ here. The question is (in my understanding, paraphrased): “What is the _ **claimed** _ mechanism by which dowsing (supposedly) works)” - how do dowsers say it works, not 'does it work?" ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141/20 "2011-08-10T07:23:46Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > A well can be too deep? You can certainly crack the bottom of a well. The idea of a well is to dig a hole over the top of some impermeable material like dense clay or rock. Water soaks into the hole and the impermeable layer stops it from going down any further. If you have a functional well, and then try to dig it deeper, you can dig through the rock/clay into layer of something porous like sand or sandstone. At that stage the water runs through the bottom of the hole faster than it runs in. You’ve cracked the bottom of the well and now all you have is a hole. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-dowsers/592141.md?page=2)