islandgun Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/water-firms-using-divining-rods-for-leaks-btxxl57sb Saw this on another forum and wondered if anyone has an opinion ! ... mine is, it appears to work, stop moaning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 i can devine...........traced loads of power cables and pipes up to 4-5ft deep............people on site used to laugh at me until they realised how accurate i was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushkin Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 IG - yes I have used them and found they work fine. Good for locating water pipes and also power cables when unsure of where they have been sunk underground for power to garages etc that are a fair way away from the original source. I was very skeptical when I was told about them as a young lad but delighted when they worked. Pushkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Callahan Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Yep! Use them for finding field drains. Work very well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matone Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Yes ,work fine for field drains etc.Would love to know why tho` ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Agreed ! any idea on how it works ?......... and any idea why the ms in the link should be outraged... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evolution380 Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 (edited) Water firms have since distanced themselves from the claims! Mainly due to the backlash from middle aged housewives with nothing better to do than moan on twitter... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/22/water-firms-backtrack-admissions-divining-rods Edited November 22, 2017 by evolution380 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnfromUK Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 It has always puzzled me! I used to be able to do it, but last time I tried (some years ago now) I couldn't get a thing - even things I knew were there. I saw a demonstration once where a 'suitcase sized' box was carried across a field leaving no visible marks; the path taken was then accurately found by (several) diviners. When the same thing was done without the box, no path was found. The contents of the box were then revealed to have been a battery powering a light bulb (think it was a car headlight bulb). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord v Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Most plant operators I work with have a set in the cab - never had one hit a pipe yet when they have used the rods. Tis weird when you see it used, but based on my experience they seem to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 17 minutes ago, evolution380 said: Water firms have since distanced themselves from the claims! Mainly due to the backlash from middle aged housewives with nothing better to do than moan on twitter... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/22/water-firms-backtrack-admissions-divining-rods Thanks for the link evolution 380,... hmm science people are angry that water companies are using bits of bent wire and witchcraft when they should be using hi tech equipment, one tweet complaining that she didnt want her money wasted, how much are used welding rods nowadays ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushkin Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 What absolute nonsense. How much are these people paid to write in and complain about something that is a centuries old tradition in many areas of the country? Would they rather use intrusive dig testing to find components than try the rods? The Physicists take on it says it all for me - total reliance on new technology to be right all the time and bang on the button - what kind of world does she live in? I have an acquaintance who helps people to find wells on farmland where all else has failed (natural wells not copper ones) and has been hugely successful in doing so and saving farmers a mint by not having to dig/ explore. The lady even suggests that it is akin to Witchcraft - wow here comes Cromwell again. If something works why knock it? Pushkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Why complain about a device which costs pence or zero for a bit of scrap wire. I had a great aunt who was a member of some water diviners group, guild or association, I remember her telling me, and its a long time ago that to divine you needed to have faith in what you were doing. Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 I suspect part of the reaction of the complainant is that we are living in a time of WOO where the term "alternative facts" somehow seems to be acceptable despite being a logical fallacy . Those who operate in the world of science feel as though their integrity is being challenged by people who wish to ignore science to suit their own skewed agenda, WOO warriers. The most common platforms for those arguments just now are climate change or anti vaccination, you could include things like fracking into that mix or genetic modification of crops too. For example there is no weight of evidence to suggest that glyphosate is a carcinogen in typical dosage rates, relative to the vastly overwhelming evidence base that says it is not, but the peddlers of WOO set out to discredit the science because it is in the back pocket of big agri, big pharma, big oil, big banks, etc. So scientists see something like dowsing for water and scream WOO and set out to discredit it as it gives them a chance to get their own back. Regrettably some scientists are just a little bit too arrogant, after all if you cannot prove the outcome by having predictable and repeatable outcomes under controlled test conditions then it cannot be true, despite the often contrary non scientific evidence that it is, but we're just not smart enough yet to explain why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Indeed, you could argue that a scientist's job would be to explain WHY dowsing works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krugerandsmith Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 4 hours ago, islandgun said: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/water-firms-using-divining-rods-for-leaks-btxxl57sb Saw this on another forum and wondered if anyone has an opinion ! ... mine is, it appears to work, stop moaning Wirral Water board were using them back in the 60s. I myself have used them, and they do work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wb123 Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 2 hours ago, islandgun said: Indeed, you could argue that a scientist's job would be to explain WHY dowsing works First you need to demonstrate it works, given that they have been shown pretty conclusively to be codswallop a scientists job should be to promote evidence based practice. https://www.csicop.org/si/show/testing_dowsing_the_failure_of_the_munich_experiments If i were paying for a service that unexpectedly involved dowsing rods i would very quickly be seeking somewhere else to spend my money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 3 minutes ago, Wb123 said: First you need to demonstrate it works, given that they have been shown pretty conclusively to be codswallop a scientists job should be to promote evidence based practice. https://www.csicop.org/si/show/testing_dowsing_the_failure_of_the_munich_experiments If i were paying for a service that unexpectedly involved dowsing rods i would very quickly be seeking somewhere else to spend my money. seven people on here say they have seen it done or are able to do it, !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uilleachan Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 (edited) Aye, it's all nonsense until you see someone do it and have results time after time after time. It works. There's a fellow on Skye who brought in a guy from somewhere in Aberdeenshire to prospect divine for deep volcanic spring water. The guy identified three or four spots and, the fellow from Skye spent £30k bringing in a contractor to drill case and cap the holes based on the diviners word. The result was 100% on the money. A local fellow working for the waterboard was also renowned in his time for being accurate with the rods, saw him work myself, he could tell the difference between water pipes and buried metal, I know as I later dug the corroded steel rods up myself. Edited November 22, 2017 by Uilleachan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wb123 Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 3 minutes ago, islandgun said: seven people on here say they have seen it done or are able to do it, !! 43 people who said they could do it failed to provide any evidence it worked in the above trial, those were selected from 500 who also said they could do it as the ones who showed the most promise. My lucky underpants don't work, I still swear them for job interviews, likewise the horseshoe on the shed door doesn't bring luck. These things are pleasant traditions but should never be the foundation for financial decisions. Until I see robust evidence refuting its failure to show any experimental promise it has no role in how I make decisions or how I expect people working for me to make decisions impacting my finances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 I have done it many years ago and it shocked me because I don't usually buy into mumbo jumbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Was very sceptic when I first saw rods being used but the guy put the rods in my hands and told me how to use them. I found a drain pipe he knew was there within minutes. Weird sensation the first time you get a reaction. Then 25yrs later needed to find some very old drains across our yard. Got my wife to put the water pipe in each drain and turn on the tap. Had an instant reaction from some wire 'rods' I had just mackled up from wire coat hangers and mapped all of the drains to within inches. Yep, it works but I have not got a clue how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepasty Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 myself and a friend used them recently to find water in his field.... worked a treat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Ruler Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 When I was an apprentice electrician we were taught to use rods to find underground cables at college. There were too many buried pipes and cables for me to say whether it works or not, I would like to try it in a field with just one cable running across it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 (edited) hello, this is nothing new but there was a report yesterday on the Oxford BBC 1 red button, some lady had seen it done and rang all the water companies to find out more info, my time on working for Thames Water finding pipes/leaks/repairing up to 12 inch mains, a set of gas welding rods 18 inch long and bent at the right angle leaving 12 inches was always the first tester finding pipes and i found 100s over many years, even helped farmers with buried pipes and leaks, i believe they use a radio detection CAT nowdays, it would be interesting to see if the CAT finder and rods which came out the best pipe finder, Edited November 22, 2017 by oldypigeonpopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 i was taught how to use it by a electrical engineer...it was at a job i was running at Coleshill..and old gasworks we were remediating....next door (stage 2) were a couple of gasholders and some power lines going across the site...and we went to find the line power lines (6 of them) that went underground.... the engineer got out a couple of bits of wire (old coathangers)..asked him what he was doing....he told me ....and i damn near wet myself laughing...also i was worried ..that as a consultant engineer if the word got out i was with a "deviner"...i would lose my street cred'........in his bag he had 50 or 60 orange flags which he gave me to stick in the ground where he told me ..which i duley did..... next morning the digger and the handdig lads arrived and found every cable we had marked out............................ when i saw him again about a year later , i had a chat with him and he made a set of devining rods up out of welding rods with 2 bits of plastic biro as handle bearings.............i wqas shown how to hold them "balanced" and walked over an area of ground where i knew roughly where a cast iron gaspipe was.................the rods flicked in.....i stopped...then walked backwards and they opened again....what a weird sensation i can tell you....i can devine electric lines and iron pipes only...cant do other stuff...i have found different people can do different things... i have left many a site with peoples gobs wide open..............it is weird really....you CANNOT stop the rods when they go...really weird... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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