Water Divining

Water is obviously quite a big deal. Globally, and in the near future it is likely to become one of the greatest threats to our existence and building in an area where potable water is fairly scarce places it high on my agenda. Issues of water borne diseases (cholera) and contaminated drinking supplies just adds to the problems. Banks don't want to finance properties where water is absent and it is one of those things you need to have to secure a bond. The idea is to harvest rain water - eventually. But to establish a site, people need water to function so there is an immediate need. Since we haven't started harvesting rain water and since banks won't rely on the heavens to underwrite our water needs, we have to find an alternative supply. Being fairly rural means drilling for it so we need to do some divining - of sorts.

Dowsing, sometimes called divining, doodlebugging (in the US), or (when searching specifically for water) water finding or water witching, is a practice that attempts to locate hidden water wells, buried metals or ores, gemstones, or other objects as well as currents of earth radiation without the use of scientific apparatus. A Y- or L-shaped twig or rod is sometimes used during dowsing, although some dowsers use other equipment or no equipment at all. This is dreamcatching stuff and frankly I'm not willing to bet my water budget on a piece of willow or a thrown hat, despite how reliable they may be. I did have a choice of "bottels en stokke" (bottles and sticks!) experts but being logical, rational and used to relying on technology i.e something that plugs in, I contacted the 'Resistance Apparatus' chap instead. It took him about 20 minutes to find two suitable sites, which was fantastic, except they were both on the neighbouring property. Charming.

Antonie is the supervisor on site. He's had a run of seriously bad luck and misfortune recently. He moved to the area for work leaving his wife and family at home 400km away. Shortly after arriving, he had to rush home to his wife and family when all of his dogs and cats were killed using the infamous 'two step'. On the commute back, he managed to T-bone a taxi that jumped a red light and now he thinks he's got tick bite fever. But he seems to be fairly optimistic and is to be able to do everything. He's even got expensive taste and wants me to invest in a 'Festool' circular saw, the most expensive circular saw imaginable - but apparently it can cut quite a straight edge and will be perfect for our formwork. His dad was a boilermaker and had a natural gift for finding water. He even managed to find water with the throw of a hat! So Antonie decided to apply his mind to this new task and with a glass Coke bottle filled and corked, he decided to map the property. Of course, he confirmed that the resistance apparatus had correctly found water. He even did it with his eyes closed and the bottle tipped before he fell in the hole. Despite this, Antonie went on to find water all over the place. In fact I could have saved myself quite a bit in trenching and in pipework and labour had Antonie decided to do his bottle act sooner. Thanks Antonie - and now I'm off to invest in a rose quartz garden and dreamcatchers.