Water "Witching"

After accepting the builder's bid and locating the cabin on the property, we decided to locate the spot where the well was to be drilled.

A"witching" man or water diviner was suggested by the builder. The water diviner showed up with a "Y" shaped willow stick. He grasped each side of the stick and held it in a horizontal position and walked slowly around the property near the location of the cabin.

Suddenly, the willow stick turned down, not being twisted by the diviner, but by a strange unknown force. The diviner asked that we mark that location.

The water diviner continued walking slowly and found yet another location which he thought was a stronger force. Here another marker was driven into the ground. The diviner gave the depth to water as 90 feet. After a short discussion the second location was suggested as the location the well driller should drill to locate our water.

The water diviner raised a certain amount of skepticism as he would not guarantee the results nor accept any fee. The diviner came with a good reputation and told a number of stories of the well locations he had found. We accepted his findings on pure faith.

Some months later when the well driller arrived, we indicated that the well should be drilled on the spot the diviner had located. They drilled the well, and found water at about 90 feet, but went down to 215 feet as the water flow was more sufficient.

The drilled hole was cased with a 6 inch diameter pipe and an expensive submergeable pump was placed at the bottom, which pumped water into a pressure tank and then into the cabin water system. The water has been tested and meets our state's standards. It is good water, always very cold and with excellent taste.