Underground water pipes can be located with professional radar equipment.
Your front or backyard may look like an outdoor oasis but buried beneath that pristine lawn may be the water pipes, cables and electric lines that supply utilities to your home and neighborhood all year long. When digging, damaging those pipes is always a possibility; calling your public utility or a private utility locator to identify the exact location of water pipes is an important safety measure. Although ancient arts of finding underground water still exist, public or private utility companies will use radar, radio or sound waves to find underground water pipes easily, safely and reliably. Does this Spark an idea?
811--Call Before Digging
Your public water utility not only provides you with safe, clean water but they service the water pipes that deliver that water to your home everyday. A simple three-digit phone call to 811 will connect you with your local utility companies that, upon request, will come out to you and mark the location of underground public water and sewer pipes, as well as cable, electric and gas lines. This service is free of charge and can prevent damage, injury and service disruption to your entire neighborhood caused by careless digging and excavation. Remember to allow 48 hours before you dig to allow your water utility to get service personnel to your location.
Water Dowsing
Water dowsing is the practice by which a rod, pendulum or forked stick is used to locate underground water. Theoretically, if water still runs through them, it may be used to locate underground water pipes. Also known as divining or water witching, dowsing typically involves a "Y" shaped, or forked, stick held with both hands, with the base end of the "Y" pointed at a 45-degree angle toward the sky. The dowser walks back and forth across an area; when she passes over water, the stick is supposed to move downward. Dowsing is conventionally used in rural and suburban areas to locate sources of ground water to dig a well. Although the origins of dowsing go back hundreds, if not thousands, of years, the practice is not scientifically validated. If locating underground water pipes in preparation for digging or construction, call your local water utility or a private utility locator. Modern tools and methodology should be used.
Private Utility Locating
Not all water pipes are publicly owned. Water pipes running after the main water line or water meter are usually private. For this reason, it may be necessary to call a private utility locating service that will utilize equipment similar to that of your public water utility to locate underground pipes. Although this service will cost you money, it will be able to locate buried water lines reliably and prevent serious accidents and water service disruption to you and your community.
Tags: underground water, water pipes, private utility, water utility, locate underground
