Many drillers only charge a dry hole 'at cost' , but do you know how much 'at cost' is?

To clients who need natural water sources.

This is the way it is when locating your water source:

If you use a driller only there will be no guarantee of success. The potential success of hitting water would be in the region of 65-70%.

Borehole in Whitchurch dowsed by Peter

If you combine the skill of a professional water dowser to assist the driller by locating the borehole site, you will increase your success rate to at least 90-95%. There is no way you can have a 100% success rate, there is always a risk. If you only use a driller to locate a source of water and it turns out to be dry, the cost would be anything from £1,500 to £1,700. If you are more unlucky and have a second borehole drilled and that fails also, that will cost you from £3,500 to £4,000 so you see it becomes an expensive project, whereas, you can increase your chances of success by using a professional dowser.

I cannot accept any responsibility if it is the drillers fault.  If I am not present when drilling takes place I am not responsible against any dry holes as I would not be aware of what has taken place.  Also if there are any marl clays, mudstones and bolder clays or any heavy clays that we may come across in drilling on the site I will still find the water but I will have to take into account the amount of clay that we have come across and add this to my depth count. In regard to a further site in the Whitchurch area I still managed to find water at a depth of 280 meters despite there being large volumes of clays on the site. Even with geological maps of the area and site these maps do not necessarily give the true structure of the area and the true depths of the clays on site in question.

Subject to seasonal changes claims against dry holes can only be made if the dowser is present when drilling takes place and it is proven that it is the dowsers fault.

No dowser /diviner should ever try and guarantee 100% a successful location because there are to many things that can happen which are out of the dowser/diviner's control. This is why I try and take photographs of the locations where I have made a site visit.

Up to date I have now completed 1,070 successful borehole and springs to date and now have 32 years experience.

Will a dowser be used?

Incredibly, whilst some drillers do use dowsers, many don't. Instead they make use of geological maps of the area plus an onsite visit to ascertain (make an educated guess) where they might find water. (Many drillers charge a fee just for visiting your site to see if there might be a place where they could drill for water - so do remember to ask before you invite them over.)
A professional water dowser from the BSD register will make a preliminary remote dowse of your site. If water is found then he'll visit your site to mark the location. I will do my best to find clean water and also recommend that all boreholes drilled need to be tested with the appropriate authorities afterwards. The dowser will also in most cases be available to attend the drilling and oversee the job to ensure all goes smoothly. The driller must slow down when the dust changes to bits as the drilling bits will be hot and the moisture from the water once comes in contact with the hot drill bit would change to clay and form a cone seal preventing the water from penetrating into the borehole.

Will the driller slow down as he approaches the water?

Do you know the signs that show that water is about to be hit. There are subtle changes to the nature of the waste being thrown out of the hole as the water is approached. Basically the waste changes from 'dust' to bits'. If the driller continues to drill at the same speed through this there is a 50% chance that the water course will become sealed off - permanently clogged with dust and clay. What the driller should do (but sometimes doesn't do) when the dust turns to bits, is to slow right down. This enables him to drill accurately into the water source and place an optimal sump beneath it to gather the water. Many drillers, eager to finish the job as quickly as possible, may be tempted to overlook the need for slowing down at this point. This may lead to big problems. The water may be missed altogether, or the water produced may be contaminated with minerals. In all cases the most sensible option is to drill slowly when the target depth recommended by the dowser is approached. Extra care at this stage is essential and can impact the effectiveness of the whole job. The dowser can not be held responsible if the recommendations of the dowser are ignored.

Disclaimer - When the dowser gives his report it is a snapshot of the underground water and shows the current situation. But this can not be relied on indefinitely, water tables change from year to year and from season to season.