WorldWide Drilling Resource

Through the Back Door! by Jim Kuebelbeck Dry Holes My wife Carol often tells me I lose more sleep at night than the landowners for whom we work. I’ll probably never get over it, but it is more than a little daunting when I am asked to locate a satisfactory water supply on a piece of property where only dry holes have been drilled previously. Sometimes, by the time we are called to assist, thousands of dollars have already been spent in unsuccessful attempts to locate a good water source. Selecting a new drilling site and then telling distressed landowners where to spend more of their hard- earned money in a search for a good groundwater source is more than scary at times. In our water-locating work it seems we often learn more about “human” nature than anything else. A few months ago, a well drilling professional called and asked how soon we could get out to a five-acre piece of property located about 25 miles from our home. He had just drilled two dry holes on the property, and was in the process of taking out the drill rods from the second dry hole. “I’ll have to tell you,” he said, “After the first dry hole I told the landowner that it might be a good idea to hire you, but he said he had looked on the Internet and read a lot of negative things about water dowsers, so I should just drill again some distance away from the dry hole. I told him that you had often helped us out when we were having trouble finding water, and not to believe everything he reads on the Internet. Now after the second dry hole, he told me to call you. He built a big storage shed on the property about a year ago and now wants to build a house out here.” I told him we could get out to the property in an hour or so, and he said he’d probably still be at the site. It was mid-afternoon when we arrived, and the property owner and the drilling contractor appeared to be in the midst of some animated conversation. After we introduced ourselves to the landowner we learned that the adjacent property owner (who was no longer on-site) had just walked over and asked how things were going. When he was told that two dry holes had just been drilled on the property, he said, “Well, I could have told you that! Someone wanted to build on this property a few years ago, and drilled seven dry holes before giving up!” Up until a few minutes ago, this bit of information was obviously unknown to both of them, and now all attention was sud- denly directed toward where Carol and I were standing. Trying to break the following uncomfortable silence, I looked at the well drilling contractor and said, “And now after hearing this, just what do you want ‘us’ to do here?” First looking at the landowner and then to me, he said, “Just do your magic like you always do.” I could almost hear my late father’s words of wisdom ringing in my ears telling me: Jim, sometimes a good run is better than a bad stand! There wasn’t much conversation be- tween Carol and me as we began to dowse the property. We finally did discover one promising “possibility” and marked the lo- cation. I asked the contractor if he was going to start drilling again later that after- noon, and he said he’d probably only get set up, and begin drilling in the morning. Arriving home about two hours later, he called and said, “Jim, things are looking good. I got all set up and thought I’d drill a bit today after all. I’m already running into some nice sand and it looks like there’s a bunch of water in it. I’ll let you know what happens.” Less than an hour later I noticed a missed call message on my cell phone. There were no recorded words, however. There was only a great close-up color photo showing the most beautiful good clean water gushing out of the well! Jim Jim Kuebelbeck may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. ~Thomas A. Edison 54 FEBRUARY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®