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I have to set the record straight on this one. 10 years or so ago I was working for a "property services" company where I mainly mowed lawns. One day the sprinkler guy was around and the lot of us were BSing. He pulled out some dowsing rods and claimed that they could find the pipes that connected the sprinkler heads. I called schnanagans. Background: The "rods" were two seperate pieces of coathanger bent into an L. The sprinkler system was off (IE, there was no water flowing in the pipes). I knew jack squat about how sprinkler systems. The experiment: I was instructed to let the hangers rest one on each of my hands and to hold them a foot away from my body (mainly so that they wouldn't hit me). Gravity and friction were the only forces on the rods. I was pointed in a direction and told to walk slowly. The results: The rods just stood there for the first five feet. Then they slowly started to turn. I continued walking until the two rods lined up with eachother. One of the guys pointed to the right along the rods and identified a sprinkler head. Then he pointed to the left along the rods and identified a second. The conclusion was that I was standing directly over a pipe! I did not know about the heads before I started walking. Conclusion: A small tube of standing water burried at two feet or so can be identified with dowsing rods. I have no idea why, but it does work. I have serious doubts that a large body of water deep undergroud can be identified the same way. ~Nick~