Locating unerground tank

[Abikerboy]

Hi all! Need to locate a burried steel storage tank that may be as far as 36-42 inches below ground. I remember seeing here at one time that a normal metal detector cannot locate anything burried at this depth. What kind of detector or device would I need to rent or borrow to find this tank? The tank is actually a home made steel cesspool type device used at a friends hunting cabin for shower/sink (no bathroom), and is made from a piece of galvanized steel culvert with an access cover for cleaning and inspection. I know its approx location, but cannot locate it where previous owner says that it is.

 

[Mike Swearingen]

You will need a long 1/4" or 3/8" sharp-pointed metal rod to probe the ground with to find it. Follow the line of the main drain pipe outward and work your way to it.
Good Luck!
Mike

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I'll have critics to this response but witching rods are used with good results. A lot of old time plumbers swear by this method, I've tried it myself with coat hanger wires instead of twigs.

Has something to do with physics but the rods will cross when you walk over a water line/drain line/large object of water underground. It will narrow it to feet within the distance you need to locate. Using the prodder will locate unless you deal with clay/bedrock in your area. In my area there's more rock than dirt. Unbelievably difficult to dig by hand unless your by the river.

well diggers thoughts

 

[Gary Slusser]

Try to find the instrument the water/sewer companies use, it goes much deeper than a metal detector.

 

[Phil H2]

RUGGED,
If your witching (divining, dowsing) abilities are better than coincidence or chance, you should contact the James Randi Educational Foundation. They will give you a million dollars if you can demonstrate dowsing abilities.
http://www.randi.org/

 

[Abikerboy]

Lol! I cant deny Rugged on this one! Lol again!!! I had a well driller once who laughed his ass of when I mentioned divining, then he sated to me that in this area, he could sink a hole anywhere and hit water. However, I was open to the odds this time, and we called in a "water witch"! First he located a dry well used for a small washing machine. Second time he located the concrete tank up the hill which supplies water from the spring. (all gravity fed...no pumps or tanks of any kind!!! <-abikerboy in envy!) In both cases, there were no indents in the ground, and no outward signes to indicate either! We didnt even know that the washer was on a drywell until yesterday! We just assumed that it drained into a ditch or culvert at the bottom of the hill! However, still no luck in finding the home made cesspool.

 

[Abikerboy]

Try to find the instrument the water/sewer companies use, it goes much deeper than a metal detector.

Hi Gary. What is this unit called?

 

[Gary Slusser]

LOL could I remember its name I woulda told ya. Anyway, I had a metal septic tank once and when dug up, there wasn't much metal left. So we filled in the hole and put in a real septic tank in a new location. BTW, I found the septic tank problem due to my contaminated well. That was in 1965 after getting out of the USAF and buying my first house. I found the contamination trying to find out why my female Collie wouldn't drink the water. The (6") well was cased off and drilled deeper and ended up overflowing at about 15 gpm and then I had to get rid of all that water over to a creek underground and prevent contamination of the well. Which as yet all has nothing to do with you finding your cesspool with this unnamed electronic wand thingy.

 

[Terry]

I'm with Rugged on the dowsing

Every water district uses the dowsing method when they need to locate pipes.
It's bring out the backhoe, look at the as-builts, but, wait,
before the digging, get out the nice dowsing rods.
No sense digging before you do the final locate with the proper dowsing tool, even if they "are" just metal coat hangers cut and bent into an el.

I've handed the metal wires to anyone that wants to try, and they can all do it.
It scares the hell out of them, and then they accuse me of making the wires move in their hands, when I'm just standing there watching them.

You will never know what you "can" do unless you try.

 

[Cass]

I have watched as guys would locate water mains then try it my self and it wouldn't work. They told me some people can do it and others could try all day and it wouldn't

 

[Abikerboy]

I'm with Rugged on the dowsing

Every water district uses the dowsing method when they need to locate pipes.

I use to make fun of, and laugh off dowsing...what we call witching around here..., but I am open minded, and have seen a lot of things involved with witching, and I will keep it in mind next time. The amazing thing is that this guy located a concrete tank that feeds from a spring up in the mountain which we never even knew existed! We thought the cabin was fed directly! He also located the drywell for the washing machine which we never knew existed! We thought that the drainage pipe at the bottom of the hill was from the washer...turns out that pipe is an overflow from the spring box! Still cannot find the homemade cesspool, and my theory on this is that if witching really works, then this underground tank has been clogged for over 2 years, and probably does not contain enough water to allow it to be located. The owner simply cut the drain pipe from the cabin 2 years ago, and allowed the shower and sink to drain down the hill, but the law men who found out by accident now say that we have to locate the tank and repair or replace it because we cannot allow any waste water to drain to the surface.

 

[Speedbump]

My Crew Chief on a County Survey Crew taught me to use the coat hangers. This guy was so stiff you could pry manhole covers with him. He didn't believe in any such nonsense. Until we needed to find a buried 10" water main. He went to the truck, got the coat hangers out and found the pipe. Then he had all of us non believers try it and sure enough it works. I believe it is the magnetic field that any pipe in the ground will give off.

The device Gary is thinking of is the Schoenstadt locater. When I bought mine in 1976 they were over $700.00. I still have it and still finds wells with it. Surveyors use them to find property pins etc. They pick up on the magnetic field given off by the pipe or pins vertical in the ground. I have also been able to trace galvanized pipe in the ground and can tell where the couplings are. Each piece of pipe has it's own field even though it's coupled to another.

When you get close to electric wires underground it makes a growling noise instead of the normal sound. It's quite a gadget. I found one well that was buried 12 feet deep. They had filled over the old well when building.

The witching, is bunk! There is no way it can be done and just like abikerboy's well driller said. I can drill a well anywhere in this county and get water.

bob...

 

[Rancher]

Bikerboy,

You need a Fisherlabs TW-6. Call you rental equipment stores in your area there should be one you can rent.

Rancher

 

[Abikerboy]

Thanks to all for your advice. Some of you wont believe this, but today we located the tank with a "water witch". We ran a garden hose down the disconnected line until it backed up...probably couple hundred gallons. Then we called in the "witch". No coat hangers or metal wires though. This guy used two twigs broken off of a tree close by. (how do you explain magnetic reaction with using wooden rods?" He located the tank in about 5 minutes...we dug down and discovered that it was about 2 feet below ground, and that the soil was so tarred and gummed up, that the only choice is to install a new tank, and backfill the original hole. Lol! Still cant explain witching, but because of this, Im even more open minded now!

 

[Speedbump]

He was probably there when it was first installed.

bob...

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Thanks to all for your advice. Some of you wont believe this, but today we located the tank with a "water witch". We ran a garden hose down the disconnected line until it backed up...probably couple hundred gallons. Then we called in the "witch". No coat hangers or metal wires though. This guy used two twigs broken off of a tree close by. (how do you explain magnetic reaction with using wooden rods?" He located the tank in about 5 minutes...we dug down and discovered that it was about 2 feet below ground, and that the soil was so tarred and gummed up, that the only choice is to install a new tank, and backfill the original hole. Lol! Still cant explain witching, but because of this, Im even more open minded now!

Glad to hear of your success! What people tend to forget in technology is that they didn't have these electronic devices 50/70/90 years ago and further on back. They used what was passed through generations through the years, and perfected it. Not everyone has hundreds of dollars to locate a single tank....and I'm sure the rental yards don't either.

It is not uncommon for septic tank pumpers in my area to use witching rods to locate buried tanks. :thumbsup:

 

[Abikerboy]

He was probably there when it was first installed.

bob...

Naa...thought about that myself, but he hasnt even been in the area but for a very few years. Wish I could explain this one, but on the other hand, there's been a million things Ive seen that have no explanation.

 

[Speedbump]

Many years ago in an area where making a well was a hit and miss thing. (These areas in Michigan are very scarce) A customer of my dads needed a new well drilled, the old one couldn't be repaired any more. My dad suggested drilling next to the old one, since he knew there was a vein there. Nope, the homeowner wouldn't hear of it without using his Dousing buddy. The Douser moved the well to the other side of the yard. Two months later in freezing January and February, no water. (I don't have the patience my dad had.) He moved back to the old location and had water in a couple of days.

So much for finding water with a forked stick.

bob...

 

[Raucina]

Why didnt he drill down the same hole and reline it? My well driller uses a copper rod, and he has a rep for being the shallow driller in this area of water in veins and cracks only. Out of say 15 wells, he goofed only on one, and actually he hit water at 40 feet and decided the ground was too loose so cased it and continued to an ugly depth. The other guys are usually at 300 feet when he is at 75 or 100. Yes, could be chance or the need for the newer guys to pay off the truck. Seems like the rod works to me, but dont have a clue as to why.

He used to advertise "no charge for dry hole" and stood by it.... but those days are gone now. My neighbor has 4 wells on 5 acres from the other guy getting 2 GPM. I have the copper rod well at 65 feet with 75GPM so go figure.