Finding septic tanks is all in a day’s work for many pumpers. They use everything from sophisticated cameras with sondes to shovels, probes and backhoes. Gene Wiehr of Wiehr’s Septic Service in Arlington, S.D., however, prefers a less conventional tool – divining rods.

Wiehr, 55, is a water witch or dowser, a skill he practices in a rural agricultural area far from hydrologists, geophysicists and geologists. Albert Einstein wrote: “The dowsing rod is a simple instrument which shows the reaction of the human nervous system to certain factors that are presently unknown to us.” Wiehr believes that something in his body feels the water’s electromagnetic energy, but mostly he attributes dowsing to DNA. He inherited the ability from his grandfather, Fred Wiehr, then passed it to his eldest son.

Wiehr was an automobile mechanic for much of his life, pumping part time to make ends meet. His wife, Barb, or sons Tim and Randy, occasionally rode along to help. Seasonal lake cottages with 1,500- to 3,000-gallon holding tanks filled the summer months. Most weekends were free, except for fall when farmers living five to 10 miles apart wanted their annual pump-out in preparation for winter.

New customers attached no stigma to Wiehr’s ability to witch for their septic tanks or laterals. Most believed that human senses are much keener than scientists have measured and that there are many aspects of the human mind and perceptions that they don’t understand.

Pumper: When did you realize that you could dowse for water?

Wiehr: About 20 years ago when the well on our farm caved in. The well driller told me that if he didn’t hit water, I’d still have to pay for the dry well, and money was tight. My dad, Marvin, isn’t a dowser, but he remembered that his dad witched wells and suggested I try it.

Grandpa used a willow stick or copper rods for witching. Our farm doesn’t have willow trees, so I found some 1/4-inch copper rods, cut them 18 inches long, and bent one end at 90 degrees for six-inch handles. I knew where the old well was and walked over it as a test. The rods crossed so hard that my grip wasn’t strong enough to stop them from moving. As I walked away, the rods spun counterclockwise back to the water with such force that they hit my shoulders. I was utterly amazed. I felt the thrill of excitement run up my spine, but nothing else.

I began to slowly and randomly walk around the yard with the rods. In about two hours, I found three locations where they crossed, all about 100 feet from the old well. The most convenient spot for the new well was in the center of the yard. The well driller hit water at 80 feet, but it wasn’t sweet. I told him to keep drilling. He hit another vein at 240 feet and we’ve been drinking that water ever since.

Pumper: How did you test your sons to determine if they could dowse?

Wiehr: I put stones at the three places where I found water, then called the boys into the yard. They had no idea what was going on and didn’t believe me when I told them I could witch. Tim, who was 12, tried it first and the rods crossed at every location. Randy, who was two years younger, walked over the top of the stones and the rods never budged. He’s 31 now and they still don’t move. When Barb tried it, she couldn’t do it either.

Pumper: How many witching jobs do you do per month?

Wiehr: Maybe one, but the rods are always in the truck. I consider witching part of the service call and don’t charge extra for it. Locating septic tanks takes an hour or more. If I can find where the lateral leaves the house and the location of the drainfield – because that is often missing too – I have a better idea of where the tank is buried. I slowly walk the property until the rods cross at the corners of the tank. Then I mark them and start digging until I hit the lid. Occasionally, I can pinpoint the riser, but attribute that more to dumb luck.

People are amazed that I can do it. There is no mental and physical preparation involved. Except for the first few times when I felt that tingle of excitement, I sense nothing physical happening anywhere in my body as I approach the target. All I know is that I can’t prevent the rods from crossing when I find it. The reaction probably has to do with something chemical in my body, which appears to be hereditary. Whatever it is gives me a 99 percent success rate, and you can’t argue with that.

Pumper: Why don’t you just launch a camera with sonde out the lateral?

Wiehr: Because I don’t have one. We didn’t see such equipment here until about two years ago, and it certainly wasn’t available 10 years ago. Besides, why buy a camera when I can find a tank by witching? It’s a lot cheaper.

Pumper: What were your most challenging dowsing jobs?

Wiehr: A gentleman bought an old farmstead and called me to find the septic tank. The topography was low and marshy with water all over, and the property had a lot of fencing and objects in the yard. I was picking up a lot of different stuff and having a difficult time discerning the distractions from the target. It took me a long time to find the tank, but once I did, I told the customer that if we dug here, we’d hit the lid. We went down six inches and found it. He couldn’t believe it and neither could I.

My second most challenging job was finding a new source of water for a family well. I still don’t understand why they called, because they didn’t believe I could witch. I’d never been to their farm before. Because they knew where the old well was and as a test to prove that I could dowse, they asked me to find it.

Locating a well is a challenge in itself, which is why I rarely do it. I walked around for nearly two hours before I found it. They were amazed because I was standing right on top of it. Then they asked me to find a new water vein. That took another two hours or more, but the well driller hit sweet water at 25 feet.

Pumper: Now that you’re pumping full time, what is your company profile?

Wiehr: I’ve been pumping since 1998 when I bought out Loren Groce and got his 1972 Chevy with an 800-gallon tank. That restricted my service area to 10 or 15 miles from home because I discharge at the Brookings Wastewater Treatment Plant. When the truck wore out in 2004, I bought a 1988 Ford F-700 diesel with 1,500-gallon tank from V & H Inc. in Marshfield, Wis., and increased my area to a 50-mile radius.

Since 2009, I’ve advertised in newspapers and the Yellow Pages, but the business grew mainly through referrals. As it did, I began considering pumping full time. In 2010, I pumped 280,000 gallons of septage. By that summer I knew the business could support Barb and me, so I went full time in September. Now I’m looking for a good used truck with a 2,500-gallon tank to eliminate making two trips to the municipal plant to empty holding tanks.

Pumper: Will you expand and diversify?

Wiehr: Not really. Tim and Randy have good jobs and aren’t interested in taking over the business when I retire. I’m not interested in hiring employees or overworking myself. However, I’d like to add more contract customers, especially those with holding tanks, and pump them every month while the cottages are occupied. I also will continue looking for septic tanks or laterals when homeowners have onsite problems and can’t find the components.