Strange but true story: Using a small iron bar, thread and gravel to find underground water

Take the pulse to find water

We arrived at the house when Mr. Tran Cong Huong had just returned from Dak Lak, after a trip to "find water" for the people of K'rong Ana district.

Taught experience by his father and with a little bit of special ability, over the years, Mr. Huong has used his talent to help people everywhere find underground water for daily life and production.

Tran Cong Huong, Mr. Hoang's seventh son, is the successor to the profession of finding underground water. He determines the depth of the water veins using a wristwatch and pebbles. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Huong said: “This special ability to “see water” comes from my grandfather, Tran Trach. In the past, he used 10 coins, strung them together on a string, then tied the string to his wrist, and dragged the coins on the ground. If there was a water vein underground, the coins would be pulled in that direction. This method is quite accurate but elaborate and time-consuming. By the time of my father, Mr. Tran Huy Hoang, there was a simpler, faster, and more accurate way to find water veins.”

The way Mr. Hoang found the underground water source was to use 2 small iron bars, L-shaped, about 50cm long, hook the 2 iron bars on his index finger, keep the iron bars balanced, when there is an underground water source, the 2 iron bars will move gradually, his job is to adjust the person to follow the direction of the iron bars movement, until he meets the right water source, immediately the iron bars stand still, no longer shaking back and forth.

While he was alive, Mr. Hoang, Mr. Huong's father, traveled to the North and South to find underground water to help people. Photo: Tan Bao

At first, he only helped his relatives and villagers find water sources for daily life. Later, his reputation spread far and wide, and people in the South and the North came to him to ask him to find water sources. Although he was in poor health (heart disease, blood pressure), whenever someone needed him, he did not mind the long distance, nor did he care about public benefits, but only thought of doing good deeds to help people.

People in drought-stricken areas such as Yen Thanh, Nghia Dan, Quy Hop, Que Phong, Tuong Duong… all know his name and are grateful to him for helping them find a source of domestic water when, for a long time, they were helpless when hiring drillers and diggers. He also accepted an invitation from the leader of an industrial park in Dong Van (Ha Giang) to find a source of domestic water for tin miners; to find a source of irrigation water for the coffee region in the Central Highlands, the dragon fruit growing region in Binh Thuan, and domestic water for military units in Hoa Binh.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thuan, his wife, said: "In nearly 30 years of working in the water search business, my husband has helped thousands of families, units, and groups have water for daily use. He doesn't calculate the cost, people send as much as they receive, and for families in extreme difficulty, he doesn't, so we consider it as helping them... Until now, it has been nearly 2 years, but his reputation has spread, many people still call his phone number with the hope that he will help them find water."

Keep the profession to help people

Currently, 2 of Mr. Hoang's 7 children, Mr. Tran Cong Huong (7th son) and Ms. Tran Thi Hoa (youngest daughter, currently living in Saigon) have special abilities like their father. The remaining children, although their father passed on their experience, tried to practice and did it many times, their accuracy is not high.

Mr. Huong said: “Diagnosing the water source requires experience, requiring the practitioner to have a high level of concentration and a calm mind to achieve the highest accuracy. Because each time searching for water, it consumes a lot of energy and spirit. According to my father's explanation, because the water vein is underground, it has not passed through the air, so it attracts the moving iron bar. If there is concentration, effort and mind, the water vein will be determined exactly where the water vein is. When my father passed away, his last wish was for someone to take over the profession, find a way to measure the depth of the water vein to help people when needed…”.

That is also the reason why Mr. Huong tries to maintain and develop his profession even though his business is very busy. “After my father passed away, we still kept his phone number, many people in different rural areas often called him urgently asking him to find a water source. Hearing their pleas, understanding their urgency and need when lacking water for daily use, I arranged my business and went to find underground water sources to help them.”

The joy of people when they have water for daily use thanks to the help of Mr. Hoang and his son. Photo: TP

Through the process of experimenting and experimenting, Mr. Huong finally found a way to accurately measure the depth of the water vein. He used a wristwatch tied to a long thread, then wrapped the thread around his hand. When he brought it to the point where there was an underground water vein, the watch would rotate, dropping pebbles into the palm of his hand that had the watch tied to it until the watch stopped rotating, counting the number of pebbles in his hand, each pebble corresponding to 1 meter. The number of pebbles in his hand was the number of meters deep the water vein was.

Associate Professor - Doctor Doan Van Canh - Chairman of the Vietnam Hydrogeological Association explained: The ability of Mr. Tran Huy Hoang in Nghe An is real. Here, Mr. Hoang used 2 iron bars, while in other cases, he used other means such as rubber sticks, analog clocks, coins, etc. to identify the location of underground water veins. But until now, as hydrogeological researchers for decades, we have not been able to confirm the scientific basis of that method. That is a special ability of a person. With these methods, helping people find water sources for their lives, that is something that should be encouraged.