15
$\begingroup$

It seems to be given that around my country everybody believes in water veins (that's the best that Google Translate could come up with. Basically underground water currents) that somehow affect humans. For example, one of the beliefs is that if you put your bed over one of these water veins and sleep on it, you'll start getting heart problems within in a couple of years.

Since I'm slightly more skeptic, I tried googling around, but all I found was some weird new age websites. So I'm asking the specialists. Is this underground water veins health effect thing real?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
9
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I assume the beliefs you are speaking of are summarized here > swissharmony.com/en/water-veins-neutralised ? (just so we can go ahead from there) $\endgroup$
    – marsisalie
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 19:34
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ yup, that's the thing i'm speaking about. Plus, it's also the new age site i was speaking about. As a general rule in life, if someone talks about the energetic effects of stonehendge, i become slightly skeptic. $\endgroup$
    – Reinis
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 19:38
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I like this question, a very good case of asking about the science to debunk pseudoscientific claims. $\endgroup$
    – user889
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 20:45
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Why am I not surprised that this website is trying to sell you something? $\endgroup$
    – Gimelist
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 22:28
  • $\begingroup$ This sounds very similar to the commonly held belief (prior to the 1900's) that "nighttime air" causes sickness. There's something to it, alright, in that leaving your windows open at night would invite biting insects and cold temperatures, which could serious health problems back in the old days. Likewise, living near stagnant water and general damp can cause health problems because it creates a breeding ground for mold and insects and such, but is not harmful in and of itself. $\endgroup$
    – HopelessN00b
    Commented Mar 8, 2015 at 3:06

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
14
$\begingroup$

In my opinion, there is no such thing as water veins as described in this article, but, it is a fact that there is water circulation underground.

In the natural environment, water can either circulate in porous mediums (like within the small spaces between sand grains in sandy soils) or as underground streams. There is also the concept of the water table and aquifer recharge and depletion.

This schematic provides a broad picture on the importance of groundwater

USGS groundwater

More info here as well.

Some regions composed of rocks, especially carbonates (karst) can have more often channelized underground streams, as the ground is not necessarily porous so water is kind of forced to flow where there is an opening (see following figure). (More info on karstic landscape here)

karst

So that was a small overview on how water can circulate underground.

Then people getting sick from water circulating underground is not because of the veins per se, it could be because of moisture (or many other factors). But then living near a lake or any streams, any wet areas or in a badly insulated house could make people sick as well.

This is 'old wives' tale' (no offense - English is not my primary language I am not sure how to say) and is not really a thing as presented in the http://swissharmony.com/en/water-veins-neutralized site. There has been no new research in a medical paper about geopathy since 1940 (wonder why?). You are doing well in being skeptical! To conclude I am sure many people living in drylands would be more than happy to be 'sick' over a vein.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ The English term is "an old wives' tale". $\endgroup$
    – Mark
    Commented Mar 8, 2015 at 6:36
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Moisture is good for example for bronchia. $\endgroup$
    – user12525
    Commented Aug 30, 2018 at 4:50
6
$\begingroup$

The other thing to be mindful about is near surface water or moisture in soil resulting from a high water table, poor soil drainage or a leaking water pipe. Such moisture can lead to rising damp in buildings. This can bring with it salts from the ground that get left stone, bricks and mortar which can lead to deterioration of the structure of the building.

The other thing that I have seen in houses which have an air space between the ground and the internal floor boards is that such moisture and dampness can create conditions favourable for mould. Depending on circumstances, above the floor boards in the house everything can appear as if there are no problems but beneath the floor boards mould can be rampant. If this occurs under a bedroom, over time, in susceptible people the mould can cause breathing problems and other health issues.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ While this may be actually true, be careful to not accidentally support the pseudoscientific nonsense that's on that website. $\endgroup$
    – Gimelist
    Commented Mar 8, 2015 at 3:13
  • $\begingroup$ However, dowsers and the like are really concerned about more abstract, i.e. esoteric, effects of water veins on health. “Earth radiation” and similar pseudoscience, no something mundane as mould. $\endgroup$
    – Florian Jenn
    Commented Apr 20, 2015 at 14:10

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.