A Treasure Secret

The following treasure secret is known by only a few treasure hunters. It has to do with where sinks used to drain to in the past. Today they go into the regular sewer system, but in the past many buildings were designed so only the toilets went into the septic tank or other sewer system. Shower and sink water typically drained into what was called a "gray water dump," which is a hole or large depression behind the building, and this was a common arrangement even for hotels, hospitals and other places with many bathrooms.

Now, once we add the fact that screens or strainers in shower and sink drains were not very common, you might start to understand where the opportunity is here. Imagine when visitors lost a ring, gemstone or even small coin in the sink. Such items would be washed out into the gray water dump. Usually nobody bothered to look for lost things in the muck and soap scum behind the building. These potential treasures accumulated for decades.

Eventually a treasure hunter discovered that he could locate the old gray water dumps behind old buildings and recover all sorts of valuables. I read about this treasure secret in an obscure newsletter many years ago. One man who searched these locations regularly made decent money hunting down old gray water dumps, digging them up and screening through the dirt to find old coins and jewelry.

To locate these long-forgotten spots he would look at old records to see where a building had been. If the building was still there but updated, he looked at where the old plumbing used to empty sink and shower drains.

To try this you can also just look for low spots behind old houses and buildings, or behind the foundations if the structures are gone. A metal detector might help as well, although you will tend to dig up a lot of metal junk around old buildings.

I have no idea if this man is still doing this, or if others have tried it after reading about this treasure secret. One important thing to note if you try this, is that our treasure hunter wore metal gloves - one of the most common things to go down those drains was used razor blades. The gloves used for cleaning meat slicers should protect your hands effectively.