# Stephan Riess Back to [[Abiogenic Oil and the Fossil Fuel Debate]] · [[Research and Evidence]] · [[Post Analysis - brandilwells on Primary Water (2026-10-29)]] **Role:** German-born geochemist, mining engineer and dowser (b. Dillingen, Bavaria, 26 Dec 1898; d. Escondido, California, 17 Dec 1985) who introduced the term **"primary water"** into English ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Riess)). - **Claim:** "new water" is constantly formed in the Earth from hydrogen and oxygen and rises through hard-rock faults, giving "a steady and unfailing new supply" (1957 *Britannica Book of the Year*, as quoted on Wikipedia). - **Record:** said to have located over 800 wells. His story was told in Michael Salzman's *New Water for a Thirsty World* (1960, foreword by Aldous Huxley). His protégé Pal Pauer runs the Primary Water Institute. - **Criticism:** - USGS (C. L. McGuinness 1963): juvenile water exists but "is invariably high in mineral content". - California Department of Water Resources: 11 Riess wells yielded 0–90 gal/min (average 19), against 500–3,000 claimed. Oxygen isotopes showed **meteoric** water (H. B. Goldman 1963). - Water Well Journal (1961): "New nonsense for a thirsty world". Clint Murchison cancelled a $1M purchase of Riess's Simi Valley wells after paying $108,000 and testing them (*Ries v. Murchison*, 329 F.2d 635, 1964). - USGS (2015): mantle water residence time exceeds 10 million years, so it is impractical as a resource. - **Why he's in this topic:** "primary water" is the water twin of abiotic oil. Both take a real deep-Earth process and claim an endless, suppressed supply.