Oh, you can get similar at industrial scale, and I've even seen them specified:
HydroMAG Physical Water Conditioning
HydroMAG Physical Water Conditioning
I quote here from the website (trust I am not breaking any rules here)
"Right from the initial design concept, Hydrotec realised the significance of important laws of physics, such as Coulombs Law, the Lorentz Force, the Debye Radius and Fleming’s Left Hand rule and the importance that this would have on the effective transfer of magnetic field force in to a conditioning effect in the water. In short Fleming’s Left Hand rule proves that the optimum flow path for water to bisect the lines of magnetic field force is 90°, and that any deviation away from this the effect is reduced and will be zero when the angle of bisection is zero. In addition by optimizing the water flow path, the Lorentz Force (the force generated by the application of a magnetic field to a charged particle) is maximized and thus the conditioning effect obtained by this technique is also maximized. The HydroMAG® is the only physical electromagnetic physical water conditioner available that has ensured that the water flow path bisects the magnetic field at 90° and this is significant in the superior performance of this physical water conditioner."
Maybe JN has a take on this . . .
"Right from the initial design concept, Hydrotec realised the significance of important laws of physics, such as Coulombs Law, the Lorentz Force, the Debye Radius and Fleming’s Left Hand rule and the importance that this would have on the effective transfer of magnetic field force in to a conditioning effect in the water. In short Fleming’s Left Hand rule proves that the optimum flow path for water to bisect the lines of magnetic field force is 90°, and that any deviation away from this the effect is reduced and will be zero when the angle of bisection is zero. In addition by optimizing the water flow path, the Lorentz Force (the force generated by the application of a magnetic field to a charged particle) is maximized and thus the conditioning effect obtained by this technique is also maximized. The HydroMAG® is the only physical electromagnetic physical water conditioner available that has ensured that the water flow path bisects the magnetic field at 90° and this is significant in the superior performance of this physical water conditioner."
Maybe JN has a take on this . . .
Why, is its working principle against the laws of physics? Or the claimed effect does not exist? Limescale is a big problem in many household. I have heard about electromagnetic descalers, but to be honest I don't believe they work, just because their low power (a simple battery powered generator using an 555 timer and a couple of turns over the waterpipe). But a very powerful permanent or electromagnet, why not?
Most of the annoying stuff in water is NON-magnetic.
Certainly lime.
I may look at it again. I have much "iron" in my water. But even at depth it is probably mostly Oxide (weak or no magnetic). And I have much Manganese, weak or no magnitism. I guess I could throw a dead speaker in a bucket and see what sticks.
A US Army study in the 1980s (a military has huge boilers) showed no result from magnetic "descalers". The standard treatments for boilers and heaters are chemical.
Certainly lime.
I may look at it again. I have much "iron" in my water. But even at depth it is probably mostly Oxide (weak or no magnetic). And I have much Manganese, weak or no magnitism. I guess I could throw a dead speaker in a bucket and see what sticks.
A US Army study in the 1980s (a military has huge boilers) showed no result from magnetic "descalers". The standard treatments for boilers and heaters are chemical.
I live in Norfolk, UK - the water is very hard and you have to descale your kettle etc regularly. We use a Brita filter for drinking water, coffee, tea etc and anti-calking tablets in the washing machine every few days to keep it under control (although I think the action of the soap does a good job for the most part - as is the case with the dishwasher as well)
The deposits from the water are mostly limescale which as far as I know is non-magnetic.
I am not aware that ferrous material in any significant volumes is present in the water here - I am sure it would have been reported if so.
For these reasons, and invoking the 'importance of physics' and 'Flemings left hand rule' in the manner done by the supplier I quoted above, I think the claims dont stand up to scrutiny. I am being very polite.
Sy is probably reading this and laughing his head off . . .
The deposits from the water are mostly limescale which as far as I know is non-magnetic.
I am not aware that ferrous material in any significant volumes is present in the water here - I am sure it would have been reported if so.
For these reasons, and invoking the 'importance of physics' and 'Flemings left hand rule' in the manner done by the supplier I quoted above, I think the claims dont stand up to scrutiny. I am being very polite.
Sy is probably reading this and laughing his head off . . .
It is all non-polar molecules, so I agree with your post 6, Bonsai - salted with all sorts of rude words of my own.
Here in Bath (UK) water is also hard, really hard, having spent c.10K yrs soaking through the Mendips* As a friend put it - when thirsty, you turn on the tap and snap-off a stick to suck later...
(*visuals for rest of world: google any picture for 'Cheddar Gorge caves')
PS Bonsai - for 'anti-calking tabs' just use washing soda, sodium carbonate - so cheap in 1Kg+ packs, a teaspoon at a time - simple chemistry makes all sorts of scale go away by the sodium displacing calcium ions, from washing glasses in the sink, to tea scale, to getting lather on soap
Here in Bath (UK) water is also hard, really hard, having spent c.10K yrs soaking through the Mendips* As a friend put it - when thirsty, you turn on the tap and snap-off a stick to suck later...
(*visuals for rest of world: google any picture for 'Cheddar Gorge caves')
PS Bonsai - for 'anti-calking tabs' just use washing soda, sodium carbonate - so cheap in 1Kg+ packs, a teaspoon at a time - simple chemistry makes all sorts of scale go away by the sodium displacing calcium ions, from washing glasses in the sink, to tea scale, to getting lather on soap
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I used to live in south Buckinghamshire as a teenager. It was on the same supply as Slough a town that is well known for lime scale in drinking water. You used to have to bash the kettle on the edge of a work surface and shake all the lime scale out. No descaling agent worked as there was just too much of it.
I visited my Grandmother in Slegelse, Denmark.
The Calc (as they call it) levels were like diluted milk almost, my Grandmother set her drinking water into a decanter and by the morning a 5mm layer of dust sediment lay in the bottom of the jug.
Baths were with similar sediment and the after bathing effect was like a dusting of a fine talc like powder and subjectively quite pleasant.
I don't know the local pipe sedimentation/deposition problems but I gather this is a concern/problem.
Dan.
The Calc (as they call it) levels were like diluted milk almost, my Grandmother set her drinking water into a decanter and by the morning a 5mm layer of dust sediment lay in the bottom of the jug.
Baths were with similar sediment and the after bathing effect was like a dusting of a fine talc like powder and subjectively quite pleasant.
I don't know the local pipe sedimentation/deposition problems but I gather this is a concern/problem.
Dan.
Martin,
Ha Ha!
Thanks for the advice BTW - I'll give it a try.
My youngest just returned back to the UK after living in Japan for 10 years (he followed us out there after he finished uni and never left - so much for 'I'll just come for a month and then go back and get a job').
His comment 'Tastes like typical London water - you chew on it'.
That said I don't recall the water in Tokyo being particularly good - seems there are few places where the water is natural ok.
Ha Ha!
Thanks for the advice BTW - I'll give it a try.
My youngest just returned back to the UK after living in Japan for 10 years (he followed us out there after he finished uni and never left - so much for 'I'll just come for a month and then go back and get a job').
His comment 'Tastes like typical London water - you chew on it'.
That said I don't recall the water in Tokyo being particularly good - seems there are few places where the water is natural ok.
We live in a world where some of the population still believe without evidence.
I fitted a proper Ion Exchange softener a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. It cost about £600 GBP with fittings but it's been worth every penny.
I was able to measure the hardness-in and hardness-out with the kit they supplied. I bet the snake-oil people don't supply a kit!
I fitted a proper Ion Exchange softener a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. It cost about £600 GBP with fittings but it's been worth every penny.
I was able to measure the hardness-in and hardness-out with the kit they supplied. I bet the snake-oil people don't supply a kit!
I think I read somewhere that there is some evidence that some of these magnetic water softening gizmos actually work, but not quite in the way sometimes claimed. And, of course, many of them are just pure snake oil.
The idea is that water flowing through a sufficiently strong magnetic field will create a curling electric field (Maxwell etc.); from the water's point of view it is encountering a changing magnetic field. This will cause some slightly polar molecules to line up in short rings, thus changing their crystal structure. No calcium is removed from the water, but what happens is that some of it precipitates out into a fine suspension - so no longer in solution. Hence when you boil a kettle this calcium is not available to make hard scale - it either stays in suspension or joins up to form soft scale. It is claimed that water treated in this way can retain the suspension for a few days but eventually it redissolves.
I find this explanation plausible, but I am not in a position to say whether it is true.
The idea is that water flowing through a sufficiently strong magnetic field will create a curling electric field (Maxwell etc.); from the water's point of view it is encountering a changing magnetic field. This will cause some slightly polar molecules to line up in short rings, thus changing their crystal structure. No calcium is removed from the water, but what happens is that some of it precipitates out into a fine suspension - so no longer in solution. Hence when you boil a kettle this calcium is not available to make hard scale - it either stays in suspension or joins up to form soft scale. It is claimed that water treated in this way can retain the suspension for a few days but eventually it redissolves.
I find this explanation plausible, but I am not in a position to say whether it is true.
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