RE: [compost_tea] magnetic water softening

From: Tom Jaszewski <tom_at_livesoil.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 15:28:41 -0800

 <http://www.csicop.org/si/9801/powell.html>
http://www.csicop.org/si/9801/powell.html

 

 

text from article...

 

Consumer Reports magazine (Denver 1996) tested a $535 magnetic water
treatment device from Descal-A-Matic Corporation. Two electric water heater=
s
were installed in the home of one of the Consumer Reports staffers. The har=
d
water (200 ppm) entering one of the heaters was first passed through the
magnetic treatment device. The second water heater received untreated water=
.
The water heaters were cut open after more than two years and after more
than 10,000 gallons of water were heated by each heater. The tanks were
found to contain the same quantity and texture of scale. Consumer Reports
concluded that the Descal-A-Matic unit was ineffective.

 

Much of the available laboratory test data imply that magnetic water
treatment devices are largely ineffective, yet reports of positive results
in industrial settings persist (e.g., Spear 1992; Donaldson 1988). The
contradictory reports imply that if a magnetic water treatment effect for
scale prevention exists, then it only is effective under some of the
conditions encountered in industry. At present, there does not seem to be a
defensible guideline for determining when the desired effect can be expecte=
d
and when it cannot.

One of the claims made for residential magnetic treatment devices is that
less soap and detergent will be required for washing. Compared to the claim
to suppress scale formation, this claim has received little direct attentio=
n
in the literature. To decrease soap and detergent consumption, the
concentration of dissolved hardness minerals must be decreased. The tests b=
y
Gehr et al. (1995), described earlier, demonstrated a decrease in dissolved
mineral concentration of about 10 percent. If this fractional decrease in
dissolved mineral concentration is representative of that obtained by
magnetic treatment, then it is unlikely that soap and detergent use will be
significantly reduced. For example, given a water supply with 100 ppm
dissolved hardness, magnetic treatment would only be expected to reduce the
hardness to 90 ppm, assuming the results of Gehr et al. can be applied at
this hardness concentration.

Is there a beneficial effect of magnetic water treatment? Perhaps.

Is there sufficient evidence of a beneficial effect to warrant spending
hundreds of dollars on a residential magnetic water treatment unit?
Unlikely. The understanding of magnetic water treatment must first be
developed to the point where the effects of magnetic treatment can be
reliably predicted and shown to be economically attractive.

Does magnetic water treatment perform as well as ion-exchange treatment?
Definitely not. At present, the conventional water softening technologies
are clearly much more reliable and effective. Further, the initial cost of
an ion-exchange water softener (around $500) is comparable to that of many
magnetic treatment systems.

 

 

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: johnz4wi [mailto:greenthumbs_at_cheqnet.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2005 8:56 AM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: [compost_tea] magnetic water softening

 


Has anyone tried using waterline magnets for treating hard water?

Did it work?








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Received on Sat Feb 26 2005 - 23:56:29 EST

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