Chemical Free Water Conditioner

[Blackwell]

Ah, magnets! What WON'T they cure?
I'm indirectly associated with the company that sells this product, and I'd like to send them an email asking them to reconsider carrying this in their catalog and on their site:

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/product.asp?product=168693zz&dept_id=30

I look through their catalog frequently, and while some of their stuff is on the cheap and cheesy side, it's all relatively low-cost, and I can imagine most of it being useful to someone. But I was surprised to see them carrying the "water conditioner." Since they're basically a reseller of other peoples products, and not the manufacturer, I'm assuming some unenlightened product manager thought it would be a good addition to their catalog without looking into the product's claims.
I'm hoping a carefully worded email will change their minds. Anyone have any input on this product? I'm planning on sending them a link to a plumbers forum where it's thoroughly scoffed at, but any other input would be helpful.

 

[Zep]

If it was truly "chemical-free", it would have no water either. Last I heard, water was indeed a chemical.

ETA: Ask them to show how magnets affect non-magnetic particles of anything at all.

 

[MRC_Hans]

It seems passing through a magnet field actually temporarily reduces the ability of minerals in tab water to settle as sediments. Of course, this means that it stays in the water, and thus whe water is not softer, like they imply.

While this effect is genuine, its practical applicability is very limited.

Hans

 

[Darat]

If it was truly "chemical-free", it would have no water either. Last I heard, water was indeed a chemical.

...snip...

No only that nasty tap water is a chemical, if it comes from a pure volcanic spring it's natural and chemical free...

 

[YouBelieveWHAT?]

Oh Zep,

The effect of magnets is quantum, obviously!

YBW

 

[matt-r]

Can someone help! I searched the forums for "water conditioner", knowing that someone must have come across these before. I hadn't, but my mum just bought one for £90 (which seems like a lot of money for a transformer and a wire). This is where she's got her water conditioner:-

http://www.waterimp.co.uk

I am seriously sceptical about this and would really like someone with a bit of expert knowledge to give me some idea as to how this could work, or if it's downright nonsense. Of course, if it actually works then we don't necessarily need to know how it works in order to buy/use one, but dammit I find it hard to believe that our knowledge of magnetism and dissolved mineral salts is so crappy that (if indeed it does work) we can't figure it out. On the site itself I see references to studies but no detailed papers of any kind (quelle surprise). It stinks of woo, but then someone like Hans says it works (albeit with a limited effect?).

The place that my mum got her's from offer a 190 day money-back guarantee (I can already hear groans and mutters of "good luck with that" from the regulars!) and if it is complete rubbish then I want her to pack it up and send it back ASAP. If she can't get her money back, we'll chalk it up to experience I suppose.

Matt

 

[stingy get]

Not sure if this will be much help - but I'll post my experience anyway.
About 4 years ago I was looking for a water softener and saw an ad for one these magnetic coil conditioners. I was sceptical they worked, so looked around for any information.
At that time I couldn't find any definitive information showing whether they worked or not. I found a reference to a study done at a university, (could have been Bristol), but couldn't find the actual work itself. This indicated there might be some effect, as MRC_Hans said, which meant the particles didn't settle in the region of the coil. However, they were still present.
On balance, I decided that I wanted to be sure I didn't get any deposits in all my pipes. So, even though I'm stingy, I payed the extra for a proper water softener, (using chemicals!) and have the certainty that it would work.

 

[RenaissanceBiker]

Even if it does work, it will only work in the area where the field is generated. So that one little two inch section of pipe will be clean. Deposits will still form in the rest of your pipes. This thing is useless.

/water resources engineer