Tags: Questions, Science
Do electronic limescale inhibitors work?
June 22nd, 2005, by Rich.
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I’ve been intermittently toying with the idea of fitting an Anti-Limescale device to the water supply in our home.
Today, with the delivery of a new phone book, I got a flyer describing a product called ScaleWatcher which reminded me of my occasional curiosity with the subject. It’s a nice convincing-looking flyer, with a money back guarantee, so I’m tempted to give it a go.
We have a nice glass sided kettle so it’ll be really obvious if it actually works.
I may be forced to try a little experiment and take daily pictures of my kettle, so please spare me from the madness and give me some definite answers:
- Has anyone I know actually used a household electric water softener?
- Was the experience worthwhile?
- Are they any better than the magnetic or salt based ones?
August 9th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I have an electronic conditioner installed, yet my new kettle is still full of fur and my black granite sink still gets a cloudy coating of chalk. The only evidence I can see (daily) about electronic water softeners is that they’re ineffective.
What I hope to see see is the results from a set of repeatable laboratory tests that are independently funded which show the comparative effectiveness of different solutions water softening solutions.
Anecdotal evidence is not enough when I’m staring at a sink lined with chalk!
August 24th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Thanks for this useful correspondence. I was about to purchase a scalewatcher which I can ill afford (having had a new element in my hit water cylinder for the secnd time in 3 years). Hurray for internet sharing - it’s saved me £200!
August 31st, 2007 at 12:01 am
My mom sent me on a mission about 3 hours ago to research “saltless” water softeners; since our’s is broken and is about 20 years old. Anyways, This site takes the cake for having the most information (anecdotal or otherwise) and I’m pretty convinced that the best option for us is to simply update our water softener. The magnetic versions are just too controversial.
I suggest to all the sellers chatting it up here that if they really want to put credence into their products, then they need to fund some peer-reviewed, thorough and independent research on their products. Just spewing the same “we have a money-back guarantee, you have nothing to lose” lines don’t cut it.
Thanks for the discussion it was quite useful.
September 19th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Thanks for starting the discussion. While investigating I found the following goverment web site about his subject. I hope it helps.
http://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumer/faq/hardness.htm#7
September 26th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I live in Cape Town South Africa. We are fortunate to have extremely soft water. There is never any
sign of scaling in our kettles,toilets,showers etc
yet somehow or other the water pipes in the roof
are clogged by some deposit or other. Although
they are 30 years old I cannot imagine where the
deposit is coming from. The plumber assures me it
is not from my asbestos cement cold water tanks
and they show no signs of corrosion. The plumber
can offer no suggestions on how to clear the pipes
and replacing is not really an option as many are
buried in the walls. I thought that these electroni
gadgets would solve my problems but reading this
site they do not appear to be a solution.
Could these deposits be something other than
Calcium?
As an aside would a good test for the efficiency
of a descaler not be the ease with which soap will
lather and the degree of scum in your bath.
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:17 am
I am the business development manager for a commercial / industrial electromagnetic water conditioning unit and water softening company. WE DO NOT PROMOTE OR SELL DOMESTIC APPLIANCES. The science is pretty clear on magnetic effect in water, only the water that passes the magnetic field at 90degrees gives a conditioning effect, see Flemings left hand rule, Columbs law, Dayby radius. The small domestic wrappers will give a very little effect (if any), for best results they need to be as close as possible to the point of use.
Water softeners physically exchange the hardness particulates for sodium, in the UK you are not allowed to drink softened water.But if you soften water you will not get scale build up if you maintain the unit correctly.
Our industrial electromagnetic conditioners are capable of treating a hotel, leisure centre etc. but obviously cost far more than domestic units.
Jim mentions an effect called reverse solubility, where when you heat water up the hardness minerals come out of solution, this is the opposite effect of putting sugar in your tea. The greater the temperature the quicker the hardness particles drop out of solution and form scale.
The downside to lower temperature is bacteria control, in building services you are not allowed to distribute hot water at less than 60 degrees centigrade due to the threat of legionella. Obviously these systems are much larger with greater water useage, but i still keep my hot water at 60 at home to be sure.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
I purchased a Water King device a number of years ago from life science. It has stopped buildup of limescale in the hot water tank. This was proved when I had to change the tank after a number of years due to a leak and found it very clean. the previous tank to that was full of limescale and had to be replaced. Also the kettle never furs up but does have small white particle floating about, (a type of calcium?) this is only obvious as the kettle spout has a filter. No buildup on the element and this is used at least twice a day! We live near Cambridge which has very hard water. I think they work but make sure you follow the instructions! Doesnt soften the water but the limesacle not depositing is great especially in the shower head.
October 31st, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Those people said that it worked: testimonials
October 31st, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Thanks Emily; on that page Roger Bisby (apparently he’s a plumber/journalist) says “Tests show that as little as 3 millimetres of scale can increase fuel costs by 15%”, so I have to ask which tests? Where are the results published? Have the tests been repeated and independently verified? Are the test methods open to scientific analysis and criticism? Without these things, Mr. Bisby’s words are a pointless and hollow endorsement. It’s an advert, pure and simple; it needs to back up its claims, but doesn’t. If it had that information, then it’s exactly the kind of stuff I want to find.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Paul Websters friend speaks with forked tongue. This “..engineering friend of 30 years standing who works in the production of water features and who now has the distribution rights on the CEPI system in the UK..” claimed that the CEPI Magnetic Conditioner produced by a Belgian company Vero Magnetics is mandatory in Belgian households. Mandatory? I live in Belgium and my house doesn’t have such a system! (although our water is very hard). I don’t know anybody else who does own such a system. I found some old references on the web to a company called CERO-CO NV at Borgerhout near Antwerp but couldn’t find web page for the company. An umdated literature review at web page http://www.discoverymagnets.co.uk/articles-water12.htm (produced by the UK distributor of Ecoflow Bioflow magnetic devices) says that most of CEPI-COs equipment sales are for continuously recirculating industrial cooling systems where there is repeated treatment of process water. Best results are under conditions of supersaturation and a high ionic load of the process water - which doesn’t sound like household water conditions to me.
Ny impression is these guys who sell these electronic or magnetic systems seem to reappear/morph in different forms regularly. Today, for example, I got an advertisement in the post for a magnetic water softener/conditioner called a MAGNA 2000 marketed by TSD, Antwerp which claims wonderful results with no running costs (it uses a permanent magnet). See web page http://www.antikalk.be. I asked my plumber and his opinion was that these things are nearly always hokum. He did say that there is one non-chemical system produced by a well-known German manufacturer which he has heard good reports about. But it is very expensive system. I’d be cheaper buying a classical chemical based water softener.