Magnetic water treatment (also known as anti-scale magnetic treatment or AMT) is a method of supposedly reducing the effects of hard water by passing it through a magnetic field as a non-chemical alternative to water softening. Magnetic water treatment is regarded as unproven and unscientific. A 1996 study by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found no significant effect of magnetic water treatment on the formation of scale.[1]
Vendors of magnetic water treatment devices frequently use photos and testimonials to support their claims, but omit quantitative detail and well-controlled studies.[2] Advertisements and promotions generally omit system variables, such as corrosion or system mass balance analyticals, as well as measurements of post-treatment water such as concentration of hardness ions or the distribution, structure, and morphology of suspended particles.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
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editReferences
edit- ^ Krauter, PW; Harrar, JE; Orloff, SP; Bahowick, SM (1996). "Test of a Magnetic Device for Amelioration of Scale Formation at Treatment Facility D" (PDF). Internal Report. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. doi:10.2172/567404. OSTI 567404. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- ^ a b Keister, T (2008). "Non Chemical Devices: Thirty Years of Myth Busting" (PDF). Water Conditioning & Purification. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- ^ Powell, MR (1998). "Magnetic Water and Fuel Treatment: Myth, Magic, or Mainstream Science?". Skeptical Inquirer. 22 (1). Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
- ^ Lower, S. "Magnetic water treatment and pseudoscience". Chem1Ware Systems Limited. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
- ^ Limpert, GJC; Raber, JL (1985). "Tests of nonchemical scale control devices in a once-through system". Materials Performance. 24 (10): 40–45. OSTI 6089699.
- ^ Smothers, KW; Curtiss, CD; Gard, BT; Strauss, RH; Hock, VF (15 June 2001). "Magnetic Water Treatment" (PDF). Public Works Technical Bulletin 420-49-34. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2011.
- ^ Coey, J.M.D; Cass, Stephen (2000). "Magnetic Water Treatment". Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. 209 (1–3): 71–74. Bibcode:2000JMMM..209...71C. doi:10.1016/S0304-8853(99)00648-4. Retrieved 23 August 2023.