I've been looking at getting a water softener and most of them use salt
to replace the calcium with sodium. I also came across some which just
pass a magnetic field around the pipes such as this one:

http://www.scalewizard.co.uk

This looks too good to be true and I can't see how the physics can
possibly work. Has anyone tried one of these or a similar one? Is it
just a load of cobblers?

LN

On Dec 5, 3:14 pm, "lardyninja" wrote:

Is it just a load of cobblers?


Yes.

lardyninja wrote:
I've been looking at getting a water softener and most of them use salt
to replace the calcium with sodium. I also came across some which just
pass a magnetic field around the pipes such as this one:

http://www.scalewizard.co.uk

This looks too good to be true and I can't see how the physics can
possibly work. Has anyone tried one of these or a similar one? Is it
just a load of cobblers?

LN
The salt in a softener is used to wash the resin bed that the softener
contains - this resin attracts calcium from the water but requires
flushing with the salt periodically to keep working. A (very) small
amount of sodium/salt is passed thru to the water so you may want to
consider installing a hard water tap in the circuit before the softener
as increased levels of sodium may be harmful to infants or those
sensitive to raised salt levels. We've had one for years and wouldn't
be without it now. Go for it, you'll notice the difference immediately!

Steve

On Dec 5, 3:14 pm, "lardyninja" wrote:
I've been looking at getting a water softener and most of them use salt
to replace the calcium with sodium. I also came across some which just
pass a magnetic field around the pipes such as this one:

PS That's not a softener, it doesn't soften the water. Softeners
require salt. That is a 'water conditioner', it doesn't remove any of
the compounds that cause hardness (calcium and magnesium compounds)
from the water. The claimed effects are, at best, marginal and dubious.

"lardyninja" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've been looking at getting a water softener and most of them use salt
to replace the calcium with sodium. I also came across some which just
pass a magnetic field around the pipes such as this one:

http://www.scalewizard.co.uk

This looks too good to be true and I can't see how the physics can
possibly work. Has anyone tried one of these or a similar one? Is it
just a load of cobblers?

At a previous address, the plumbers put one of those in ahead of the
combination boiler. It did nothing to stop the heat exchanger furring up.

Colin Bignell

steve-l wrote:

The salt in a softener is used to wash the resin bed that the softener
contains - this resin attracts calcium from the water but requires
flushing with the salt periodically to keep working. A (very) small
amount of sodium/salt is passed thru to the water so you may want to
consider installing a hard water tap in the circuit before the softener
as increased levels of sodium may be harmful to infants or those
sensitive to raised salt levels. We've had one for years and wouldn't
be without it now. Go for it, you'll notice the difference immediately!

Such is the nature of ion exchange - the calcium ions in the water are
exchanged for the sodium ones in the matrix. When full it needs flushing
with saline to remove the calcium and replace the sodium ions.

None of this has anything to do with magnetic/electric water
"conditioners".

--
Cheers,

John.

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We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "lardyninja"
saying something like:

Is it just a load of cobblers?

Your scepticism does you credit. It is, indeed, a load of gnarled
ancient shoe repairers.
--

Dave