Scale Reducer

[Gav_P]

Inline limescale reducers... like these

 

I’ve seen them installed from time to time, but always wondered if they were just an excuse to charge more to the client or if they actually do something? Or are they like these magic shower heads that claim they increase the water pressure. 

[Temp]

I can't comment on any particular product but the vast majority of devices on the market are total woo.  Normally they make a lot of claims in terms that sound scientific but are just plain nonsense. Pretty much the only proven technology is salt based chemical water softening or similar.

 

This is what wikipedia has to say about magnet based devices..

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_water_treatment#:~:text=Magnetic water treatment (also known,regarded as unproven and unscientific.

 

Quote

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.

 

This is what the Advertising Standards Authority has to say..

https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/water-treatment-devices.html

 

Quote

Another type of product, magnetic or electromagnetic water conditioners, are claimed to work in a different way. They are attached around water pipes and are believed to encourage alkaline earth ions to clump together, instead of sticking to the sides of the pipes. The ASA and CAP understand that magnetic or electromagnetic conditioning devices are not capable of “softening” water and as such should not be claimed to be equivalent to water softeners (International Bathrooms WTS b.v., November 2010). 

In 2007, the ASA upheld complaints about an ad that claimed to inhibit the formation of limescale (J.E.M. Marketing, 10 January 2007). The ad claimed the water conditioner could “immediately prevent the build-up of lime scale” and “prevent the formation of new and additional scales in your pipes and appliances”. After taking expert advice, the ASA considered that the device was unable to prevent the build-up of limescale in a single-pass domestic system or to keep calcium in suspension as claimed in the ad.

That decision resulted in a stricter approach. The ASA understands that no universally accepted theory about how these devices operate and no evidence to support the contention that the devices can inhibit scale formation generally exists. The ASA has noted that, where the devices had been shown to work, the efficacy of the product often depended on circumstances beyond the advertiser’s control, for example the type of system used or the type of water flow.
 

Over the years, the ASA has repeatedly upheld complaints about ads claiming to “dissolve” or “eliminate“ limescale (Fast Systems Ltd, January 2005, and Arnhem Technologies, 28 November 2001). The ASA considered those claims too categorical and advised advertisers to avoid implying that water conditioners would completely eliminate limescale.

Marketers should also be wary of making claims that softened water is beneficial for specific skin conditions or health in general. One advertiser claimed that “Softened water can also greatly improve conditions such as dry skin, eczema and psoriasis” but was found to be unable to support such claims (Harvey Water Softeners Ltd, August 2011). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Temp

[Gav_P]

Ah, so in summary.... they’re crap. 

[Pocster]

X 0.1

 

Scale reducer . Sorry , I thought it was funny ? 

[SteamyTea]

Phosphate dosing works to a degree.