Comments on: do electronic water descalers work?

By: johncob

johncob — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:35:45 +0000

There are ‘magnetic’ scale preventers that clip round the pipes, much the same thing. Given that it affects the linkage of the molecules electrically, the effect does not last very long. (about 2 hours) Hence, the one for my washing machine is on the inlet to the machine

By: CUP MAN

CUP MAN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:42:22 +0000

Hydraflo are probably one of the best on the market. I live in a really hard water area and have had my last kettle for nearly 5 yrs with a Hydraflo fitted to my combi boiler. Nothing but praise for them.What it does is keep the limescale in the water with a small electric current put into every water pipe into the house, stopping the limescale sticking to the pipes / elements /immersion htrs etc.
You have to be very careful where you fit them and be careful of earth bonding as this can effect their performance.

By: Paul L

Paul L — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:53:06 +0000

Anecdotally most people believe they do work. However when I looked into this 12 years ago I found a report done on them for the Water Research Council based on work carried out at Garston.

This report found that their working was completely unreliable.

1) They might work in a house and then mysteriously after a few weeks become totally ineffective.

2) The same design might work in one house but in the next door house of the same design not work at all.

3) Although at one time they were believed to alter zeta potential ( the charge on tiny particles of scale caused by friction in the water) preventing these particles coagulating it was actually found that zeta potential varied so widely from day to day that this couldn’t be the mechanism.