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AkwaMag High Intensity Multi Pass technology was invented by a magnetic research engineer with extensive experience in magnetic field design. It is arguably the most effective and reliable product from a scientific standpoint. AkwaMag is the only water softener on the market evaluated by NASA under a Space Act Agreement to adapt its technology for applications on the Space Station. AkwaMag continues to study the fundamental mechanism and real life applications of the magnetic effects with its partners in the US (NASA) and Europe (Wetsus).

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Magnetic Technology Overview

There is a lot of misinformation on the internet regarding magnetic water softening and the impact the magnetic field has on the calcium carbonate (the scale causing mineral). This is often based on anecdotal information and inadequately designed technologies. Fortunately, the effect of magnets on hard water and magnetohydrodynamics (the interaction between water and magnets) has been widely studied and published by scientists around the world. We selected a short list of those and include at the bottom of this page.

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The Science

The calcium carbonate mineral has two common, naturally occurring crystalline structures: Aragonite, which forms in long columns, and Calcite, which forms in small beads. Calcite is naturally more stable than Aragonite due to its structure, making it much more abundant in our water. Furthermore, Calcite’s small beaded structure conglomerates easily, creating a hard scale that clings well to surfaces, while Aragonite’s long column shape is significantly less prone to conglomeration allowing it to flow along with the water.

For clear, observable effects of magnets on water and calcium carbonate, we can look at a pater by J.M.D. Coey (author of the college post-graduate text book “Magnetism and Magnetic Materials”) and Stephen Cass entitled “Magnetic Water Treatment” which appeared in the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials Issue 209. The team performed an experiment in which two beakers containing water were heated and allowed the water to evaporate leaving only carbonate crystals. In one beaker, the water was passed through a magnetic field, while the other contained water that had not been influenced by magnets. The carbonate crystals remaining from each beaker were examined by X-ray diffraction (which reveals the crystallographic structure(s) of a substance) and a scanning electron microscope (which takes a “micro” image of that system).

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​Microscopic Effects

The electron microscope image below clearly shows that carbonate deposits from the untreated water (left) contains significantly less Aragonite colunms and significantly more calcite beads than the magnetically treated water (right). This means the treated water can flow freely through a water system with virtually no scaling implication. The line on the image shows the comparable length of 50 microns, about the diameter of a hair folic. The calcite beads and aragonite rods are many times smaller than your hair!

Coey and Cass also tested for the additional factor of time, as water can sit in pipes or water heater for a number of hours, between softening and end use.  What they found was that even after 200 hours (8.5 days), the magnetically treated water still has a very high concentration of Aragonite, significant enough to dramatically reduce scaling implications of hard water.

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Duration

Coey and Cass also tested for the additional factor of time, as water can sit in pipes or water heater for a number of hours, between softening and end use.  What they found was that even after 200 hours (8.5 days), the magnetically treated water still has a very high concentration of Aragonite, significant enough to dramatically reduce scaling implications of hard water.

 

Macroscopic Effects

The differences are visible to the naked eye. There are no unsightly, difficult-to-clean stains on fixtures or equipment.

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Selected Scientific Publications on Magnetic Water Softening 

  1. Former Soviet Union (1969): Magnetic Water: Between Scylla and Carybdis, V. E. Klassen, Institute of Mineral Fuels of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1969, 25-27.

  2. Former Soviet Union (1987): Effect of Physical Fields on the Crystallisation and Deposition of Calcium Sulphate, B. D. Sinezhuk, T.Y. Fedoruk, and S. V. Mal’ko,  Sov. J. Wat. Chem. Tech. 9, 407-410.

  3. Chiba University, Japan (1991): Is a Magnetic Effect on Water Absorption Possible?, S. Ozeki, C. Wakai, S. Ono, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 1991, Vol. 95, No. 26, 10557-10559

  4.  Cranfield University, England (1997): Magnetic Treatment of Calcium Carbonate Scale Effect of pH Control, S. A. Parsons, B. L. Wang, S. J. Judd, and T. Stephenson, Wat. Res. Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 339-342, 1997

  5.  Purdue University (1997): Magnetic Treatment of Water Prevents Mineral Build-up, J. C. Quinn, T. C. Molden, Iron and Steel Engineer, Vol. 74, July 1997, pp 47-52

  6.  Baylor University, Texas (1997): Laboratory Studies on Magnetic Water Treatment and Their Relationship to a Possible Mechanism for Scale Reduction, K.W. Busch, M. A. Busch, Desalination 109 (1997) 131-148

  7. Alberta Research Council, Canada (1997): Rapid Onset of Calcium Carbonate Crystallization Under the Influence of a Magnetic Field, Y. Wang, A. J. Babchin, T. L. Chernyi, R. S. Chow, and R. P. Sawatzky, Wat. Res. Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 346-350, 1997

  8. Imperial College, London (1999): Biological Effects of Physically Conditioned Water, A. Goldsworthy, H. Whitney, and E. Morris, Wat. Res. Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 1618-1626, 1999

  9. Kumar Process, lndia (2001): Potential Use of Magnetic Fields – a Perspective, C.V. Vedavyasan, Desalination 134 (2001) 105-108

  10. Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa (2003): The Effectiveness of a Magnetic Physical Water Treatment Device on Scaling in Domestic Hot-Water Storage Tanks, C. Smith, P.P. Coetzee, and J.P. Meyer, Water SA Vol. 29 No. 3 July 2003

  11. Tianjin Polytechnic University, China (2007): Quantitative Study of the Effect of Electromagnetic Field on Scale Deposition on Nanofiltration Membranes Via UTDR, J. Li, J. Liu, T. Yang, C. Xiao, Wat. Res., 41 (2007) 4595– 4610

  12. University of Maribor, Slovania (2007): Influence of Magnetic Field on the Aragonite Precipitation, L.C. Lipusa, D. Dobersek, Chem. Eng. Sci., 62 (2007) 2089 – 2095

  13. University of Copenhagen, Denmark (2007): Theory of Electrolyte Crystallization in Magnetic Field, H. E. Lundager Madsen, Journal of Crystal Growth 305 (2007) 271–277

  14. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France (2009): Effect of magnetic water treatment on calcium carbonate precipitation: Influence of the pipe material, F. Alimia, M.M. Tlili, M. Ben Amora, G. Maurinb, C. Gabrielli, Chem. Eng. and Process., 48 (2009) 1327–1332

  15. National Taiwan University (2010): Effect of the Magnetic Field on the Growth Rate of Aragonite and the Precipitation of CaCO3, M. C. Chang, C. Y. Tai, Chem. Eng. J., 164 (2010) 1–9

  16. Agrophysics Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland (2011): Effects of Static Magnetic Field on Electrolyte Solutions under Kinetic Condition, A. Szcze,  E. Chibowski, L. Hozysz, and P. Rafalski, J. Phys. Chem. A 2011, 115, 5449–5452

  17. Northwestern Polytechnical University, China (2012): Evaporation Rate of Water as a Function of a Magnetic Field and Field Gradient, Y. Guo, D. Yin, H. Cao, J. Shi, C. Zhang, Y.M. Liu, H. Huang, Y. Liu, Y. Wang, W. Guo, A. Qian and P. Shang, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 16916-16928

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