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In Partnership with the Environment

Magnetic Fluid Conditioning

It is not a new process. Nor is it unproven. Patents for treating water with magnetics appeared back in the 1950's. Even back then, when magnets were far weaker then they are today, the effects were remarkable. The treated water behaved as if it were "softer" with less mineral content, and scale build-up was significantly reduced.

When water is stored, heated, or evaporates, the complexes it carries are broken up and the dissolved minerals are set free. These liberated minerals(most of which are calcium carbonate or magnesium conglomerate) in sediments that line the insides of pipes, appliances, water heaters, and other surfaces with which the water comes in contact. Over time, more and more minerals build up on the sediment layer, causing it to grow progressively thicker. There is a name for these caked-on mineral deposits: scale.

Lime scale is a very hard substance, and removing it from plumbing fixtures and appliances is a difficult task. What GMX does is condition water to "act" soft. Hard water is made up of minerals, mainly calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2 ). These elements are “positively” charged ions. The magnets on the GMX water softeners work by counter acting the positive charged ions, leaving them inert. The Calcium and Magnesium aren’t removed; just lose their ability to cling to pipes, tanks and heating elements. There are no filters or salt to change. The magnets do all the work...and they do it well.

Most of the water that is piped into homes and other buildings in North America and many other countries contains a significant amount of hardness minerals. This is both good and bad. It's good because the right amount of minerals has healthful benefits and make the water taste better. It's bad because some of these dissolved minerals are converted to scale when the water goes into a home or building and is stored, heated or evaporates. It's a well-known fact that letting hard lime scale build up in the plumbing fixtures and appliances in your home is like pouring money down the drain.

The solution? There are several, but only one that makes sense.

To date, the most common solution is the traditional water softener, which takes a portion of the hardness minerals out of the water and replaces them with sodium. Water thus treated is not recommended for drinking because of the high sodium content. Water softeners are also expensive to buy and operate, and can cause environmental problems. Also, they do not stop scale build-up, nor do they remove scale that has already built up. They simply reduce scale. These are just a few of the reasons why water softeners are not an acceptable solution to scale build-up problems. Other scale build-up remedies, such has acid washes and chemical additives have even greater drawbacks, including the risk of contamination and the fact that they wear out the surfaces they contact.

What, then, is the acceptable way to combat scale build-up?

The answer lies in a complex word that for a fairly simple physical phenomenon: magnetohydrodynamics. Simply stated, magnetohydrodynamics is what happens when water passes through a properly focused magnetic field. The magnetic field breaks up some of the complexes that are carried in the water, freeing the captive mineral particles. Once free, these particles act as crystallization centers, giving the surrounding mineral molecules in the water something to "stick" to rather then forming new layers of scale on the inside of plumbing and appliance surfaces. As these crystallization centers attract mineral molecules, they form circular platelets, which remain in the water rather the attaching them selves to surfaces and causing scale build-up. The net effect of all this is that the hardening minerals are changed from a scale like ice cube to a powder like a snowflake.

Untreated Water: Microscopic photo of untreated water with hardness of 140 ppm, magnified 400x	Treated with GMX: Same water after treatment with GMX Model 800, magnified 400x

This process of keeping minerals in the water rather then letting them precipitate out in the form of scale when heating or evaporation takes place is known as magnetic fluid conditioning.