Scalewatcher - Electronic Scale Reduction

Lime scale is a fact of life in hard water areas, to find out if you have lime scale just look in your kettle. The most visual example of lime scale build up is a stalactite or stalagmite which is formed by the lime in water. Limescale is effectively reconstituted rock. In a hard water area the same process takes place inside your plumbing. Dissolved calcium, held in suspension as the water travels through the ground, is deposited in your combi boiler or hot water cylinder. It also forms in shower valves and heads and around the spouts of taps. The taps can be cleaned with a little mild acid sprayed on periodically. Cleaning the inside of you plumbing system is a little harder to do and you might wonder why you would want to. Who cares what happens inside your plumbing system?

The reason that you should care is because that rock formation will eventually jam and block every plumbing component in the system causing it to work below capacity. The other reason you should care is because lime scale costs you money on your fuel bills. The lime is a very good insulator and it insulates at the very place you least need it. That is the heat exchanger in your boiler or hot water cylinder. A couple of millimetres of lime scale on a heat exchanger cuts down the heat transfer by 10%, so 6mm would cut it down by 38%. This means that the boiler takes longer to do the job. Like those stalactites it is building up year after year and that means your boiler is taking longer and longer to heat up enough water for a bath or shower. You might have thought it was just your imagination that the bath water was taking longer or you might have blamed someone else in the house for hogging all the water.

So less limescale means faster heat up times and lower fuel bills. If you do something to prevent lime scale you could be seeing your money back in as little as 12 months. The big question is what to do? There are any number of solutions and devices on the market which are variously priced and give varying results. The most expensive may not always produce the best results.

WATER SOFTENERS

A water softener is certainly the most effective way to stop lime scale and it is really the only way to produce truly soft water in a hard water area. Soft water not only stops lime scale it also makes your hair softer, your soap lather and your bath stay cleaner. There is also some evidence that it helps some eczema sufferers. The downside of a water softener is that it uses electricity, salt and quite a lot of water to backwash the resin. Fitting a softener is easy thanks to flexible plumbing hoses. It is much like a washing machine: one pipe in, one pipe out and a drain hose, plus one electricity supply. If you want a high flow rate for power showers or two baths then make sure the water softener is suitable for high pressure, high flow rates, some aren't.

MAGNETIC WATER AND ELECTRONIC SCALE PREVENTION DEVICES

Studying the snowflake like particles of calcium under a microscope shows that the particles tend to stick to each other so once one particle lands on a surface it is quickly joined by others. It was discovered, don't ask how, that passing the water through a magnetic or electronic wave ordered the particles into straight lines similar to needles and made them less likely to stick together. The calcium was therefore more inclined to flow through the plumbing system and come out of the taps instead of being deposited on the internal surfaces of pipes and boilers.

That is the theory; the actual results with various devices have been more variable. There are plumbers and members of the public who group magnetic water softening in with magnetic healing. There is no doubt that some of the weaker magnets on the market do little or nothing to change the water. Even with strong magnets there is a time limit to the effectiveness so water stored in tanks in the loft might lose its ‘charge’ before it even gets to the water heater. On this evidence magnets work best on direct feeds so they should be placed on the cold feed to a cylinder or on the cold feed to a combination boiler or mains fed water heater rather than on the cold supply to a storage tank.

Electronic devices, which use modulating frequencies similar to radio waves, have also been shown to be effective and it appears that the electronic treatment is longer lasting making it more suitable for stored hot water. There is any number of laboratory reports on the effectiveness of these devices and every manufacturer seems to be able to produce some independent laboratory results but it is fair to say that many plumbers and consumers remain sceptical. There is nothing wrong with scepticism and in part it may be due to the fact that variable site conditions affect performance. The presence of an earth bond close to the device or a large amount of metal work can reduce the performance. Magnets can also lose their power over time. Then there is the flow rate of the water to consider, sometimes too fast and sometimes too slow. Interestingly it has not been shown that slowing the flow rate through the device produces a more effective treatment.

Our tests at Self Builder are site based rather than laboratory based. We fitted a Scalewatcher from Fast Systems which was found to be effective in reducing scale inside a hot water cylinder. The Scalewatcher device was installed and the scale build up inside the cylinder was monitored by removing the immersion heater and checking the heat exchanger with a torch. After a period of 6 months the heat exchanger was re-examined and the surface found to be virtually free of lime scale, save for a few spots. This would suggest that the device slowly cleaned up the plumbing. The shower head also had less scale build up and the deposits became soft like mud rather than rock hard. We have also spoken to a number of people who have used the industrial versions of this device, notably in Tower 42 in The City of London where they have huge hot water demands and storage tanks the size of swimming pools.

Accepting that the results can be variable there is no way that you can be sure that any particular device will work in your particular location. The only way to be sure is to try a device out and if it doesn't work get your money back. That way you don't have to believe anyone’s findings but your own. A refund for goods which do not do what they claim to do is of course your right under consumer laws but it is easier if the company offers an upfront no quibble money back guarantee. Fast Systems, the company that markets Scalewatcher, operates such a money back scheme whereby the product can be returned after six months if it has produced satisfactory results. We therefore have no difficulty in recommending their product. The six months test period is essential because scale doesn't disappear over night.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT IS WORKING?

Monitoring the effect of any scale device is something you should do methodically. Simply looking in the kettle is not a good indicator since water will deposit it’s mineral content as it reaches boiling point regardless of any treatment. This is not a convenient get-out because all impurities in water are left behind as it turns into vapour. It is the reason why we have been able to use the same water over and over again since time began. The most consistent results will be shown in the condition of your plumbing and shower valves so you need to make a note of what you see happening over a period. You may wish to clean them with a descalent fluid or spray and see if the scale builds up again. Take photographs of the general scale build up so you have more than your memory to rely on. Most people notice a marked improvement. If it is possible remove the immersion heater boss and examine your cylinder with a torch. We will be interested to add your findings good or bad to our forum so please let us know how you get on with any particular device.

Product links related to this article:

• Salamander Pumps
• Fast Systems Water Descaler
• Scale Manager 2 Water Descaler
• Harvey Water Softeners
• Avonsoft Water Softeners
• Monarch Water Softeners
• Kinetico Water Softeners

Advice given by the Drinking Water Inspectorate
for Magnetic and Electrical conditioning devices

Some of these devices have been shown to be effective in reducing the amount of fur or scale that actually sticks to pipes or heating elements. They do not soften water. However, not all products on the market give satisfactory performance. You are advised not to buy one of these devices unless the supplier will agree to a sale or return, subject to satisfactory performance.