Do electronic water descalers work?

Question

I have seen them on the internet and ebay ranging from £14 to £140, are they all the same? Are you using one in your home now and does it work?

Answer 1

These things work on a short time scale(about 2 hours) so they would be ok only on a direct feed & use application. Certainly no good on a loft tank application. A 'real' water softener is your best option

Answer 2

I went to the website that describes these devices and in my opinion as a chemical engineer with more than 20 years experience, I say it's doubtful.

Scale in water forms from dissolved ions of calcium, and magnesium. These ions will precipitate out to form scale depending upon their concentration relative to other ions in solution, and the temperature of the water.

The only way I can see that this device would work is if it drives off dissolved CO2 which reacts with calcium and magnesium to form carbonate scales.

Your best bet to remove them is a standard water softener.

Here is a link that give some more detail.

http://www.awqinc.com/hardness.html

Answer 3

I have had an electronic one installed for over a year but still get scale in my hot water electric kettle. It is less than I remember it as I live in a very hard water area.

I get best results by just hanging the food grade granules in my cold water tank.

Answer 4

They can give some minor benefit but not sufficient to justify the expense. If you have a real problem try a chemical water softener. Those do work but you have to renew the chemical from time to time.