# Alternative Water Softeners

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-water-softeners/98611>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 16, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-water-softeners/98611 "2002-03-16T13:14:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bkb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@bkb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bkb)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-water-softeners/98611/1 "2002-03-16T13:14:43Z")

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I posted this earlier, but it must have been lost in the great meltdown. I understand the principal behind conventional water softeners, but I have read about magnetic, ultrasonic and non-sacrificial catalyist softeners. Does anyone know if these are anything other than marketing ploys?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-water-softeners/98611/2 "2002-03-17T04:49:19Z")

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No clue, but I’ll bump this from Page 2 for ya. 😃

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**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternative-water-softeners/98611/3 "2002-03-18T05:54:32Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by bkb \*  
> \*\*I posted this earlier, but it must have been lost in the great meltdown. I understand the principal behind conventional water softeners, but I have read about magnetic, ultrasonic and non-sacrificial catalyist softeners. Does anyone know if these are anything other than marketing ploys?
> 
> Thanks \*\*

This CSICOP article doesn’t reject them outright:

[http://www.csicop.org/si/9801/powell.html](http://www.csicop.org/si/9801/powell.html)  
Since they’re not part of legit science, they’re not tested under many conditions, and are often overpriced. As with quack medical cures, even if it works, it’s still a scam if the seller hasn’t done enough testing to know under what conditions it will fail. And even if it works, if the seller takes $10 in parts and sells it for $399, it’s a scam.

Also, if they call it a “water softener”, they’re lying to you. These devices don’t affect the mineral content of the water! They might prevent buildup of mineral scale, but not by removing any minerals.

More stuffl: [http://amasci.com/freenrg/magh2o.html](http://amasci.com/freenrg/magh2o.html)