Why should I care about the ‘condition’ of the water inside my waterbed? I mean, even if it is full of algae, slime, nasty ooze, and so on over time–who cares? It’s not like I’m going to swim (or sleep) IN the water, and I never see the water–the bed is covered with a mattress pad, sheets, etc. So, isn’t the water conditioner just a sales gimmick?
Well, I’ve never owned a water bed and probably never will, but here are my thoughts:
If you never plan on draining it, I doubt it is much of a problem. However the first time you go to drain it or if it gets a leak, I’ll be you’ll wish you’d put the conditioner in.
If the water comes from a public utility then it probably has some chlorine or other agent which will prevent it from growing anything as long as it is kept closed, which it will be in the bed. If the water is from some other source and not treated, then I would make sure it was filtered and I would add a small amount of chlorine or other treatment. make sure the chlorine or whatever agent you use will not harm the plastic or whatever it will come in contact with.
Ask yourself how you’ll feel about that algae, slime, and nasty ooze when your waterbead springs the inevitable leak.
A little azide, copper salt, or similar antiseptic shouldn’t be all that expensive. Have they come up with a $25.00 scam or something ?
And allowing creepy-crawlies free reign inside your waterbed will become a nuisance, in that they tend to create gases, which means that you’ll get big, noisy bubbles in your mattress more quickly and more often. You’d wind up having to “burp” your waterbed every week, which would get old real fast.
I have owned 2 waterbeds (tube type) and the local water supply is “less than perfect” and I have never seen anything growing in the tubes. The water dumped out of the old bed appeared to be just plain water. I have never had a problem with smells or gases either.
I consider such conditioners to be a scam and nothing more.
You won’t notice air in tube type water beds but you will in regular ones. And that’s what the ‘conditioner’ is for. It helps slow down the growth of bacteria which, over time, will create air bubbles in the mattress. Or rather, one giant air bubble which will turn your comfortable waterbed into an annoying, uncomfortable air mattress.
Anerobic bacteria do their thing without oxygen remember.