Eco-Aqualizer Testing

[MattM]

The results are in for the first test: http://www.inlandreef.com/Testing/EcoTest.html

 

[liquid]

Very cool work Matt!

marked for archiving

Shane

 

[TiTAN]

Fantastic!

 

[MiNdErAsR]

Where can I buy one?

:roll:

 

[Unarce]

Where can I buy one?

:roll:

Home Depot now carries them under their own brand called "PVC Pipe Schedule 40".

 

[Anonymous]

Checked at HD, they only had "PVC Pipe Schedule 40 coated with snake oil", is that the same thing?

 

[Anonymous]

Oh.. I think that'll mess up your skimmer.

 

[MattM]

I got a call a couple weeks back from Carl Denzer, the president of Eco-Aqualizer. Apparently, some stores had seen our testing pages and had expressed concern to him that the product might not be all it is claimed.

We talked for quite a while, and I can not present an exact transcript here, but some of the more interesting points are:

• He claims the "white powder" is the far-infrared emitter. I told him that "far-infrared" was just a fancy word for "heat", and since there is no active heating or cooling going on, the only heat contributed to the water was the ambient temperature of the device, which would be the same as all the other plumbing. Also, I mentioned that since the powder does not come into contact with the water, there was no obvious mechanism by which it could affect the water in any way. He responded that is was a quantum mechanical effect. I replied that I have a degree in astro-physics and possess a good working knowledge of quantum mechanics, so please explain it. He replied that he, himself, does not understand it, but he would have his "technical guy" email me more information. Needless to say, I have received nothing from him.
• He says that the magnets effect the hydrogen bonding that loosely tie one water molecule to the next. I replied that there was some literature to suggest this does in fact happen, but only at magnetic strength levels approaching millions of gauss. Again, he said it was a quantum mechanical effect and started to say something about electron spin before he went back to saying that he was just the business guy and didn't understand the technical parts.
• He told us that our web site might effect his potential sales and asked how I could do that without having a moral problem. I said that as long as what we report is objective truth, I have no problems.
• We discussed that testing I was doing with ORP (the results had not been posted as that time) and he told me that the result would be invalid since the Eco-Aqualizer model I was using was designed for larger tanks and wouldn't work right with only 10 gallons. I replied that we were trying to determine if there was any effect on the water at all, so too large a unit would tend to make any effects larger, wouldn't they? He did seem confident that we would see significant effects. Again, this was just before the results were posted, showing basically no effects.
• I told him that we were only trying to conduct some sort of controlled and quantitative test to show if the Eco-Aqualizr affects the water at all and that no such independent testing had yet been done. He replied that the fish store quoted on their web site that experienced 80% reduction in fish mortality was ample testing. I told him that was anecdotal and not a controlled scientific test, at which time he expressed a general contempt for scientists or anything scientific.

To be fair and honest, it seems to me that he truly believes that his product works and does great things. If he is completely wrong about that, it seems to be ignorance, not intentional fraud.

After speaking to him, I got an idea for another test. Salt water conducts electricity fairly well due to all the ions present. When you move a conductor through a magnetic field, a current flow is generated -- this is the basic principle behind all electrical generators.

The idea I got is that moving salt water through the Eco-Aqualizer may be creating a voltage in the tank. Any effects observed in the tank may be due to the presence of stray electricity, not directly from anything the Eco-Aqualizer is doing to the water. Since the current would be very low, a grounding probe would short any induced voltage to ground quite easily, eliminating any effects.

Could it be that the presence or absence of a grounding probe correlates to effects observed from the Eco-Aqualizer?

I ran a simple test with the setup depicted on our testing page (http://www.inlandreef.com/Testing/EcoTest.html). I connected a digital voltmeter between the tank water and ground. I then ran the system with the Eco-Aqualizer in and out of the plumbing, with and without a ground probe.

Here are the results:

Keep in mind, this is with a 10 gallon tank and a very small pump (a Maxi-Jet 250). Moving more water through the Eco-Aqualizer faster would, no doubt, produce a greater voltage.

So there you have it! I have found an effect from the Eco-Aqualizer, but I'm pretty sure that 1) it's not an effect you want, and 2) it would be easier and cheaper to obtain with a battery. :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you Matt!

 

[John_Brandt]

He responded that is was a quantum mechanical effect. I replied that I have a degree in astro-physics and possess a good working knowledge of quantum mechanics, so please explain it. He replied that he, himself, does not understand it...

Matt, don't forget that Feynman said, "If you think you understand quantum mechanics....you don't understand quantum mechanics."

 

[MattM]

John -

I actually met Richard Feynman sometime around 1979 while visiting a friend at CalTech.

I am unshakably sure of two things:

1. My understanding of quantum mechanics is immeasurably superior to Carl Denzer's.
2. The Eco-Aqualizer's effect or lack of effect on aquarium water has absolutely nothing to do with quantum mechanics.