
The calcium and magnesium content of well water in Illinois is considered to be in the hard range of the grading scale. This calcium adheres to most any surface it comes into contact with — including the skin of your fish.
My calcium problem started when a rotary drum filter, or RDF, with a 70-micron screen was installed as a first-stage mechanical filter. It would take about 30 to 60 days before the screen would clog so severely it needed to be cleaned with acid. This constant cleaning got old real quick. I needed a fish-safe method to eliminate the problem and was very surprised where my search led me.
Magnetizing the Water
I found dozens of articles that talked about using magnets to soften water without changing the mineral content of the water. This intrigued me enough that I decided to give it a try. I found a vendor in Kentucky that sold neodymium cobalt magnets. When I placed my order I received a lecture from the sales rep regarding the safe handling of these very powerful magnets. When I got my order of four 80-pound pull magnets, the warning was there again in written form. I followed these warnings to the letter.
When I installed the magnets, I put them on opposing sides of a 3-inch PVC intake pipe on the pump. I used duct tape and tie wraps to hold them firmly in place, and then I waited.Nothing happened.
From 30 to 120
Nothing happened for 90 days, until I realized that we had not had to clean the 70-micron screen for the last three months. Then we noticed a pile of material on the intake side of the RDF. Turns out it was all the calcium scale that had accumulated over the years on the ID of the intake pipe. I was very surprised, to say the least, and all my buddies quit laughing at me for magnetizing the water. It actually did keep the 70-micron screen from clogging every 30 days, and stretched it to around every 120 days.
The placement of a high-intensity magnetic chamber in your system alters the water at a molecular level. This increases static tension and basic physics will keep the molecules of hardness in suspension. Magnetism changes the way water behaves.
There are other applications and benefits to magnetizing water. The most common application is on the intake pipe of a hot water heater. The folks who have done this report their hot water heaters don’t clog with calcium and need cleaning or replacement as often.

The other benefit is with your fish. The first thing I noticed was that the skin on the koi was no longer dull. I also suggest that magnetized water can prevent the water pipes in a house from corroding and leaching copper into the water. Contrary to popular belief, copper in as little as .007 ppm is toxic to koi. If you are deliberately inserting copper into your koi pond water as an algaecide, stop doing this if you value the lives of your fish.
Richard, they work very well. Now we have to take it a step further and by the use of magnets create Structured water. That is the same as the water that cascades down the mountain streams over many rocks.