Back in the 70's my employer at the time, worked with a firm in Wichita, Kansas on a product called an "Electrostatic Water Treater". We backed out of the deal after a year or so because of some misapplications. But while we had it, it did some pretty remarkable things, by suspending particulates in the water piping system. In their "suspended" state, they'd cleanly pass through without collecting or adhering to the sides of the piping, including the drain or disposal system.
This device basically consisted of an inner piece of stainless tube and an outer housing which were electrically isolated from each other as well as the main plumbing system. Basically, a very high voltage, milliamp current was applied to the inner tube, which induced an electrical field that would polarize the particulants in the water that surrounded the tube. This "polarized" matter lost its cohesive properties and would flow through the system without sticking to each other or anything else. (As I recall, the device was UL and CSA approved for these applications.)
Applied to a water-wash paint booth, the paint particles would actually turn granular and you could scoop them up like dry, granular pieces of plastic and dump them in a barrel and your hands wouldn't be anymore than just wet.
On a standard plumbing system, they not only would eliminate further calcium (and other particulates) from building up, but would actually remove the existing build-up in the pipe. After only a few days, the inside of a pipe would look almost new. As you can imagine, if there was any buildup, the first few days would present some problems as this loosened material would clog filter screens, airators, etc.
While great for renewing a fairly modern plumbing system, it proved disasterous for some old factory systems in that the only thing holding the piping together was the calcium buildup! Worse, the killer of the project proved to be that it would setup electrolysis with any dissimilar metal connections (for example, copper to iron). Not at all what one would want on some of these old factory boilers.
Properly fitted with PVC connectors or interconnectors it proved quite workable and applied to a few house systems the results were rather satisfying. However, my employer was a major industry supplier and problems there, caused us to suspend further R & D in a big hurry. I'm not sure if this product exists for residential applications, but one might want to Google "Electrostatic Water Treatment" to see if any advances have been made.
CWS
This device basically consisted of an inner piece of stainless tube and an outer housing which were electrically isolated from each other as well as the main plumbing system. Basically, a very high voltage, milliamp current was applied to the inner tube, which induced an electrical field that would polarize the particulants in the water that surrounded the tube. This "polarized" matter lost its cohesive properties and would flow through the system without sticking to each other or anything else. (As I recall, the device was UL and CSA approved for these applications.)
Applied to a water-wash paint booth, the paint particles would actually turn granular and you could scoop them up like dry, granular pieces of plastic and dump them in a barrel and your hands wouldn't be anymore than just wet.
On a standard plumbing system, they not only would eliminate further calcium (and other particulates) from building up, but would actually remove the existing build-up in the pipe. After only a few days, the inside of a pipe would look almost new. As you can imagine, if there was any buildup, the first few days would present some problems as this loosened material would clog filter screens, airators, etc.
While great for renewing a fairly modern plumbing system, it proved disasterous for some old factory systems in that the only thing holding the piping together was the calcium buildup! Worse, the killer of the project proved to be that it would setup electrolysis with any dissimilar metal connections (for example, copper to iron). Not at all what one would want on some of these old factory boilers.
Properly fitted with PVC connectors or interconnectors it proved quite workable and applied to a few house systems the results were rather satisfying. However, my employer was a major industry supplier and problems there, caused us to suspend further R & D in a big hurry. I'm not sure if this product exists for residential applications, but one might want to Google "Electrostatic Water Treatment" to see if any advances have been made.
CWS
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