CA2112600A1 - Method and apparatus for treating liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Apparatus for clarifying aqueous liquid uses an electrical field from electrolysis electrodes and a magnetic field at right angles, with one of the fields pulsed. In a swimming pool or spa, chlorine is generated from a small amount of salt in the water, so that addition of chlorine is not needed. In acid aqueous liquid, such as acid mine discharge (AMD) water, the water is clarified, the pH raised, and various elements or ions are precipitated or coagulated. In alkaline liquids, such as oily water, the pH is raised and the oil coagulates out.
The apparatus then has many uses, including producing a combination of oxidants, regulating the pH, alkalinity and total hardness, control and eliminate the cathodic scale build-up, and precipitate and coagulate elements, metallic ions and petroleum products as the pH is raised. The foregoing Abstract is merely a resume of general applications, it is not a complete discussion of all principles of operation or applications, and is not to be construed as a limitation on the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Description

2~:~2~0 ,.. `.. ,-,,, 1METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING LIQUID - :-, ,` ~, i~ ; ' 4BACKGROUND OF THE INVEN~ION
5The invention relates in general to treatment of water 6 for water clarification purposes or where the solution 7 being treated is primarily water.
8 The prior art has known for about one hundred (100) j`~
9 years that magnetism may be used to remove scale from water such as boiler water. The heat causes scale to occur which 11 is usually a calcium compound or magnesium compound 12 depending upon the hardness characteristics of the water 13 being fed to the boiler.
14 The electrolysis of brine to obtain chlorine was known before 1885, and by 1885 successful commercial production 16 of chlorine was established, see Rogers Manual of 17 Industrial Chemistry, 6th edition, edited by C.C. Fllrnas ~ -18 and published by D. VanNastrande Company in 1942, pages 19 438-444.
The use of magnetism to clarify liquid such as the 21 muddy Mississippi River water by the means of magnets or -;
22 electromagnets to remove suspended impurities was known at ;~
23 least since 1890, see U.S. Patent No. 531,183.
24 U.S. Patent No. 2,652,925 shows the use of alternating current on electromagnetic coils to treat calcareous water.
26 This is stated as treating the calcium deposits to soften 27 them to the form of mud which can be removed. U.S. Patent -~
28 No. 4,151,090 shows a water treatment apparatus for a home 29 hot water heater utilizing a direct current electromagnet.
U.S. Patent 4,605,498 shows use of a permanent magnet 31 to magnetically treat liquid. U.S. Patent 5,037,546 also 32 uses permanent magnets for removing scale from pipes. U.S.
33 Patent 4,201,635 discloses an electrolysis process in which 34 the source of voltage difference is produced in the -2~
. .~
1 electrodes by a magnetic field and moving the conducting 2 elements or magnet or altering the magnetic field.

3 U.S. Patent 4,747,925 disclosed an electrolysis ;~

4 process with a magnetic field at right ang]es to an electric field between the alectrodes to help dislodge the 6 bubbles ~rom the electrodes. This is used in the production 7 of hydrogen and oxygen with DC on the magnetic coils. U.S.
8 Patent 3,969,214 also discloses a permanent magnet in an g electrolysis system generating hydrogen and oxygen. U.s.
10 Patent No. 4,469,759 discloses an electric storage battery ~ ;
11 which utilizes a magneto-hydrodynamic pump to circulate -12 electrolyte through the storage battery with this pump 13 including a magnetic field perpendicular to the electric 14 field. U.s. Patent No. 4,810,344 to Okazaki discloses a process of electrolytically ionizing water and subjecting 16 it either to a magnetic field or an electron generating .
17 unit. U.S. Patent No. 3,669,274 discloses permanent 18 magnets to remove calcareous matter from water. U.S.
19 Patent No. 3,680,705 has a similar object. U.S. Patent No.

5,114,571 also uses a magnetic descaler in a water 21 purifying system. Further, U.S. Patent No. 4,818,395 `~
22 discloses a device to eliminate scale in a pipe system by 23 utilizing an alternating current applied to an 24 electromagnet. U.S. Patent No. 4,734,176 discloses the 25 periodic reversing of the polarity on ionizing electrodes ;~
26 to ensure uniform wear of the electrodes and automatic -~
27 cleaning of the deposits off the electrodes. ;~

28 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ~ -29 The prior art has known for at least one hundred (100) years the separate apparatus for electrolysis of water 31 containing salt for the production of chlorine, and the ~ ;~
32 magnetic treatment of water containing calcareous material -33 which forms scale on the inside of pipes, for example, yet 34 for one hundred (100) years these two methods have not been combined. The present invention relates to a liquid , ` : :

;;

1 treating apparatus with a conduit for containing a liquid 2 flow path, first and second electrodes insulated from each -~:
3 other and disposed inside the conduit and arranged to be 4 coupled in the liquid flow path, means adapted to supply an electrical field in a path intercepting the electrodes, 6 means to supply a magnetic field in a path intercepting the 7 electrodes, and means to establish pulses in one of said 8 fields.

9 The invention is also directed to a method of treating -~

10 liquids comprising the steps of establishing a stream of ~ -~

11 liquid, establishing first and second electrodes in the 12 stream of liquid, supplying an electrical field 13 intercepting the electrodes, establishing a magnetic field 14 intercepting the electrodes and pulsing one of said fields.
The use of electrolysis on a water solution containing 16 salt to establish the generation of chlorine gas is known.
17 This gas may be used in the chlorination of swimming pool -18 water, for example, to kill bacteria. Swimming pool water, 19 however, is often supplied from wells or public water systems which have a fair amount of calcium and magnesium 21 compounds and a heater usually used in conjunction with a ~ -22 swimming pool hastens the formation of scale from these~ --23 calcium and magnesium compounds or other hardness materials 24 ir. the water. This scale is deposited on the electrodes, 25 primarily the cathode and it quickly becomes quite hard and ~;~
26 very difficult to remove. The electrodes are typically 27 made from some material which is not affected by the ~ -~
28 electrolyte solution such as platinum or titanium. These 29 electrode materials are quite expensive and if the scale or ~ ~
30 calcareous material becomes hard, this destroys the - -31 efficiency of the electrolysis and the hard scale is very 32 difficult to remove. Attempts have been made to remove the 33 scale by reversing the polarity of the electrodes -~
34 periodically, but this action never completely removes the scale, there is always some residue gel left on the 36 electrodes.

_4_ l The present invention utilizes a magnetic field 2 intercepting the electrodes in addition to the electrical 3 field which is generally supplied by the electrolysis -4 voltage applied to the e}ectrodes. Then by pulsing one of these two fields, it has been found that the scale may be 6 reduced on the electrodes or may be completely eliminated.
7 The reduction of cathodic scale from the electrodes 8 and the production of a halogen such as chlorine for g killing bacteria are only two of the beneficial results of this invention. There are four additional benefits derived 11 from the invention: namely, the production of hydrogen 12 peroxide and ozone for additional sterilization of the 13 water; an automatic control over the pH of the water; the 14 maintaining of the total hardness of the solution within neutral levels; and the production of other oxidants and 16 hydroxyl radicals that form with halogens, such as chlorine -~
17 to form more effective sterilizing compounds.
18 Accordingly, an object of the invention is to utilize ;~
19 both electrical and magnetic fields in an electrolysis system to generate chlorine and to remove scale from the 21 electrolytic cathode.
22 Other objects and a fuller understanding of the 23 invention may be had by referring to the following 24 description and claims, taken in conjunction with the 25 accompanying drawings. ;~ ;~

27 Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of apparatus which will 28 establish a method of the invention;
29 Fig. 2 is a series of schematic diagrams of different -cell types;
31 Fig. 3 is a series of schematic diagrams of different 32 coil types;
33 Fig. 4 is a series of schematic diagrams of different 34 electrode type;

`"' "' -5- :~

1 Fig. 5 is a series of schematic diagrams of different 2 flux concentrators; -3 Fig. 6 is a series of schematic diagrams of different 4 mixer types;
Fig. 7 is a series of cross-sectional diagrams of 6 different combined electrode and CQil types;
7 Fig. 8 ls a longitudinal cross-section of a static 8 apparatus for performing the method of the invention;
g Fig. 9 is a series of wave forms of the voltages applied to the coil;
11 Fig. 10 is a graph of wattage vs. time for a prior art 12 system compared with apparatus of the invention;
13 Fig. 11 is a graph of pH vs. time for a prior art 14 apparatus compared with that of the present invention;
Fig. 12 is a graph of alkalinity vs. time for a prior 16 art apparatus compared with apparatus of the present 17 invention;
18 Fig. 13 is a graph of total hardness vs. time of a 19 prior art apparatus compared with that of the present invention;
21 Fig. 14 is a graph of the production of oxidants vs.
22 time for the prior art apparatus compared with that of the 23 present invention;
24 Fig. 15 is a graph of the total chlorine vs. time for 25 the prior art apparatus in comparison with the apparatus of ~- -26 the present invention;
27 Fig. 16 is a graph of free chlorine vs. time of the ;~
28 prior art apparatus compared with that of the present ~ -29 invention;
Fig. 17 is a graph like that of Fig. 10 of watts vs.
31 time of a pulsing electrical field of the apparatus of the 32 present invention; ~-~
33 Fig. 18 is a graph of the individual oxidants produced ~ -34 with coil operating at 60 Hz;
Fig. l9 is another graph of individual oxidants 36 produced with coil operating at 2500 Rz;
:::

2~2~

1 Fig. 20 is a graph of total oxidants produced;
2 Fig. 21 is a graph of pH of a tank containing humic ~ -3 acid; and 4 Fig. 22 is a graph of a flow-chart for an acid mine 5 discharge system. ~; -7 Fig. 1 shows schematically an apparatus 20 for the 8 performance of the method disclosed by this invention. A
9 power source 21 may be a commercial AC voltage source which is connected through a ground fault current interrupter 22 11 and then to a transformer 23. An AC fan 24 may be ~ ~ .
12 connected before the transformer in order to cool the -~
13 apparatus 20. The transformer 23 feeds a bridge circuit 25 14 so that DC is supplied through normally closed switches 26 and 27 and an indicator lamp 28 to electrolysis electrodes 16 including a cathode 29 and an anode 30.
17 The ground fault current interrupter 22 supplies a 18 timer 34 which controls the switch 26. The switch 27 is a 19 manual switch to control energization to the electrodes. A b -' control circuit 35 is energized from the transformer 23 and 21 controls a coil driver 36, which in turn, energizes a coil ~;
22 37. This coil may be inside or outside of a cell 38 which 23 is adapted to contain liquid such as a dilute salt solution 24 in water. The coil 37 establishes a ~agnetic field which intercepts the electrodes 29 and 30, and the energization 26 of the electrodes from the bridge 25 establishes an 27 electric field which also intercepts these electrodes. As 28 shown, these two fields are substantially perpendicular to 29 each other, which is the preferred arrangement. The coil establishes a magnetis field along a longitudinal axis 39, 31 and the electric field is perpendicular to the axis. The 32 apparatus may also be used with reversing polarity on -~
33 bipolar electrodes and, in this case, a connection 40 is -34 provided from the control circuit 35 to reverse the , ~ J~

l polarity on the electrodes 29 and 30. The polarity on the 2 coil may also be reversed at the same time.
3 The apparatus to perform the methocl o~ the invention 4 may be embodied in many different physical forms of cells, -~
coils, electrodes, flux concentrators and solution mixers.
6 Fig. 2A shows a conduit or call 44 of a straight-through 7 flow type. Fig. 2B illustrates a cell 45 which may be a 8 doubled-walled type. Fig. 2C shows schematically a double g cell type 46 with an electrode cavity 47 which is the last to fill and may be mounted vertically or horizontally.
11 Fig. 2D shows schematic diagram of a double cell type 48 12 wherein an electrode cavity 49 is the first to fill and may 13 be mounted either vertically or horizontally. Fig. 2E is a 14 diagram of a cell 50 wherein the electrodes 29 and 30 are in an electrode cavity which is the last to fill, and is 16 disposed vertically.
17 Fig. 3 illustrates a number of coil types which may be 18 used and Fig. 3A shows diagrammatically a cylindrical coil 19 with a flux path along a longitudinal axis and the electrodes would be inside the coil. Fig. 3B illustrates a 21 pair of coils 55 establishing an aiding flux path of the - -~
22 two coils and these coils would be outside the electrodes.
23 Fig. 3C schematically illustrates a pair of coils 56 which 24 establish opposed flux fields and would be mounted outside of the electrodes.
26 Fig. 4 shows a number of different configurations of ~7 electrodes. Fig. 4A diagrammatically illustrates a pair of 28 flat electrodes wherein the anode the cathode can be 29 positioned transverse to the solution flow or parallel to it. Fig 4B diagrammatically illustrates a three electrode 31 arrangement wherein two cathodes 29 are positioned one on -32 each side of the central anode 30. Fig. 4C illustrates 33 five electrodes with three equally spaced cathodes 29 and ~-34 two intermediate anodes 30. Again, these electr~des may be - -positioned perpendicular to or parallel to the solution 36 flow. Fig. 4D diagrammatically illustrates a tubular -8~

1 cathode 29 and a central anode 30 which may be either solid 2 or tubular. These electrodes are disposed for longitudinal 3 flow of the solution.
4 Fig. 5 shows a number of different physical structures ~ '5~;
of a magnetically permeable flux concentrator which may be 6 used to concentrate the magnetic field so that it is ~ -7 directed into the space intercepting the electrodes. Fig.
8 5A illustrates a flux concentrator 60 which maybe placed on - ;~
9 the outside of the cathode on electrodes of the type of Fig. 4A. Fig. 5B is a schematic diagram of a flux ll concentrator 61 which may be placed on the outside of the 12 cathodes of the electrodes shown in Fig. 4B. Fig. 5C is a 13 schematic diagram of a flux concentrator 62 which may be ;
14 used as the core of electrodes shown in Fig. 4D. Fig. 5D ~ `

15 is a schematic diagram of a flux concentrator 63 of a flux ' 16 concentrator which may be used especially on the cathode 17 types of Figs. 4A, 4B and 4C. Fig. 5E is a schematic ~ ~

18 diagram of a flux concentrator 64 which may be a , 19 magnetically permeable foil wrapped on the outer surface of coils of the type shown in Fig. 3A to reduce 21 electromagnetic [EMI and FMF~ interference signals.
22 A number of different solution mixers may be provided 23 for the various apparatuses. These help mix the saline 24 solution so that the electrodes are constantly bathed in ~resh solution from which chlorine hydrogen ions may be 26 obtained. Also the solution mixers help remove the bubbles 27 forming on the electrodes. Each bubble is instantaneously 28 an insulator and thus reduces the available surface area 29 for electrolysis. Quickly removing the bubbles, therefore, enhances the efficiency of the unit. Fig. 6A schematically 31 illustrates a mixer 69 which may be used with electrodes of 32 the type shown in Fig. 4A, 4B and 4C and is used on the -~
33 outside of the electrodes. Fig. 6B illustrates a spiral 34 mixer 70 with holes 71 and may be placed ahead and after the electrodes with any of the types of Fig. 4.

-9~

1 Fig. 7 illustrates a combination of electrodes and 2 magnetic coil of different types. Fig. 7A illustrates a 3 combination of electrodes of the type shown in Fig. 4B and 4 a cylindrical coil 54 of the type shown in Fig. 3A. In this case, the coil 54 is mounted outside the cell 44 so 6 that it is not in the solution stream. Fig. 7B illustrates 7 electrodes of the same type with the coil 54 closely 8 enveloping the electrodes so that the liquid solution 9 contacts only one side of the solid cathode plates 30. In Fig. 7A the electrodes may be solid plates or expanded 11 metal and in Fig. 7B the anode may be a solid plate or 12 expanded metal. Fig. 7C schematically illustrates a cell 13 44 which has a coil 54 of the type shown in Fig. 3A which 14 surrounds a solid cylindrical cathode 29 o~ the type shown .~ . ..
in Fig. 4D. Coaxially inside is a solid tubular anode 30 16 which may be solid core or hollow core and which may or may 17 not contain a concentrator 62 as shown in Fig. 5C.
~, ~.. ..
lR In each of FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C the preferred 19 construction is with an outer tube 66 spaced from the -periphery of the reactor cell so that water may flow in the 21 space 67 there-between. Fig. 7D shows a cell 51 with ;
22 electrodes of the type of Fig. 4B and a coil 54 surrounding 23 an inner shell 52. Water flows through the spaces between 24 the electrodes and also in the annular space between the 25 coil and an outer shell 53. The apparatuses of Fig. 7 have -~
26 been experimentally tried and all found to be quite 27 effective in performing the method of the invention.
28 In the apparatus, as shown in Fig. 1, when the 29 apparatus is used as a chlorinator for a swimming pool 75, 30 there is a pump 76 to draw water from the swimming pool and - ~;
31 force it through a filter 77 and an optional heater 78 and ;~
32 then through the ionization cell 38 and return to the ~ -~
33 swimming pool 75. In such case, the pump 76 provides a 34 positive flow path or stream of liquid through the -ionization cell 38. Fig. 8, however, illustrates a 36 generally static system which includes a cell 80 which -~

. ...

--1 0-- .

1 hangs down into the liquid solution which may again be a 2 swimming pool. The electrical connection 81 may rest on 3 the edge of the pool so that it is above the water level ~ ;-4 and this provides electrical connection to the electrodes 29, 30 and to the coil 54. In this case, there is no pump 6 directly connected to the cell and the stream of water is 7 supplied by Lorenz's law which establishes a magneto~
8 hydrodynamic pumping action due to the perpendicular 9 electrical and magnetic fields. The magnetic field is vertical along the longitudinal axis and the electrical 11 field is horizontal which is transverse to the magnetic 12 field. This provides a slow pumping action moving the 13 positively or negatively charged ions in a path which has a 14 component mutually perpendicular to the electrical and magnetic fields. This is a flow of the solution at a rate 16 of about 6-12 inches per second, as contrasted with the 17 apparatus of Fig. 1 which has a pump which typically moves 18 30-50 gallons per minute in a one and one half inch pipe 19 with 3-100 psi pump pressure typically being about 60 psi.
The water intake 57 is at the bottom and chlorine gas and 21 hydrogen gases are emitted from apertures 81 in the cell 80 22 in order to chlorinate the water. A suction cup ~2 may be 23 used to hold the cell in place near the pool wall.
24 The Fig. 9 is a graph of voltage vs. time for various waveforms which have been tested. Waveform 85 is a 26 commutated waveform either natural or forced and this is -27 given an excellent rating of reducing scale and producing 28 oxidants. Waveform 86 is a ramped waveform which has 29 performed poorly. Waveform 87 is a saw-tooth wave with a ~ ~ ~
30 sharply rising waveform and this has a good rating. ;
31 Waveform 88 is a square wave which has been found to give -32 an excellent rating for removal of scale. Waveform 89 is a 33 sine wave which is only fair in the ability to remove 34 scale. Waveform 90 is a three-step waveform of positive, negative and off and this has been found outstanding in the 36 ability to remove scale. Waveform 91 is one showing a -' :~':: ,`.`

-11- 2 1 ~

1 positive and negative square wave and this has found to be 2 excellent. Wave~orm 92 is a squared sine wave or chopped 3 off sine wave which was found to be out~tanding. Waveform 4 93 shows a ramp and saw tooth wave which has found to be good in removing of scale. Waveform 94 is a downward ramp 6 which has been found to be excellent. Waveform 95 is a 7 timed DC pulse and when the pulse has been eighteen minutes 8 high and twelve minutes low, the performance is poor; when 9 the pulse is four minutes high and one minute low, the performance is fair; and when the pulse is one minute high 11 and one minute low, the performance has been good.
12 These waveforms show that when the waveform has an 13 abruptly rising or falling wavefront relative to a sine ;
14 wave, the ability to remove scale and produce oxidants has been excellent or outstanding.
16 The Figs. 10-16 compare a prior art liquid treatment 17 facility with two others operated according to the present 18 invention. In Figs. 10-16, the graphs refer to three 19 swimming pools with the curve with the crosses being a -~-swimming pool #1 operated in accordance with the prior art.
21 Pool 1 was the prior art pool and all three pools were 22 approximately the same size of about 33,000 gallons -~
23 capacity. Pool 1, the prior art pool, was operated with 24 only electrolysis electrodes to generate chlorine and there --was no magnetic coil or driver circuit. It was operated 24 26 hours per day, and in Fig. 10 this resulted in the curve 27 101 which is a curve of watts power vs. time in weeks with ~-28 samples being taken once each week. Curve 102 is a curve ~ ~
29 with interconnected dots and is of pool 2 wherein a sine ~ ~ -wave at 13.5 kilohertz is applied to the magnetic coil and 31 the coil was operated continuously with the electrodes 32 operated only 12 hours per day. Curve 103 is established 33 by *denoting points along the curve and this was a curve of --34 the operation of pool No. 3 where the voltage applied to 35 the coil was a square wave at 250 hertz as in waveform 88 ~ - -36 of Fig. 9. The coil was operated continuously and the , ' ,' ~ -`: ,` -'.":
" ;-.'`~' 2~ i 2~0 1 electrodes were operated only 8 hours per day, yet in 2 comparison with curves 101 and 102, this gave the best 3 performance.
4 What Fig. 10 shows is that the prior art pool No. 1 5 did not reach satisfactory chlorination at point B of the -6 pool to 3.0 parts per million until 11 weeks had passed, 7 whereas pool No. 2 achieved proper chlorination at point B
8 at 4 weeks and pool No. 3, curve 103 achieved proper 9 chlorination at point B in 2 weeks. Also curve 101 shows that the point A at which the electrodes on pool unit l 11 begin to scale was at 14 weeks. The fact that the curves ~ -12 102 and 103 continued to increase slowly in wattage shows -~
13 that there was no scaling of these electrodes in a prior 14 art unit to inhibit the electrolysis process. In one other swimming pool, which had water of high hardness, the 16 electrodes in a prior art unit began to scale within 4 17 hours and to slow the current flow.
18 Fig. 11 shows a curve 105 of the prior art pool 1 19 showing the pH relative to time and weeks. The curves 106 ~;~

20 and 107 are curves of pools 2 and 3, respectively, and show -21 that in these pools the pH was automatically maintained in 22 a desirable range of 7.2 to 7.8. However, in the prior art 23 pool, the pH rose above 8 into the alkaline range and would 24 have required the use of additional chemicals to maintain the pH in the desired neutral range. This shows that the 26 present invention automatically maintains the pH of the 27 recirculated water in the swimming pools in a neutral range 28 without necessity for additional chemicals.
- - .. ~
29 Fig. 12 shows curves 111, 112 and 113 of the pools 1, -~
2 and 3, respectively, and are graphs of alkalinity vs.
31 time in weeks. The pools 2 and 3 operated in accordance 32 with the present invention show that the alkalinity rapidly 33 decreased to about the 70 to 90 parts per million range 34 whereas in the prior art pool No. 1 shown by curve 111, the alkalinity rapidly increased to about the 180-200 parts per 36 million range. Thus, these curves show that the prior art - "~

" ~" ,,~", - 2:L12~3~ :

1 apparatus and method did nothing to control alkalinity and 2 would have required addition of acid in order to counter-3 act the high alkalinity in the pool No. 1. Conversely, 4 pools 2 and 3 operated in a controlled alkalinity range.
Fig. 13 is a graph, somewhat similar to that of Fig.
6 12, wherein curves 115, 116 and 117 relate to pools 1, 2 7 and 3, respectively. curve 115 of the prior art pool No. l 8 shows that the total hardness in parts per million climbed 9 from its initial position to a range of 350-400 total hardness in parts per million. Conversely, the pools 2 and 11 3 operated in accordance with the present invention as 12 shown in curves 116 and 117, had total hardness fall 13 rapidly to a range of about 110-140 parts per million.
14 Accordingly, these curves show that the total hardness as well as the alkalinity dropped rapidly by the method and 16 apparatus of the present invention.
17 Fig. 14 shows curves 108 and 109 of the operation of 18 pools 2 and 3, respectively, in the production of oxidants.
19 There is no curve for pool No. 1 because in pool No. 1 no 20 oxidants were produced. In pool No. 2, shown by curve 108, -~
21 the oxidants gradually increased and reached about 80 parts 22 per million after 29 weeks, and in pool No. 3, shown by 23 curve 109, the oxidants reached 100 parts per million after 24 about 18 weeks. These curves in the absence of a curve for pool No. 1 show that oxidants are produced by the present 26 apparatus and method. ~ -27 In the use of this reactor cell, employing both 28 electrical and magnetic fields, with one of the fields 29 being pulsed, various oxidants are produced rather than the production of cyanuric acid as previously thought. In the 31 graphs labelled cyanuric acid in the parent application, 32 these should now be labelled as oxidants. Such oxidants 33 are hydrogen peroxide, free oxygen, ozone and hydroxyl 34 radicals. It was previously thought that this was a certain amount of cyanuric acid being produced, because of 36 the particular test strip being used. This test strip was 2,l~2~a ' '" '~
l a piece of paper somewhat similar to the! familiar litmus 2 paper. In this case, the test strip had six different 3 color changing tabs on it which indicated: total chlorine, 4 free chlorine, total alkalinity, pH, cyanuric acid and total hardness. The cyanuric acid tab changed color, 6 indicating the presence of cyanuric acidl, but on further 7 testing, it was found that three oxidants were produced, 8 rather than cyanuric acid. The oxidants produced play a 9 considerable role in killing bacteria and fungus in the water. In addition, the oxidants combine with the chlorine 11 to make an even more powerful combination to kill bacteria, 12 a~gae and fungus.
13 One interesting example of how efficient this process 14 is, is in an open air above-ground swimming pool. This was a plastic liner held up by an encircling fence and was 16 about a 15,000 gallon pool. The pool is located among 17 hazelnut and oak trees, and the pool had not been used for 18 a few years so that there was a trash pile in the bottom of 19 the pool which included hazelnut and oak leaves, and 20 therefore, the pH of the water was a very acid 3.8 pH. ~ ~-21 This acid liquid had bleached the blue liner to a white 22 color. The reactor cell of the present invention was hung 23 over the side as in FIG. 8, and the reactor pool reactor 24 cell started. This killed the algae so much that the -filters had to be cleaned constantly to remove the algae.
26 After one week a small amount of calcium carbonate, about 5 : . . . .
27 ppm, was put in (the pH was now at 4.4), and in less than 28 10 hours time, the pH had risen to 7.28, both nitrogen and 29 hydrogen bubbles were coming off the pool and the water was crystal clear. The solid trash pile had been removed after 31 the first one and one-half hours, see FIG. 21.
32 Another example of the use of this reactor cell of the 33 invention is in clarifying mine water. In a mine in 34 Pennsylvania, for example, water is used in a sprinkling system within the mine to keep down the dust. This water 36 becomes quite acidic because of all the dissolved elements -~
'-' ' - ' ' ''.'~''' -:,. : .

2~i2~

1 and ions in the water. In this case, the mining company 2 wants to precipitate out the solids and probably discard 3 them because what they want is to recover the water to 4 reuse it in their mine spraying system. Previously, this 5 mining company put lime into the water at about 10,000 ppm ;~
6 to raise the pH to about neutral so that: they could again 7 use the water.
8 In use of the reactor cell of the present invention, 9 this water was circulated through the reactor cell and hydrogen peroxide, free oxygen, and ozone were generated 11 which raised the pH to neutral in one week's time. The --12 precipitate was discarded in this case. -13 A third example of water treatment was the treatment 14 of acid mine discharge (AMD) from the Berkeley Pit Coppermine in Butte, Montana. Chart 1 shows all of the 16 many elements and ions in solution in this open pit.
17 Previously, this had been a coppermine which has been shut 18 down, and the pit is filling with water which is run-off 19 from the mine tailings. As will be noted from chart 1, there are many different elements and ions dissolved in 21 this acidic water solution. This is a very great -~
22 environmental hazard with the pit now containing 20 billion 23 gallons and is over 400 feet deep, and when the pit is full 24 of water by about 2012, it is estimated that the pit will `~- ~

25 contain 56 billion gallons. In this case, the problem is ~ -26 two fold, one to clarify the water, to make it clean enough 27 to be discharged into a nearby stream and also to recover ~ u 28 any of the valuable metals from precipitates. As the 29 reactor cell operated, this raises the pH and iron drops out as a precipitate as ferric oxide. The pH was raised 31 from 2.1 to 2.6 and then the process was stopped because of 32 noxious fumes coming from the reactor cell as the acidic -~
33 waters were getting oxygenated. When this reactor cell was ~ -34 first invented, it was thought that the magnetic field would be used only to reduce the calcium deposits from the 36 electrodes, however it was shortly thereafter found that --:` `'`~` `
` "''`""'`'`

:

15(a) Chart 1 Butte, Montana I .
Depth - 200 ft Depth - 300 ft Depth - 400 ft l . ................................. I ..
04 6,600.0 6,500.0_ 6,780.0 ~e 983.0 984.0 1,010.0 ¦Ca 480.0 479.0 _ 475.0 __ ¦
Izn 469.0 470.0 478.0 Mg 292.0 292.0 291.0 I
I _ I ., Cu 199.0 199.0 196.~ i l ~
Al 186.0 189.0 191.0 I ; ~;
l ~
¦Mn 143.0 143.0 147.0 I Sio3 109 . O _ 111. 0 112.0 ¦Na 68.6 _ 69.4 68.8 ~ I
¦K 2 9 5 29.2 29.7 ~ -IC1 12.0 12.5 12.0 ¦F 8 4 8.4 8.4 ¦Cd 1.76 1.78 1.78 ~ ~ -Pb 1.39 1.36 1.24 ~
I _ _ ;- ~
o 1.19 1.02 1.11 ¦Sr 1.12 1.13 1.12 ¦Ni 0.990 0.980 0.990 ¦AS 0.755 0.695 1.010 IV 0.340 0.330 _ 0.330 Izr 0.260 _ 0.250 0.250 Li 0.230 0.230 0.220 ~
¦NO3 as N 0.2 0.2 ~ 0.2 l -¦ -¦B 0.170 0.200 0.190 l - -Mo 0.130 0.110 0.120 _ l 3 0.13 0.13 0.13 l -~ -¦Ag 0.079 0.068 0.067 l ~ --Ti O . 058 0.058 0.062 ¦ -"-I I ,~.. .~, -~-.. , ~;
Cr <0.002 _ <0.002 <0.002 Br __ __ __ I
_ I ~."," .,~
04 as P _ __ __ -: ~.: . .

15(b) Field pH 3.15 3.15 3.14 ~-_ ' ' .
Field Eh ~ u 468 0 463.0 Spec. Cond. 7,050.0 7,080.0 7,100.0 ~ ;
Temp. C 13.5 13.5 13.7 _ __ _, . .:
All concentration data in mg/L.
-- not determined.
Data from MBMG in CDM, 1988. ~ -Spec. Cond. in ~MHOS.
Field Eh in milivolts.

..,'',,''''.-.'.' '' ,,~-~ ":.., ..;

: ~ "

.' ~ :'"' -` ' " " " ' ''' . ~ ,' -: . -". ~ -: : :
~ ~:

2~12~0 1 this magnetic field did many other things such as raising 2 the pH, getting chlorine as a gas and getting the oxidant 3 material. It has been found that chlorine has a smell if 4 it is in the liquid state, but one does not smell if it is 5 not killing bacteria. The hydrochloride gas HC1 does not ~
6 smell. ~ ;
7 Another use of the invention is to clarify water that ;~
8 is alkaline, up to a pH of 14. An example is highly 9 salinated water that contains petroleum, (motor oil), and this liquid was clarified by the oil coagulating into a 11 semi-solid mass floating on the top of the tank of water.
12 Upon removal of this mass, there was no more oil in the 13 tank.
14 Fiy. 15 shows curves 121, 122 and 123 for the prior art pool No. 1 and for pools 2 and 3, respectively. The 16 prior art pool shown in curve 121 began to reduce the total 17 chlorine after about 14 weeks and reached 0 chlorine at 23 18 weeks. Conversely, the curves 122 and 123 of pools 2 and 3 ;~
19 show that the total chlorine quickly rose to about the 3 --;
112 parts per million and stayed in the 3-4 parts per 21 million range throughout the summer season in Ohio. ~ -22 Fig. 16 shows curves 125, 126 and 127 of the operation ~ ~`
23 of pools 1, 2 and 3, respectively, and shows the amount of 24 free chlorine in the various pools. These curves mimic ~- ;
25 those of Fig. 15. ` ~ - ;
26 Fig. 17 is one which shows watts vs. time in hours.
27 This is a test over short time wherein the magnetic field 28 is pulsed, as in the previous test. Curve 131 shows a 29 curve of the DC wattage applied to the Electrodes. Curve - ~ -30 130 is a curve of wattage on the coil with 800 hertz square ;~

31 wave applied. The test was started with scale contaminated 32 electrodes, and the fact that the wattage required by the 33 electrodes increased from about 102 to 114 shows that the 34 unit is cleaning the scale off the electrodes in just a ~ -35 short time of 8 hrs. Curve 130 illustrates that the method - `~
.' '~ "

-17- ~ 1 ~ 2 ~

1 and apparatus of the invention using a pulsed magnetic 2 field in conjunction with the electrodes~
3 These various curves of Fig. 10-16 show that if the ;
4 electrodes are operated without any magnetic coil, the voltage stays the same but the current dlrops off as the 6 calcite or scale builds up on the cathodes.
7 Fig. 10-16 illustrate that even though the prior art --~
8 system was operated 24 hours a day to produce chlorine, the 9 chlorine production dropped off after about 16 weeks because of the scale accumulating on the electrodes, ll primarily the cathode. The prior art electrodes must be 12 removed and the scale scraped off, in order to continue to ~
13 produce chlorine. This is not needed in the present ~`
14 invention. Conversely, curves 102 and 103 show that the 15 current kept increasing, the chlorine production kept ;
16 increasing and the electrodes stayed free of scale with the -~
17 present apparatus and method. Frequencies of the voltages 18 on the coil have been tried anywhere from once every twenty -19 minutes to 40,000 hertz. Sixty hertz did not produce as good a results as 120 hertz and from Fig. 9, curve 95 shows 21 that one minute high and one minute low was the best of the ~-22 three operating conditions. Operating the coil 24 hours a 23 day and operating the electrodes from 2-12 hours per day 24 requires no additives to control P~, alkalinity, total hardness, and oxidants. The production of oxidants is not 26 fully understood in this application, but experimentally it - ;
27 is known that they do occur. The use of no additives to -~ -28 control these factors means a saving of $200-500 per year ., . ,.. ~ .
29 in the operation of a swimming pool during the summer in the Ohio area. In addition, the water in the swimming pool 31 becomes much clearer, it has a shimmery and silvery look as 32 if one had taken a block of clear plastic and filled the 33 swimming pool with it. The water feels soft and slippery --34 when one swims in it.
35 In ordinary sea water, or brine, the amount of salt is ~ -36 about 35,000 parts per million. In the present invention, ~",.. , ., . . - ~ . .,, ................ - , ~ :: - , 21i2~

1 the amount of salt used is much less than in sea water and ;~
2 typically in the present apparatus the amount of salt is 3 1,700-3,000 parts per million. In the operation of the 4 prior art swimming pools, one usually had to add cyanuric acid in order to prevent hypochlorite reduction due to 6 ultraviolet exposure, but not in this invention. In the 7 prior art swimming pool, it usually required about one 8 pound of chlorine per pool per day, and this is g automatically generated according to the present invention.
In the prior art, thera was no cyanuric acid generated and 11 on a hot day with sun shining on the pool, by 1 p.m. the 12 pool would have lost 50-60% of the chlorine. The oxidants 13 produced by the present invention have the beneficial 14 effect of inhibiting the dissipation of the chlorine due to ~ ;
15 sunlight (ultraviolet). Further, in the present invention, - ~-16 the hydrogen peroxide and ozone being generated helps in 17 the disinfection in the pool, to kill bacteria, virus and 18 fungus. In a static system of ~ig. 8, the cell drew about 19 6 amps with just the electrodes energized, about 10 amps ~ :
20 with addition of the magnetic coil being energized and ~-21 about 12 amps with water flow through the unit to replenish - i 22 the supply of fresh salt containing water.
23 The salt added to the water is a small amount, 24 considerably less than that found in sea water, and may be ~-25 a salt of chlorine or bromine so that the respective -~
26 halogen gas is generated by electrolysis. The 27 recirculating, swimming pool, or spa system of Fig. 1 is a 28 pumped system and the apparatus of Fig. 8 is a generally ` ~-29 static system. In either case, an electrolysis cell is 30 used which establishes a flow path of water or aqueous ~ -31 liquid or a stream of liquid. Also, this is a 32 recirculating system so that the pH, alkalinity, total 33 harness, and oxidants are each maintained within desirable 34 limits, when the chlorine is maintained within desirable limits.

, ,~ , ~ ~ , . . . .

- 2~2~

1 In the present invention, the magnetic field 2 coagulates the scale, and softens it, but it is considered 3 that the change in direction of the field is what knocks 4 off the softened scale or sludge, from the electrodes.
It is believed that the different paramagnetic values 6 helps in the breaking off the sludge or calcareous matter 7 on the cathodes. Titanium, which is used often for the 8 electrodes has a paramagnetic susceptibility of a value of ` -9 +153 x 106 cgs units, calcium compound has a value of -38.2 ~ ~ -x 10-6 cgs units. Since the paramagnetic value of titanium 11 is different from that of the calcium compound, the sludge 12 breaks off at the reversal of the field either electrical 13 field or magnetic field. Generally, it has been found that ;~ ~ ;
14 the higher the frequency the cleaner the electrodes stay, however, generating power at the higher frequencies is more 16 expensive than at the lower frequencies, therefore 120-600 17 hertz range has been found to be the best for practical 18 purposes.
19 The more recent units which have been found to be 20 excellent in operation are those shown in Figs. 7A and 7B ~-~
21 with solid titanium cathode plates and expanded titanium 22 metal anodes. The scale does not form on the anode, but 23 only on the cathode or cathodes and with this invention, ~``-24 the scale is automatically removed as it is formed. ~;~); ;
In Fig. 1, the coil driver 36 may take different 26 forms. Below one hertz, this may be a timer and a relay;
27 from 1 hertz to 4 kilohertz, this may be a sine wave 28 oscillator; and from 4 kilohertz to 40 kilohertz this may 29 be a square wave generator. The present apparatus in this -invention may be used to treat fluids which are primarily 31 water-based liquids such as cleaning water from a well, a 32 contaminated stream, an underground aquifer or run-off from 33 a tailings pile. - -34 The ionization cell 38 of Fig. 1 operates to perform four major functions: 1) produce a combination of 36 oxidants from water, 2) regulate the pH, alkalinity, and 2112~

l total hardness of the swimming pool or spa water to -2 desirable operating levels, 3) control and eliminate the 3 cathodic scale build-up and 4) precipit:ate elements and 4 metallic ions as the pH is raised. The effect of the electrolytic action of the electrodes on a salted solution 6 is widely known and is not new. What is new are the areas 7 covered in 2 and 3 above and the operation of a coil in 8 conjunction with the electrodes to achieve these effects.
9 The mechanism by which a fluctuating energization of a coil -`
operating in conjunction with an electrode cell tends to 11 control the alkalinity, pH and total hardness of the water 12 is not yet fully understood, neither are the reasons for 13 the production of oxidants. There appears to be a 14 balancing effect between the quantity of hypochlorite produced and the amount of other oxidants produced. The 16 oxidants reduce the effects of ultraviolet light upon the ~;
17 hypochlorite and they tend to build up faster and last -18 longer in a pool. The major oxidants produced consists o~
19 hydroxyl radicals, ozone and hydrogen peroxide. These are 20 produced by the coil and fed to the electrode cavity where ~ ;
21 they combine with halogens to produce complex oxidizing -~
22 compounds. ~ -23 The effects of scale reduction are even more complex ~ -24 and a lot is still unknown about the operating mechanism. ~ --However, the sequence is, in general, as follows: as water 26 or any solution with a high scaling content i.e. calcium, 27 calcium carbonate, sulphate, etc. begins to wash over the 28 cathode a jelly-like deposit of the molecules of the 29 scaling material begin to adhere to the cathode material.
As the molecules begin to build a crystalline structure on 31 the other side of the cathode away from the anode, this ~-32 structure begins to solidify and continue to grow. This 33 would indicate that the scaling material is less negative 34 than the cathode or there would be a direct attraction to the anode. But, at the same time, it is more positive with 36 respect to the back side of the cathode than to the anodic ,'`'';~

2 ~

:., :.., :, - ' .,'' ,:, 1 side of the cathode. Hence, the scale starts to form on 2 the back of the cathode first. ~-~ As this scale builds into a solid crystalline mass, it 4 also becomes slightly paramagnetic. Since the cathode ~ -:
substrate is far more paramagnetic than the scale, at the 6 time the field of the coil is switched, a stress 7 differential between the cathode and the parasitic scale is 8 produced as their respective magnetic domains change 9 direction and align themselves with the cell's field. This ; ~ ~-10 tends to remove the scale and keep the scaling under -11 control. As the switching frequency is increased, the 12 faster the scale is removed. Since the power re~uirements 13 are fairly high, it becomes more difficult to maintain a 14 practical balance between coil size, power, cost and 15 frequency as the frequency is increased into the ultrasonic ;
16 range. Therefore, it was found that the very low end of 17 the spectrum offered the best practical results for use in 18 swimming pools and spas. `-~
19 FIG. 18 is a graph of the individual oxidants produced relative to time in minutes when using raw water. This was 21 city water out of the tap as a test base to eliminate 22 interferences from any halogens that may be present. This 23 graph of FIG. 18 shows that oxidants are produced including 24 ozone, hydrogen peroxide and free oxygen. The graph of FIG. 18 was produced using a 60 hertz sine wave on the 26 electrodes and also on the magnetic coil. In reality this ~
27 graph of FIG. 18 is not a continuous curve, instead the ~-28 reactor cell was run for 15 minutes and then shut down in -~--29 order that various tests including spectrographic tests 30 could be made on the liquid so as to determine the points ~ ~

31 on the curve. This took perhaps 30 minutes and then the ~ -32 reactor cell was again started and run for another 15 ~ -33 minutes, shut down and tested to obtain the various points ~
34 on the four curves. FIG. 19 is a similar curve of the ~ -35 individual curves produced, but this was run at 2500 hertz ~ --36 sine wave on the magnetic coil. This again shows the ~

, ~ "
- :, ~ - ,: .

:- : . : --22~

increasing proportion of oxidants for killing bacteria, 2 algae and fungus. FIG. 20 shows a graph of the total 3 oxidants produced in the graphs of FIG. 1~
4 FIG. 21 is a graph of pH versus time in hours for the - - -above ground swimming pool which had a lot of solid humic 6 matter in it for over a year. This shows that the pH was 7 raised from a highly acidic state of a pH of about 3.8 up -8 to a neutral pH of 7.2 in less than ten hours with the 9 solid matter being removed at about one and one-half hours. - `~; FIG. 22 shows a flow diagram for cleaning acid mine 11 discharge (AMD) water and AMD sludge to obtain clean water 12 and to recover the elements or ions as precipitates in the ; - ;
13 AMD.
14 Block 135 illustrates the in-flow of AMD water into ~;
15 the AMD system 136. This AMD water is supplied to a 16 reactor/aerator 137 wherein outside air is mixed with the 17 AMD water and then sent through a reactor cell of the ~ ~`
18 present invention. Next, the flow proceeds to a three~
19 stage reactor 138 with three reactors of the present ~ - -20 invention in series. The flow then separates and goes in -~
Z1 parallel to two reactor tanks 139, each containing a 22 reactor of the present invention. The flow is then 23 recombined from these two tanks and goes through a 24 mechanical centrifugal separator 140 and then to a filter 25 141. This filter removes the precipitates and the light~
26 weight scum on the surface of the tank liquid. The 27 precipitates are primarily of heavy metal and iron 28 separation and the scum on the surface is light-weight 29 precipitates which rose to the surface.
The flow mix goes to two reactor tanks 142 in parallel 31 which are similar to the tanks 139. Because of the several -32 reactors, the pH of the liquid has been raised, and more 33 and more elements or ions have been precipitated. The flow ~- -34 from the tank 142 are recombined and go through a - -35 mechanical centrifugal separator 143 and then to a filter -23- ~5~

1 144, which removes still more particles lighter than water 2 and particles heavier than water.
3 The bottom of the 20 billion gallo2l Butte, Montana 4 pool has AMD sludge, and this is shown as an alternate or additional input 146 together with raw water 147 which 6 proceeds to a static mixer tube 148 and then to an injector 7 nozzle 149 which is fed to the three-stage reactor 138 for 8 processing through the AMD system 136. Also the raw water 9 147 is mixed with a small percentage of calcium carbonate 10 input 150 and mixed in a static mixer tube 151 and injected ~ -11 by injector nozzle 152 into the reactor tanks 142.
12 After the filter 144, the flow goes to another two- -~
13 stage reactor 153 with two reactor cells of the invention 14 in series. The flow goes to a filter 154 to remove any additional precipitates. The flow then goes to an ion 16 exchange membrane 155 which especially removes heavy 17 metals. The flow then goes to an activated charcoal filter 18 156 which removes the halogens, such as chlorine or 19 bromine. The flow from this charcoal filter is an output 20 of clean water 157. `
21 The clean water is sufficiently cleaned and the pH
22 raised so that it may be discharged into an outlet stream 23 or lake and meeting E.P.A. requirements for clean discharge 24 water. From the various filters, the precipitated metals may be recovered for use in smelters or other 26 manufacturers, chemical plants and gypsum makers. In this 27 way, the recovered metals will help to pay for the costs of 28 cleaning up this toxic pit of water.
29 Although several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail, it will be understood 31 that various other modifications and rearrangements may be ;
32 resorted to without departing from the scope of the 33 invention as defined in the claims.
The present disclosure includes that contained in the ` -appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing - description. Although this invention has been described in . .. . . -. . :

~--.. .

-24- 2 1 1 2 ~
~ .. , .. ~. .
its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and ,~
the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to - . r",,,~','"/.
without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
''.~'~ .': ' .' ..

: ;'''-''`""'~

~:,; ' ~` ',..,~, '- ' ~ ;':~ -

Claims (35)

1. A liquid treatment apparatus comprising, a conduit for containing a flow path of aqueous liquid along a longitudinal first axis;
first and second electrodes insulated from each other and disposed inside said conduit and positioned to be coupled in the flow path;
said electrodes adapted to be supplied with an electrical voltage thereacross to establish an electrical field in a path intercepting said electrodes;
means to supply a magnetic field in a path intercepting said electrodes; and means to establish pulses in one of said fields.

2. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said magnetic field is established by a magnetic coil.

3. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said electrical and magnetic fields are substantially perpendicular to each other at said electrodes.

4. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said magnetic coil is disposed outside said conduit.

5. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said magnetic coil is disposed in the liquid flow path.

6. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said magnetic coil establishes a flux path parallel to the longitudinal axis of said conduit.

7. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said magnetic coil has a longitudinal flux path substantially coincident with said first axis.

8. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said pulse means is capable of generating pulses to be applied to said coil.

9. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 8, wherein said pulses have a rapidly changing wavefront relative to a sine wave.

10. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said electrodes are electrolysis electrodes.

11. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein the combination of electrical and magnetic fields cleans scale from said electrodes.

12. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein the combination of electrical and magnetic fields maintain the pH of the water in a recirculating system at 7.2 to 8Ø

13. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein the alkalinity of the water is established between 70 and 90 ppm in a recirculating system.

14. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein the total hardness is established between 120 and 300 ppm in a recirculating system.

15. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein oxidants of 5 - 125 ppm is established in the water as a result of the combined fields in a recirculating system.

16. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 10, wherein chlorine ions are formed by electrolysis in a range of 1 to 4 ppm in a recirculating system.

17. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 11, including a filter in a recirculating system to remove the scale from the water.

18. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 11, wherein a salt containing one of chlorine and bromine is added to the water, said electrolysis generating one of said chlorine and bromine to kill bacteria in a recirculating system.

19. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said pulse means is applied to said electrical field.

20. A liquid treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the alkalinity and total hardness of the water in said recirculating system is lowered sufficiently for the water to be crystal clear.

21. A method of treating aqueous liquid comprising, the steps of:
establishing a cell for an electrolizable aqueous liquid;
providing first and second electrodes insulated from each other and positioned to be coupled in a liquid stream in the cell;
said electrodes adapted to be supplied with an electrical voltage thereacross to establish an electrical field in a path intercepting said electrodes;

supplying a magnetic field in a path intercepting said electrodes; and pulsing one of said fields.

22. The method as set forth in claim 21, wherein the pulsing is of the magnetic field.

23. The method as set forth in claim 21, wherein the pulsing is of the electrical field.

24. The method as set forth in claim 21, wherein the pulsing has an abruptly changing wavefront relative to a sine wave.

25. The method as set forth in claim 21, wherein the liquid in a swimming pool/spa is recirculated and one of pH, alkalinity, total hardness, chlorine and oxidants is maintained within desirable limits.

26. A method as set forth in claim 21, wherein electrical and magnetic fields are substantially perpendicular at said electrodes.

27. A method of treating an aqueous liquid which may have one or more of dissolved ions of metals or elements in solution or suspension comprising; the steps of:
establishing a cell for electrolizable liquid;
providing first and second electrodes insulated from each other and positioned to be coupled in a stream of electrolizable liquid in the cell;
said electrodes adapted to be supplied with an electrical voltage thereacross to establish an electrical field in a path intercepting said electrodes;
supplying a magnetic field intercepting said electrodes; and pulsing one of said fields to precipitate or coagulate said one or more elements and ions to clarify the aqueous liquid and raise its pH.

28. A method of treating an aqueous liquid in a container to increase the pH, said liquid containing humic material in solid form comprising; the steps of:
establishing a reactor cell for electrolizable liquid;
providing first and second electrodes insulated from each other and positioned to be coupled in a stream of electrolizable liquid in the cell;
said electrodes adapted to be supplied with an electrical voltage thereacross to establish an electrical field in a path intercepting said electrodes;
supplying a magnetic field intercepting said electrodes; and pulsing one of said fields to precipitate or coagulate any elements and ions to at least partially clarify the water and raise its pH from a range of 2-3 towards a neutral range of 7-7.5.

29. A method according to claim 28, including removing the solid humic material from the container.

30. A method according to claim 28, including adding a small account of CaCO3 in the order of 5 ppm in the stream.

31. The method as set forth in claim 27, including adding CaCO3 in the order of 5 ppm in the stream.

32. The method as set forth in claim 27, including adding a small amount of a salt containing a halogen in the order of 500-3000 ppm to aid in the production of the halogen.

33. The method as set forth in claim 32, wherein one or more oxidants of hydrogen peroxide, free oxygen and ozone are produced.

34. The method as set forth in claim 33, wherein the halogen and at least one oxidant combine to establish a more rapid clarification of the aqueous liquid and raising of its pH.

35. The method of treating a liquid as set forth in claim 27, wherein the liquid is acid mine discharge (AMD) containing one or more of Ca, Mg, Na, K, SiO2, Fe, Mn, Al, Ag, B, Cd, Cu, Li, Mo, Ni, Po4 as P, Sr, Ti, V, Zn, Zr, As, Co, Cr, Cl, SO4, NO3 as N, F, Br, Pb, and O3 in suspension or solution; and precipitating out one or more of the elements or ions.