Strong Gradients in Weak Magnetic Fields Affect the Long-Term Biological Activity of Tap Water
Astrid H. Paulitsch-Fuchs1,2,3, Natalia Stanulewicz1, Bernhard Pollner4, Nigel Dyer1,5 and Elmar C. Fuchs1*
1 Wetsus, European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology, Oostergoweg 9, 8911 MA Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
2 Institute of Hygiene, Microbiology and Environmental Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
3 School of Health Sciences & Social Work, Biomedical Sciences, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Klagenfurt, Austria
4 Division of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
5 Coherent Water Systems, UK
*Corresponding author: elmar.fuchs@wetsus.nl; Tel.: +31 – 58 284 3162
Keywords: magnetic water treatment, DOLLOPs, CFUs, NGS
Published: February 9, 2021
Abstract
It has been shown that magnetic treatment of tap water using very weak magnets with strong magnetic inhomogeneities (∇B ~ 0.8 kG m-1) accelerates the growth of nm-sized prenucleation clusters (dynamically ordered liquid like oxyanion polymers or “DOLLOPs”) in tap water. In this work we demonstrate that the same treatment can affect the long-term biological activity as seen by a change in the number of colony forming units (CFUs) after six days of incubation. Changes in colony formation can be explained by a combination of change in aggregation of the mainly negatively charged bacterial cells due to the reduction of free Ca2+ in the solution and a growth boost that can be explained by accelerated ATP production and/or faster Ca2+ transport within the bacteria, both directly induced by the magnetic field.
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