• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

The Aqua Detox machine - how does it work?

Kess

Thinker
K
Joined
Aug 23, 2002
Messages
193
Here is a little mystery to be solved.

My wife treats herself to regular sessions of massage and reflexology by a friend who has just bought a curious contraption called an Aqua Detox machine (only 1000 UK pounds - such technology isn't cheap). She has just had a go...

The Aqua Detox is essentially a foot spa fitted with a mysterious "array" that uses electric currents to (allegedly) cause toxins to be extracted from the body through the pores in the feet, thereby detoxifying and "rebalancing" the body. My skepticism was heightened by the explanation on the Aqua Detox site (http://www.aquadetoxuk.com/about-aqua-detox-1.htm): classic pseudo-scientific babble talking about "bio-energetic resonances" and even showing before-and-after Kirlian photographs illustrating how the body's aura is improved by an Aqua Detox session.

A key selling point of the machine is that the water turns dark brown during use - physical proof, it is claimed, of all those horrible toxins that have been extracted from the body via the feet.

My wife confirmed that the water did change color quite dramatically, starting to change after only a minute or so and ending up brown/black and quite scummy after the full 30 minute session (and it wasn't just because she had dirty feet!). She said the water was just ordinary tap water with some salt added.

Can anyone suggest what might be happening here? (I suspect the array might be the source of the color, especially since the Aqua Detox website FAQ admits the array has to be replaced regularly because it "erodes due to the toxins in the water attacking the stainless steel of the array").
 
Here's a very quick, easy test you can perform:

Run the Aqua Detox machine exactly as the instructions tell you to, but without anybody's feet in it.

Does the water still change color?
 
The water could also be analyzed. If the toxins were from the body, that certainly could be detected.

Sounds like BS to me.
 
What salt was added? Provided by the company that sells the device, perhaps?
 
Thanks for the comments so far. Tracer's suggestion of running the machine without feet in it is good - I'll drop a hint next time I see the owner...

After doing a Google for "aqua detox scam" I found a possible explanation at several sites:
In essence, the foot bath contains a low voltage/amperage AC to DC transformer attached to ferrous electrodes. The process is basically electrolysis of water, a typical high school experiment, with a twist. The brown "toxins" you see is from the rust generated by the corrosion of the iron electrodes. The different variations in color can be accounted by varying amount of salt added to the water and variations in the compositions of the electrodes.
Click to expand...
I don't know if this explanation was based on guesswork or actual analysis of a machine but it sounds plausible - and, if true, it's a frightening simple scam.
 
The thing is, it would probably sell just as well without the water turning brown. People are gullible.
 
Another question would be does the water always change the same color, no matter who puts their feet in it?

What if you tried three sessions, each within a few minutes of each other? If the water continues to turn that rusty brown, does that mean your body was REALLY toxic?

BTW - The rusty brown color gives some creedence to the "corroding iron" theory...
 
Unless I'm grossly mistaken, the salt ions are binding iron oxide particles in the water. The water appears brown because the iron oxide clumps together. If the electrodes are indeed iron instead of stainless steel or some other metal, the explanation in Kess's post above is correct.
 
Kess said:
Thanks for the comments so far. Tracer's suggestion of running the machine without feet in it is good - I'll drop a hint next time I see the owner...

After doing a Google for "aqua detox scam" I found a possible explanation at several sites:

I don't know if this explanation was based on guesswork or actual analysis of a machine but it sounds plausible - and, if true, it's a frightening simple scam.
Click to expand...

Most scams are simple. What's frightening to me is how easily some people fall for them! I was at a board recently (very bizarre people populate this place) where some actually believed in and bought these "eternal life rings":

http://www.liveforevernow.com/

I was flabbergasted that I actually had to convince people that this was a scam, and believe it or not, they STILL believed in it! Some people are beyond all hope, unfortunately.
 
This is similar to a scam that is run by water purification salespeople here in Australia.

They put some of your tap water in this machine, turn it on and hey presto it turns brown. They then put some of their purified water in and it stays clear.

The machine works (as noted by Kess above) by passing a current through the water thus oxidizing the iron electrode, red brown iron hydroxide precipitates. The purified water is distilled and the low salt content increases the resistance so the oxidation is significantly less evident.

I suspect the salt is required in the case of the aqua detox machine so the effect can be created with lower (safer) voltages.

Dog
 
BTox said:

Most scams are simple. What's frightening to me is how easily some people fall for them! I was at a board recently (very bizarre people populate this place) where some actually believed in and bought these "eternal life rings":

http://www.liveforevernow.com/

I was flabbergasted that I actually had to convince people that this was a scam, and believe it or not, they STILL believed in it! Some people are beyond all hope, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
But of course the rings work! After all, they have a US Patent ( http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...0&s1=5989178.WKU.&OS=PN/5989178&RS=PN/5989178 )... ;)
 
Scam, period. Complete nonsense.

Analyzing the text on the wbsite you linked to:
The use of controlled, low-frequency, direct electrical currents in the treatment of a variety of diseases and injuries are well-established and widely understood.

Standard procedure, refer to some known and established knowledge, although "lowfrequency, direct" is nonsense; either it is direct or not.

In terms of bio-electricity, the cells of a healthy human organism have a negative potential of between 70 and 90 millivolts. Within this range of potential, nutritional absorption and the discharge of toxic waste are efficient.

More established knowledge, but the text is beginning to show bias towards the scam ("toxic waste"). They are trying to build up an air of credibility.

The negative potential of a stressed or injured cell, on the other hand, can measure as little as 10-20 millivolts, and in this situation both nutritional absorption and the discharge of toxic wastes are poor.

Actually, such a cell is more or less dead.

Such a condition can occur suddenly, as a result of an accident,

Accident, disease, or acute poisoning :eek:

or can develop more slowly as a result, for example, of the progressive build-up of positive ions due to the effects of modern diets, stressed life-styles and the impact of a toxic environment.

BZZZZT! First lie: Only serious trauma can disturb cells so profoundly.

If the energy balance of the body is disturbed in this way it is necessary to detect and correct it.

BZZZZZT! If the energy balance of the entire body (instead of just a number of cells) is so disturbed, you'll know: The person will be dead.

Those who work within the bounds of preventive and complementary therapies will apply natural remedies such as proper nutrition, exercise and detoxification.

:rolleyes: Ain't gonna do much good to a dead person!

The Aqua Detox Treatment The Aqua Detox treatment is normally given through the feet, by placing them in water in which the array will be activated.

BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT! Now suddenly enter the ADT box. Here is the required leap of faith: They have told you a few established facts, now they want you to belive that their product has anything to do with that. Mind you, they do not say so directly, just hoping for you to make that assumption.

The feet have an enormous number of pores - in the order of 2000 in each foot - and thus offer a point of application which is both efficient and convenient.

Actually the number is probably more like 200.000, like any other area of skin of similar size.

The apparatus can just as well be placed in a bath for the immersion of most of the body. As soon as the apparatus is switched on, gas bubbles form around the electrodes indicating that an electrolytic reaction is taking place. (This will happen without any part of the body being in contact with the water; liberated gases will clearly be seen).

Yah, thats what happens whenever you pass a current through water. The gasses are oxygen and hydrogen.

The water in the foot bath (or bath) becomes an extension of the water in the body, from which it is separated by nothing more substantial than a thin membrane - the skin.

BZZZT! That membrane is (luckily for us) capable of separating our body liquids quite effeciently from the environment, even when in water. Otherwise taking a both would be mortally dangerous. However, the electrical current they pass through the water might give you a nasty chock :eek:


Aqua Detox in Action

Before

Whilst immersing your feet in the AQUA DETOX apparatus something special happens.
When the apparatus is turned on and the array (Illustrated right) is immersed in the water, the unit creates the electrolytic flow (a flow of electrons)

Actually, it is a flow of salt ions. Why this is important will be clear soon.

which imparts to the water a bio-energetic field which corresponds to that of the person using the apparatus.

BZZZZZZZ! There is no known phenomenon called a bio-energetic field.

This allows a gentle Bio-Energetic Resonance to travel through the body. The body now starts to re-balance. Bio-Energetic stimulation has a positive effect on the microcirculation of the body.

BZZZZZ! BZZZZZT! And, of course, no such thing as "Bio-Energetic Resonance". Note the versals, a sure kook sign. Obviously the two other statements are also completely unfounded.

After

The water is now filled with iron-cloride. This comes from the electrolytic interaction between the sodium cloride (salt) that was put int othe water and the iron in the electrodes. You can easily repeat this process: Dissolve a spoonful of salt in a glass of water. Connect the poles of a 9v battery to two large nails and place them in the water (they must not touch). First you see the "gas bubbles", then after a while the water turns brown with iron-cloride. Iron-cloride is mildly poisonous and aggressive against many metals.

If the microcirculation is good, the body is more likely to be healthy. When there is an imbalance, there is more likely to be a dysfunction. As the body re-balances its Bio-Energetic Field it plays an important part in regulating both supply of Oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and the proper excretion of waste products (toxins) out of the body. The body is therefore more likely to be healthy, allowing the body to restore its natural healing energy levels.

BZZZZ! A rehash of medieval belief in health being connected to balance of body fluids. We have come a bit further since then. (well, some of us, that is :rolleyes: )

The pictures below are of photographs taken using the Gas Discharge Visualisation (GDV) camera, also known as the Kirlian camera, which is able to identify the body's bio-energetic field.
They show the disruption and un-balanced energy profile of a person before an AQUA Detox treatment and the improved profile following treatment.

Those are evidently drawings. One woowooo belief trying to seek confirmation from another woowooo belief.


Find out More If you want to know more about Aqua Detox, you can
Download a more detailed Brochure (PDF file 0.7Mb)
Contact us
Place an order

No thanx!
Click to expand...

Hans
 
Something that wasn't mentioned here...

If the water is even slightly "hard" - most tap water is - then you'll see carbonate forming around the electrodes - which would explain the scum etc.

I'm tempted to try to build an "aqua detox" model in my dorm room, the only thing I'm missing is a whole-wave rectifier or other AC-to-DC converter. Is this something that I could get fairly cheaply at Radio Shack etc? A small-appliance power supply would work, except I don't know how it would respond to being essentially shorted, and I'd have to separate and strip the wires and cut the end off.

Also I don't know if something like that could give enough juice to see "detoxification" effects in a reasonable time. ;)
 
Youp! Any small in-the-plug cinverter will do. But take care! Even a low voltage can give a person a nasty shock through water! The trick is to connect it to little strips of iron placed close together and connected alternately to the poles. This will ensure that current does not become too high elsewhere in the bath.

As for the adapter being essentially shorted: That can be a problem, try and get one that is short-circuit proof (not just fused), but most of them are quite tolerant. Get one that outputs about 6V AC.

Hans
 
MRC_Hans said:
Youp! Any small in-the-plug cinverter will do. But take care! Even a low voltage can give a person a nasty shock through water! The trick is to connect it to little strips of iron placed close together and connected alternately to the poles. This will ensure that current does not become too high elsewhere in the bath.

As for the adapter being essentially shorted: That can be a problem, try and get one that is short-circuit proof (not just fused), but most of them are quite tolerant. Get one that outputs about 6V AC.

Hans
Click to expand...

Thanks Hans. This is probably the kind of project I'd do when I was bored on a weekend. I was wondering because the machine in Randi's commentary has a large transformer, with a similarily large inductive load and surface area for heat dissipation.

Also, would steel work, or only iron? I was thinking about getting either wing nuts or scraps of sheet metal from roadside gravel (which is mostly stuff that fell off cars). Finding wrought or cast iron, and hammering it into small flat pieces, might be more work, and I don't think even those are *pure* iron.

A few more questions - would 6V AC be enough? I wonder whether AC would even work, since the H+ and O(2+) would have only a few milliseconds to find the electrons and one another before being jerked back.

Also, I am concerned about producing dangerous amounts of free chlorine - I can't remember the relative potentials of O(2-) and Cl-, nor can I remember whether the potentials for hydrogen and either of those differ by more than 6 V. It's been a long time since advanced placement chem.

Thanks!

Nathan
aka pak
 
Size depends on scaling. The bigger the setup, the more power do you need. However, remember that the original scam sold for a rather hefty price, so obviously they would not make it look small and cheap. Big transformers look impressive :rolleyes: .

Steel: Depends. Stainless steel might not work. Tell you what: If you can find some radio scrap, you might take apart an old transformer. The core iron strips would be excellent (and look technical).

Yes, AC will work. If you use DC, the electrodes will be affected in a different way. Reading the diatribe describing the original stuff, they seem to use a low frequency AC. Possibly they take the trouble and convert it to frequancy of a few hertz. The reason for this is that 50/60 Hertz might be felt as a buzzing sensation if you actually put a body part in the soup.

Any liberated chlorine ought to be dissolved in the water, but lets make one thing clear: This is a dirty process, and that is, after all, what I assume you have set out to demonstrate.

Hans
 
On this topic, I've just been challenged on the basis that my GCSE science qualification isn't enough to come to the conclusion that these machines are iron oxide electrolysis machines rather than fancy 'detox' boxes. I invite comments on my article, especially among the learned few with Ph.D's and medical degrees etc. Apparently, it takes more than just a science GCSE to prove these idiots wrong. :D
 
Pakaran said:
A few more questions - would 6V AC be enough? I wonder whether AC would even work, since the H+ and O(2+) would have only a few milliseconds to find the electrons and one another before being jerked back.
Click to expand...

Surely, if you are going to use 6V, you could use a couple of battery cells. Maybe push the boat out and use a car battery. (I speak as someone who feels like building one of these bloody machines and uploading the video on to the net to demonstrate why it is pure BS)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom