Strong Gradients in Weak Magnetic Fields Affect the Long-Term Biological Activity of Tap Water

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.