From Galen Ives
You may be interested in my experience of the Aqua Detox machine (Feedback, 19 June).
I was seeing a physiotherapist, and she offered me a course of treatment with this new cure-all. One look at the leaflet triggered my fruitcake detector, so the opportunity to test it at first hand was irresistible.
The machine comprises a plastic footbath with a central electrode assembly and an external box attached to the electrode. As far as I could see, the electrode was a pair of concentric helices of thick wire in a perforated plastic case. The bath was half filled with warm tap water and the feet placed in it on either side of the electrode. A solution of common salt was added to increase the conductance of the water to a level indicated by the attached gadget. It was then switched on and my feet remained in the water for half an hour. I could feel no sensation throughout this time.
The water gradually turned a rusty orange colour and ended up looking pretty filthy, containing a lot of suspended fine particulate matter with some floating scum. The physio and her assistant clearly believed that this had come out of my feet. But before the water became too opaque I clearly saw the gunge emerging from the electrode rather than my feet. The colour looked to me very like hydrated iron oxide (III), that is, rust. On asking, I was told that the electrode assembly does degrade and needs to be replaced after 40 or 50 treatments. They didn’t know what metal it was made of.
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I booked a second treatment a week later. At this, after the water’s conductivity was adjusted, I removed my feet and said that I would like to observe the device on its own, and that I would happily pay the £10 treatment fee for the privilege. Exactly the same happened as the previous week, and the physio reluctantly agreed that the water looked just the same as it had when I had included my feet in the process. To her credit, she refused the fee.
Sheffield, UK
