Patty from Syracuse, New York writes:
I have seen commercials for “water treatment” that promises the end of dry skin & eczema & skin related issues…I have a salesman scheduled to come “test” our water & suggest what treatment is necessary. Any tips???
Hi Patty. Thanks for writing in and excellent question!
The best tip I can offer you is proceed with caution, remain skeptical, and take everything he says with a grain of salt.
Salesmen testing water in private homes is not a new phenomenon. I’ve taken calls at the municipality I work at by people – some almost in hysterics – who are convinced their municipally treated water will harm them by these salespeople, which is simply not true.
What is new to me is water treatment for dry skin and other skin related problems. I do not have any experience in these health related matters, so I consulted Web MD. I came up with this article listing the causes of dry skin and skin related problems. The only water related issue with dry skin and other problems referenced in this article has to do with the temperature of water, and the length of contact with water. It does not refer anywhere as to the chemistry of potable drinking water affecting your skin in that way.
Based on that article, I would say that this device you have seen advertised is nothing more than a flash in the pan trick to get you to spend your money. If you do have skin problems, the only advice you should listen to is that of your qualified medical practitioner.
The salesman who visits has only one goal: To sell you one or more of these machines. He may do legitimate tests such as dropper tests for hardness or alkalinity. He may even do a chlorine test with DPD reagent (which turns the water pink). In my experience with other door to door salesmen, some have used testing bottles with some sort of reagent that turns the water black followed by an exclamation such as “look at that! I knew that would happen. That’s bad” with no explaination of what exactly happened.
You may want to ask the salesman the science behind his claim. Ask him which third party company (ies) has validated the machines effectiveness. Ask him what the patent number of the machine is. A reputable salesperson will be able to answer these questions. If he doesn’t know, don’t let him sell you a machine without adequate evidence it does work. If he references a University study, a call to that university is not out of place, if it saves you hundreds of dollars that you don’t need to spend.
You should also ask him for references. If he’s going door to door and this truly is a mirical machine, he should have a stack of references in your area.
I suspect all of his documentation will be internal to the company and all of the information will come in the form of glossy brochures featuring pictures of attractive people with perfect skin, with little or no hard scientific data this machine actually works.
To wrap this up, I don’t believe that this machine is for real. If you are having problems with your skin, the best person to see is your doctor or other medical practitioner. He/she will be able to diagnose the true root of your problem and offer the most effective treatment.
I hope this helped you. Don’t hesitate to write in again if you need further clarification or have other questions.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
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