Electromagnetic Water Softening

I am perplexed by the proliferation of commercial 'magnetic water conditioning' products. These essentially comprise magnets strapped to the side of water pipes, which do not claim to soften water, but alledgedly 'condition it' in such a way as to prevent lime-scale deposition. This relies on the notion that liquid water has some form of stable, supramolecular structure which can be modified, and is patent nonsense on a par with homeopathy. It strikes me however, that water can, in principle be softened by electromagnetic means, thus avoiding the need for ion exchange resins (which must be regularly replenished). 2 possible devices are proposed.

1: A large tubular reservoir of water is surrounded by the coils of an electromagnet. The water molecules carry no net charge, and are therefore unaffected by the magnetic field, but the charged ions which make water 'hard' experience a force perpendicular to the field lines which compells them to move in circles. As long as the original motion of the ion has a component which is parallel to the field lines, this motion becomes a spiral (either clockwise or anticlockwise depending on the sign of the charge on the ion). Inevitably the ions tend towards the upper or lower extremes of the cylinder, while the middle region is correspondingly depleted. By placing outlet pipes in appropriate positions on the cylinder, and assuming a suitably low flow-rate, hardened or softened water can be fed to different outlets. (I would suggest toilets and outside taps for the hard water, and showers and kitchen supplies for the soft).

2: Much the same effect could be achieved by employing a large voltage at either extremity of the cylindrical reservoir, in place of the electromagnet, effectively creating a very large parallel plate capacitor. The potential difference required may be somewhat hazardous however.