The mechanisms of the electromagnetic water treatment have been studied with a multitude of techniques and it has been found that the gas/water interface is essential to perturb water and suspended colloids. Perturbation of the gas/liquid interface results in nonequilibrium conditions which require hours to relax. Certain magnetic and electric fields also produce small amounts of ozone, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, or atomic hydrogen. The addition of hydrogen peroxide or hydrogen did not produce equivalent effects without additional gas/liquid interface perturbations with electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Hydrophobic gases such as argon or carbon dioxide which promote clathrate-like structuring of water appear to be affected more significantly through the action of EMFs.