Understanding the magnetizing process of water and its effects on cementitious materials: A critical review

•Existing Magnetic Fileds for water treatment were classified and categorized.•Physiochemical properties of magnetized water (MW) were presented.•Magnetized water can enhance mechanical and durability properties of cementitious composites.•Gaps, opportunities and potential areas for future research were presented. Magnetized Water (MW) is a fascinating research subject for improving the properties of the cementitious composite due to its physicochemical alterations in cluster size and surface tension of water. However, these physicochemical changes have shown contradictory results in the literature. This paper intends to expound on physicochemical properties variations of MW and its effect on cement composite performance. Consequently, all existing Magnetic fields (MFs) for water treatment were classified into two main categories. The effective MF parameters of these methods on MW characterizations were discovered and collected from the literature, and they are proposed to be considered in future studies to make results more comparable and compatible. The different techniques for molecular cluster examination are introduced to understand each technique's solidity in water cluster investigations. Then the influence of MF on cluster size and surface tension of water was scrutinized, and the results of studies were summarized end of each section inside comprehensive tables. In the continuation, the charming effects of treated water with effective MF parameters on cement composites' fresh and hardened state were addressed to appreciate the magnitude to which MW affects cement composites properties.