information courtesy Jeffrey M. Conway

Descaling
Approximately 85% of the United States experiences hard water. Water hardness is a common quality of water which contains dissolved compounds of calcium and magnesium and, sometimes, other divalent and trivalent metallic elements. Hardness prevents soap from lathering by causing the development of an insoluble curdy precipitate in the water. Another problem associated with hard water is scale.

What is Scale?
Scale is a coating or precipitate deposited on surfaces that are in contact with hard water. Water that contains carbonates of bicarbonates of calcium or magnesium are especially likely to cause scale. When water is heated or evaporation takes place, scale minerals precipitate layers of rocklike deposits on swimming pool tile, inside pipes, water heaters, equipment, and on fixtures and glassware. While most common scale is a result of calcium carbonate, other combinations of ions commonly found in water offer a variety of scale.

Common Evidence of Scale
Scale is most visually evident as hard white to off white deposits which build-up in faucets, shower heads and drains. Scale leaves deposits on dishes, glassware, sinks, counter tops and on vehicles that were just washed. Most scale formations are hard and very difficult to clean. Visual references also include fixtures such as toilets, bath tubs, showers and appliances like coffee and ice makers. Swimming pools and spas can experience scale build up on tile and pump equipment. Cooling towers have tremendous scale problems that cause that industry alone a billion dollars a year to remove. Evaporative coolers, boilers, car washes, irrigation systems, processing equipment, paper pulp mills all experience scale problems. Unfortunately, because scale forms a "coating" it can significantly effect thermotransfer and reduce the flow of fluids. The increase of fuel cost due to scale build-up is astronomical.

SCALEBUSTERS
Phone: (480) 946-3927 - Cell: (480) 232-8875
Email: info@scalebusters.com