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SCALE WATCHER (pdf file) |
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| Safety considerations Bacteria, including Legionella Pneumophila, proliferate in water systems with even moderate amounts of scaling, particularly in systems where scale prevents water reaching sufficient temperature to act as a biocide. Isolation valves are often impossible to close due to scaling. Safety or pressure relief valves often stick due to scale. The chemical solution The traditional solution to the problem of limescale has been the use of chemicals to prevent or remove scale, and to control the bacteria that thrive because of it. The use of chemicals, however, can cause or increase corrosion and create further environmental problems. It is also expensive. Descaling alone is estimated to cost industry in the United Kingdom around £1 billion a year. The alternative to chemicals Over the years many methods of physical water treatment have been tried. For example, placing alternate magnetic poles in parallel to flowing water induces a voltage in the water. The frequency of the voltage is dependent on the velocity of the flow. If the frequency happens to be correct for the given conditions, precipitation occurs and the resultant crystals remain in suspension in the water. The drawback with this method is that the frequency required varies according to the conditions in the water system, e.g. flow-rate, water quality, temperature, pH etc. Therefore the results will be inconsistent, and this is the reason why Physical Water Treatment failed to gain wide acceptance. |
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| In 1989, however, a new form of Physical Water Treatment was patented that did not involve magnets, chemicals, acids and expensive softening equipment, but achieved predictable and consistent results – the Frequency Modulated (FM) Electronic Descaler. |
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| Description of Scalewatcher Enigma Scalewatcher Enigma is an electronic descaler that is applied externally to the pipework or water treatment installation. A range of units are available to cover pipe sizes from 8 mm to 1250 mm. Treatment is applied simply by wrapping a signal cable around the outside of a pipe to form a coil. No cutting into the pipework or additional plumbing is required. |
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How Scalewatcher Enigma works To understand how Scalewatcher Enigma works it is necessary to have a basic understanding of why scale forms in water systems in the first place. Rain absorbs carbon dioxide as it falls to earth and percolates through the ground. The resulting acidity of the water causes normally insoluble carbonate limestone to dissolve into a bicarbonate.Thus calcium becomes part of the water chemistry, and cannot be removed by simple filtration. When subsequently heated the hard water releases the carbon dioxide reverting the calcium back to its carbonate state by precipitating hard, ionically charged crystals which are immediately attracted to the closest surface exhibiting an opposite ionic charge, usually the pipe wall, heater element etc. Crystals thus form together to produce scale deposits. Using modern microprocessors and signal processing techniques, the Scalewatcher Enigma produces a complex, modulating frequency waveform (which in terms of magnetic strength is insignificant). When this is applied to the water, the energy induced in the water is sufficient to cause the premature precipitation of the calcium. Because precipitation occurs in the bulk of the water, the crystals seed onto other naturally occurring ions in the water, such as zinc, copper, iron etc. Their size and shape bear no physical resemblance to those formed in untreated water and they remain in suspension until discharged to drain. This process naturally results in an increase in solubility, which allows the now unsaturated water to dissolve existing scale and remove it from the water system. Even deposits on the outside of the water system, on bathroom fittings for example, will soften with regular contact with the treated water and will soon be easy to wipe away without the use of chemicals. The key to effectively making use of this process lies in understanding not only the process itself but what prevents it happening and what causes the water to revert back to its previous condition. It is this understanding and many years practical experience that have enabled ETC to master fully this exciting new technology. ETC was the first company in the world to demonstrate publicly a change in treated hard water, whereby to date nobody else has managed to even measure a chemical change after treatment. |
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| Calcium from untreated water |
Calcium from treated water Magnification x 1500 (Courtesy of the University ofPortsmouth) |
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COPYRIGHT© 2007 VAPS TECHNOLOGIES v2.0 |