Hardness stabilisation

Water changes its natural "limescale-carbonic acid"-balance on heating or evaporation processes, and reacts by precipitating its dissolved hardness formers of calcium and magnesium-hydrogen carbonate as solid, crystalline scale, which solidifies on surfaces in the form of deposits, impairs heat conduction, and can restrict or completely block pipelines.

Special chemical additives, so-called sequestering agents, prevent crystal growth, and ensure that precipitated hardness formers can no longer settle on surfaces, but are retained in suspension as finely dispersed, amorphous particles. This effect can be achieved by sequestering agents in very low concentrations, so that their use is very economical and waste water friendly.

Most hardness stabilisers based on sequestering agents have a simultaneous corrosion-inhibiting effect, protecting steels, tin plate and also aluminium against corrosion and discoloration.

For ecological and legal reasons under waste water regulations, no zinc ions are used in WEICOGARD® products, although these traditionally reinforce the corrosion-protection effect of the sequestering agents.