Beating Scale

Scale is the enemy of all Water Boilers and if not dealt with will result in Boiler breakdowns. Half of the UK’s water supply is hard water (Scaly) and the other half is soft water. If you are operating in a hard water area you need to take precautions!

Three factors determine the rate of Scale deposits The temperature of the hot water (the hotter the harder) The hardness of the mains water, which varies across hard water areas The amount of hot water drawn

There are two ways to deal with Scale. One is to regularly descale the Boiler and the other is to protect the Boiler by filtering the incoming water with a proper Scale REDUCTION Filter. Unfortunately these are more expensive than ordinary Carbon taste and odour Filters, which are often mis-sold as Scale Filters. Beware, they do not work!

To descale the Boiler can be a lengthy operation which involves using a commercially available De-scaling Solution to dissolve the Scale inside the Tank.

Scale Filters

The only way to avoid scale on mains fed Water Coolers and dedicated Water Boilers is to use a resin based scale prevention filter. These are not cheap, and the temptation of using a low cost carbon block filter with siliphos beads is great. Unfortunately our tests have shown that they are not very effective.

A hot tank can scale up in a relatively short time – depending on the water hardness, the hot temperature and with high use. The only option then is to de-scale the hot tank.

Check your water hardness with our unique Postcode Scale Checker

You can check your postcode using our postcode checker in the menu bar, just click to find out if you are affected by Hard Water. It makes business sense to ensure your equipment if fitted with the correct scale protection filter.

Guidelines of how to de-scale the hot tank in a conventional hot & cold Water Cooler and in a dedicated Hot Water Boiler

1. Turn the mains water off (or remove the bottle on a bottled coolers) to the Water Cooler or Boiler
2. Drain the tank through the taps or through a drain at the back or underneath the Water Cooler or Boiler. Turn the power to the Water Cooler or Boiler off.
3. Open the Boiler, which will show the level of scale, and pour the right concentration of de-scaler into the Boiler. The boiler in Water Coolers is underneath the cold tank. You therefore have to pour the descaler into the cold tank and let it gravity feed into the hot tank underneath. De-scaling will generally be accompanied by aggressive foaming. Once the foaming stops the de-scaling is complete. This can take up to 30/45 minutes
4. Flush fresh water though the water tanks to remove all traces of the de-scaler
5. Turn the power back on
6. In some cases a thermal cut out or safety stat, which most boilers have to protect the heating element, may need re-setting or in case it has burned out it may need replacing