Calcium Scale Basics

How does the calcium get into the water?

Much of our drinking water comes from ground water which originates from precipitation that falls in the form of rain or snow and seeps into the ground, filling the open spaces, or pore space, within layers of sand or gravel (formations) beneath the land surface.  As the rain or snow passes through the atmosphere, it becomes enriched with carbon dioxide (CO2) and combines with the H2O (water) to form a solvent of calcium known as carbonic acid (H2CO3).  As the rain seeps into the ground, the carbonic acid extracts calcium from the calcium rich stone and forms hydrogen carbonate [Ca (HCO3)2]. When the extraction process ends, the water is saturated with calcium and the carbonic acid forming a carbonic acid/ calcium equilibrium. Depending on the ground quality, the amount of calcium and amount of carbonic acid determines whether more or less calcium is extracted into the water.  

How does calcium scale develop on pipes and hardware?

Calcium Scale is a hard thick coating or covering of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) that forms on heating elements and on the pipes and hardware of plumbing systems. As the calcium rich water enters into the home, the carbonic acid/ calcium equilibrium becomes interrupted within the pipes. Because the hydrogen carbonate (Ca (HCO3)2) is a very weak chemical compound, temperature increases or movement cause the compound to breakdown and parts of the calcium (Ca²), magnesium (Mg²) and bicarbonate (HCO₃) are no longer dissolved and attach to the surfaces of pipes, heaters, and hardware. Over time, the scale compounds and is very difficult and costly to remove. 

What are the effects of calcium?

Negative Effect

The negative effect of calcium is that it creates scale on pipes, hardware, and surfaces. This leads to high energy costs for heaters and expensive repairs for ice machines, coffee machines, and other appliances. The scale also may breed bacteria.  

Positive Effect

Calcium enriched water is a health benefit and an important nutrient needed to help prevent or minimize diseases such as heart disease. Ideally, consumable water should contain adequate amounts of calcium and magnesium which are both found in hard water.   

What calcium treatments are available?

Water Softeners

The “classical” water-softening unit operates on the basis of ion exchange; exchanging calcium and magnesium ions in water with an equivalent amount of sodium (Salt).  Even though this is an effective and most common approach to dealing with scale, there are drawbacks.  When a water softener is used, the result is not only soft water, but also increased sodium content in the water supply. Also, when the ion exchanger becomes depleted, it must be regenerated using a saline solution.  This means a never-ending additional expense of salt is incurred for each and every regeneration cycle.

Magnetic and Electric Systems

Magnetic and electric systems are a relatively new invention. The concept is that as water passes through a magnetic field, the calcium and magnesium ions are altered in such a way that they loose their ability to cause scale. However, these systems only have a limited effectiveness at best and this not a high enough percentage to prevent scale altogether.

Polyphosphate

The polyphosphate dissolves into the water and coats the iron, calcium and magnesium in it, making it difficult for these agents to precipitate out of the water and create the problems associated with hard water. Unfortunately, polyphosphate-type systems are only effective in cold water, low volume applications. Additionally, phosphates are considered a preferred food for bacteria and may cause other environmental problems.

Filtersorb SP3 Media

The technologically advanced Filtersorb SP3 Media is an innovative solution that prevents all of the negative effects of calcium and magnesium, while allowing the positive health benefits to remain. The system is maintenance free, chemical free, salt free and does not require costly regeneration and backwashing.