Rising energy costs, increasingly complex supply chains, and societal pushback are just a few of the many factors driving businesses to focus on sustainability initiatives. Going green has become such a common theme that many businesses have dedicated entire teams to exploring ways to help them save energy and reduce overall costs. The water treatment industry is no stranger to sustainability initiatives and Watertech is proud to offer innovative solutions, such as
Aquafilm, to help our customers meet their goals.
What is Aquafilm?
Aquafilm is a chemical treatment additive for steam boiler systems that is designed to reduce both water and natural gas usage. Additionally, this chemical formula replaces up to three traditional chemistries which reduces overall testing needs as well as overhead costs for multiple chemical pumps, containment tanks, and ancillary accessories.
How does it work?
Aquafilm is a film-forming agent that works by creating a microscopic 5-10 microns thick barrier on metal surfaces in boiler systems to protect against scale formation and pitting/corrosion. It is FDA approved and is compatible with all metallurgies and softer components in a system, such as pump seals. In many cases, Aquafilm can be used to clean up existing boiler systems like those pictured below. In this case, the existing boiler tubes had ¼” of scale deposits on them which inhibited heat transfer and resulted in failures due to hot spots. Since its implementation in September of 2022 over 1/8th” of scale has been removed from the boiler tubes and there have been no additional tube failures. The reduction in scale deposits correlates to over a 20% increase in heat transfer efficiency, resulting in overall less natural gas usage. Additionally, iron levels in the feedwater and condensate systems have decreased 10X which verifies the level of protection this chemical treatment program offers.
Results After 9 Months
Before Aquafilm was implemented: Significant scale was present.
After 9 months using Aquafilm: Scale was reduced by 1/8" and heat transfer improved by 20%.
Water Savings
Aquafilm is also an organic chemistry that does not add conductivity to the feedwater like traditional chemical treatment programs. This allows users to run higher cycles of concentration in their boilers and reduce overall water usage. The projected water savings on the previously mentioned application will be over 1,000,000 gallons annually. Switching to Aquafilm in this boiler application has allowed Watertech to help this customer take a giant step toward meeting their sustainability goals!
Below is a graph showing the change in conductivity readings of the feedwater for these boilers since implementation. Following Aquafilm implementation, we see feedwater conductivity increase as the chemical works to clean the system and then readings drop back to baseline and continue to trend downwards.
Is Aquafilm a good fit for your facility?
This is just a quick glimpse of Aquafilm, but the results show this technology works effectively to treat systems and help save on energy and water usage. Curious if your boiler application is a good fit for Aquafilm? Please request a site survey for a full system evaluation, including projected energy and water savings!
Shawn Kenar
Field Service Technician
Shawn has been with Watertech of America for 6 years. He has experience in both sales and service providing solutions for boiler, cooling, and wastewater applications. He is passionate about providing sustainable and innovative solutions to help customers meet their needs. Shawn also leads educational training events and seminars focused on maximizing system efficiencies and improving safety. Reach out to Shawn via
Linkedin.