Catalytic technology case study

US Government study found catalyst-based water treatment eliminated scale and achieved immediate payback compared to salt softeners.

Client: GSA
Region: United States
Application: Domestic hot water system, federal courthouse
Sector: Government / Buildings

The U.S. General Services Administration’s Green Proving Ground program, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, evaluated catalyst-based non-chemical water treatment technology at the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The challenge

Hard water in the area caused severe calcite build-up on heating elements

Electric water heater elements failed every six weeks due to overheating from scale

Traditional mitigation relied on chemical softeners, with recurring costs for chemicals, labour, and maintenance

The solution

A catalytic alloy insert was installed in the cold-water and recirculating line of the hot water system

The spiral core triggered a change in how calcium carbonate formed, preventing hard calcite deposits

The system required no chemicals, salt, or power, and only minimal maintenance

Results

After 18 months of operation, heating elements showed no significant calcite build-up

Failures were eliminated, compared to the pre-installation six-week cycle

At the courthouse, simple payback was less than two years compared to replacing failed elements

Against a conventional salt-based system, payback was immediate

Minimal O&M requirements (occasional cleaning where iron levels are high)

Before NCWT
Calcite buildup after two months of untreated operation caused heating elements to overheat and fail

After NCWT
New heating elements 18 months after installation of NCWT show no significant signs of calcite buildup or overheating

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