Almost all problems associated with the use of water for cooling purposes can be attributed to one or more impurities such as hardness salts (such as calcium and magnesium, which deposit as scale in pipes and especially on heating surfaces), silica, iron, microbiological species, oil, and dissolved gases. The scaling and corrosion problems caused by the use of naturally hard water in cooling towers during recirculation pose major economic and technical problems, including reduced system efficiency and increased frequency of chemical cleaning.

The antiscalant quality level test or the test to determine the degree of inhibition of antiscalant in dispersing precipitable compounds is designed quantitatively and qualitatively based on international NACE and ASTM standards. This test shows the percentage of inhibition of precipitation of precipitating salts in the presence of the inhibitor.