Most industrial production processes need cooling water to operate efficiently and safety. Refineries, steel mills, petrochemical manufacturing plant, electric utilities, and so on, all rely on equipment or processes that will not perform properly or efficiently if the temperature is not correct. Cooling water systems control these temperatures by transferring heat from hot process fluids into cooling water that carries the heat away. Of course as this happens, the cooling water itself heats up, and must be either cooled before it can be used again or gradually replaced with a fresh supply of cooled water. Unfortunately, this "fresh" make-up water contains minerals, dirt, debris, bacteria and other impurities. What's more, as the water continues to circulate through the system, other contaminants begin to build up. Soon, temperatures begin to rise, cooling equipment efficiency becomes impaired and a total plant shutdown can result.

Three-fourths of the earth's surface is covered with water, a liquid that has supported life and acted as nature's most efficient coolant since time began. Water is the most versatile and indispensable substance on earth. Because water can absorb, store and release tremendous amounts of heat, it stabilizes and controls the weather all around the world. Man has put water's unique properties to work in industry as well. Today, water is the most important and widely used raw material and the real workhorse in industrial cooling systems.