Professional installers understand that water treatment is essential to protect boilers and heating system components. Daniel Cheung explains how a thorough, high quality and consistent three-step programme can protect products, warranties and even the reputation of installers.

A boiler and its associated heating system is an expensive piece of kit. Whether the system is being refurbished or replaced, correct and effective water treatment is paramount to ensure efficiency and system longevity. In fact, research shows that 99.5% of heat exchanger and pump components that fail during the boiler’s warranty period come from systems without quality water treatment, while around 87% of boiler call-outs are to systems without correct water treatment.

Unfortunately, any installer encountering either of these situations could find themselves liable for the cost of repair because many manufacturers will invalidate a warranty if they have any concerns that a power flush clean may not have been done correctly or that adequate inhibitor was not added to the system. Furthermore, it’s fair to say that the homeowner won’t be happy, so it will bear a heavy cost in terms of reputation too.

Industry support

While most installers will be very aware of these facts, not all will know of an almost fail-safe way to ensure boiler installations projects don’t return to haunt them in the form of call-backs, warranty disputes and tarnished reputations. There is growing industry support for a best practice, three-step system called ‘clean, protect, maintain’. To break it down: clean to prepare for better performance; protect to prolong system life and efficiency; and maintain to ensure durable protection.

This straightforward yet effective mantra offers many advantages when carried out consistently using high quality products that are endorsed by the boiler manufacturer. For instance, for domestic installers the benefits include a boost to business reputation and repeated customer recommendations. It can also help prove to the boiler manufacturer or end-user that the heating system water has been treated properly, a point especially important for specifiers. In a growing number of instances, this is helping to negotiate extended warranties for system hardware such as boilers, radiators and controls.

Ultimately, water treatment is recognised as vital by leading boiler and heating system component manufacturers, most of which now specify the requirement for quality water treatment in their installation instructions. Despite this, however, it’s not uncommon for installers to clean a system that is being refurbished but fail to protect it with adequate quality or sufficient inhibitor. Others will introduce inhibitor without performing a full system clean beforehand.

1. Clean

The first step is always a thorough system clean. Cleaning not only removes sludge and other debris in the system (even new heating systems have installation debris) but also prepares the system for the inhibitor since any sludge or debris in the system will prevent subsequently dosed inhibitor from working correctly.

If an old heating system is being given an overhaul, cleaning will remove existing sludge and limescale build-up, improving both energy efficiency and performance. In such instances, many installers offer power flushes as an optional extra, which is understandable in a cost-driven environment.

However, avoiding power flushing is very likely to cause costly problems down the line – for both the installer and homeowner – so it is worth installers taking the time to talk to their customers in depth about why this step is so essential.

The main point to remember when selecting a cleaning chemical is to go for quality not cost. Cleaning chemicals aren’t subject to any quality assurance standards, so quality varies wildly – some can be far too aggressive, while others far too weak.

The advice here is to always use a trusted, boiler manufacturer-endorsed brand that offers cleaning products to suit specific requirements such as system age, type of debris, severity of sludge and so forth. As with all water treatment products, it’s vitally important to follow the manufacturer’s application guidelines carefully, especially with regard to cleaning time.

2. Protect

The second step – Protect – requires the introduction of a high quality inhibitor that will guard against limescale and protect all system metal types from corrosion. This ensures energy efficiency, helps to prevent boiler breakdowns and prolongs system life.

When selecting an inhibitor, it’s wise to go for a boiler manufacturer-endorsed brand (such recommendations can be found in boiler installation manuals) and one that exceeds the BuildCert standard. Lower quality inhibitors can actually do more harm than good because they will fail to adequately protect systems from corrosion or from the effects of scale deposits, such as noise.

To ensure that a system has been protected adequately, installers can use a quick inhibitor test kit – an incredibly handy and inexpensive tool that will confirm, within moments, whether a system has been dosed with sufficient inhibitor. For larger jobs, installers should consider carrying out a more in-depth laboratory water quality test using a full system check kit.

In either case, quality measures such as these can not only confirm to the installer that the job has been completed correctly or highlight any problems to be corrected, but also provide peace-of-mind for the customer of a job well done.

3. Maintain

The often-neglected third and final step – Maintain – is also vital when it comes to ensuring the delivery of long-term system protection. It only takes minor changes to a system, such as a small leak, a routine radiator bleed or fitting a new towel rail, to lower the level of protective inhibitor in the system and leave it vulnerable to attack from corrosion and limescale.

It is, then, worth introducing an inhibitor test kit or full system check kit (depending on the system and customer) as part of a regular boiler maintenance package. To ensure ongoing protection of the boiler, installers can fit system filters such as Quadra cyclone filters that capture both magnetic and non-magnetic residual debris.

Long-term benefits

Following such a thorough and high quality water treatment programme will likely cost the homeowner a bit more than a stripped-back, price-driven job. However, the benefits that such an approach delivers will not only save the homeowner money and hassle in the long run, it will also help to protect the installer from warranty disputes, repair jobs, and a poor reputation.