Patent ID: 7157008

Claim:
A process for conditioning water, the water being circulated in a system, comprising the steps of: establishing a circulated water sidestream, from the system, to a reaction chamber, and back to the system circulation; adding a buffer comprising organic acid to the sidestream water exiting the reaction chamber, such that the pH of the sidestream water is lowered prior to returning to the system circulation, at least some of the buffered sidestream water being re-circulated in the sidestream; adding a conditioner to the sidestream water before the sidestream water enters the reaction chamber, such that the pH of the sidestream water is elevated; the conditioner and buffer being added such that mixing of the conditioner, the buffer and the sidestream water within the reaction chamber, causes solids to precipitate from the sidestream water such that the sidestream water exiting the reaction chamber has less dissolved solids than the sidestream water entering the reaction chamber; and removing precipitated solids, conditioner, buffer and some of the sidestream water from the reaction chamber for disposal.