FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Silvertex is an innovative 3D knitted fabric (technical textile) with a defined proportion of wet-chemically silvered textile fibres. It was specially developed for the automatic, self-dosing and self-regulating preservation of water and fluids.
Used as a preservative, the effect of Silvertex is based on the principle of contamination prevention. When the metallic (elemental) silver comes into contact with the oxygen-containing water/fluid, Silver ions are released from the silvered threads (solvation) and move into the liquid phase (fluidisation). The positively charged Ag ions associate with the negatively polarised membranes of microorganisms. From this, initially electrostatic interaction, a multitude of chemical reactions develop. Several proven mechanisms of action against microbes now lead to metabolic disorders, structural deformations, and the inability to reproduce... this ultimately leads to cell death. This process is called the oligodynamic effect and describes the damaging effect of metal cations on microbes and bacteria.
Silver-based products have been used to keep drinking water fresh since Charlemagne. At that time, in the form of silver vessels in which the drinking water was stored, nothing was known about the specific mode of action of silver. Today we know that it is the positively charged silver ions that dock onto the microorganisms and pathogens and disrupt the metabolism of the bacteria or lead to cell death in several different mechanisms of action.
Silvertex is manufactured from high quality ingredients, specifically approved for use in preserving drinking water and fluids.
The release of the silver ions into the water takes place slowly and continuously up to the "saturation limit". As soon as there are silver ions in the water, their effect is active. The time for saturation of the water with silver ions depends on several circumstances, among others, the water temperature and water movement.
Based on the law of mass action, the concentration of silver ions is chemically and physically limited and therefore only dissolves up to a certain concentration which depends on e.g. the chloride concentration in the water or fluid.
The possible uses of Silvertex for the preservation of water and fluids are very diverse. Silvertex is used in the consumer market (e.g. tanks in RVS, campers, mobile homes, boats, etc.) as well as in the commercial sector (cooling liquids, (drinking) water reservoirs, process water, etc.) - wherever fluids or water in reservoirs or circuits need to be protected from microbiological contamination.
Silvertex in standard product versions is suitable for different tank sizes up to 300 gallons (1,200 liter) and preserves up to 16,000 gallons (60,000 liter) of water. In combining the
Silvertex standard product versions basically all tank sizes can be covered.
Silvertex is suitable for all reservoirs made of plastic, stainless steel or glass. With base metals such as aluminium or steel, there is a risk of corrosion due to the interaction with the more noble metal silver.
Depending on the application, we recommend a period of use of 3-12 months before a product exchange needs to be done. The preservation performance depends on the type of fluid which will be treated. In the area of drinking water, it depends mainly on the total amount of water which is preservated, for industrial or special applications the composition of the fluid is crucial.
The following table shows the performance of Silvertex used with potable water.
Drinking water can be stored/preserved for up to 6 months. We recommend a full exchange of the water after 6 months.
