Carbonate minerals form adherent scale on heat exchangers and in the case of Reverse Osmosis (RO) applications, calcium carbonate deposits on membrane surfaces, which limits the systems efficiency and has many implications including a higher capital expense, operational costs and potential equipment replacement. Unless suitably controlled, continuous scaling and deposition will generate on-going maintenance problems and create additional operational costs. This article considers research to analyse the performance of polymer treatments used as calcium carbonate dispersants in industrial water systems. Data is displayed which provides the authors perspective on the type of polymer treatment most effective in industrial water systems.