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 preservation of drinking, tank, process and cooling water - without manual dosing.

Used as a preservative, the effect of Silvertex® is based on the principle of contamination prevention. On contact with water or technical fluids, silver ions dissolve from the metallic silver (no nanosilver!). The silver ions attach themselves to the germs and stop their vital metabolic processes. In this way, the silver ions unfold their bacteriostatic (germ-inhibiting) and bactericidal (germ-reducing) effect. This process is self-dosing and self-regulating. 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 kept, 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 (e.g. pathogens such as Legionella, E.Coli etc.) and disrupt the metabolism of the bacteria or lead to cell death in over 30 different mechanisms of action. The microbially active silver ions have a unique long-term effect like no other active ingredient. Products based on chlorine or hydrogen peroxide cannot be "bound" in water, volatilise and are therefore not suitable for preservation.

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 required depends on the factors of water temperature and, among others, the increasing saturation of the water.

No, the concentration of dissolved silver ions in drinking water does not exceed the permissible limits. 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.

The possible uses of Silvertex® for the preservation of fluids are very diverse. Silvertex® can be used in the private sector (e.g. tanks in mobile homes, boats, etc.) as well as in the commercial sector (cooling liquids, (drinking) water reservoirs, process water, etc.) - wherever fluids in reservoirs need to be protected from microbiological contamination during downtimes or in water circuits.

Silvertex® is produced prefabricated for tank sizes up to 1000 litres. For larger (industrial) applications, the material is produced by the metre and offered by the square metre.

Silvertex® is suitable for all reservoirs made of plastic and stainless steel. With base metals such as aluminium or steel, there is a risk of corrosion due to interaction with the more noble metal silver.

Depending on the application, we recommend a period of use of 6 - 24 months before a product change should take place. The preservation performance depends on the type of fluid to be treated. In the field of drinking water, this can be determined without any problems. For industrial applications or special applications, a composition of the fluid may be necessary.

In the case of Silvertex® products for end users, the change interval in connection with the preservation performance is indicated on the product.

In industrial applications, a suitable technical design, usually for 12-24 months, takes place in advance.

According to European Standard EN 15030, drinking water can be stored/preserved for up to 6 months.