Industrial water treatment seeks to manage four main problem areas: scaling, corrosion, microbiological activity and disposal of residual wastewater. Boilers do not have many problems with microbes as the high temperatures prevents their growth. 

Scaling occurs when the chemistry and temperature conditions are such that the dissolved mineral salts in the water are caused to precipitate and form solid crystalline deposits. These can be mobile, like a fine silt, or can build up in layers on the metal surfaces of the systems. Scale is a problem because it insulates and heat exchange becomes less efficient as the scale thickens, which wastes energy. Scale also narrows pipe widths and therefore increases the energy used in pumping the water through the pipes. 

Corrosion occurs when the parent metal oxidises (as iron rusts, for example) and gradually the integrity of the plant equipment is compromised. The corrosion products can cause similar problems to scale, but corrosion can also lead to leaks, which in a pressurised system can lead to catastrophic failures. 

Microbes can thrive in untreated cooling water, which is warm and sometimes full of organic nutrients, as wet cooling towers are very efficient air scrubbers. Dust, flies, grass, fungal spores and so on collect in the water and create a sort of "microbial soup" if not treated with biocides. Most outbreaks of the deadly Legionnaires' Disease have been traced to unmanaged cooling towers, and the UK has had stringent Health & Safety Guidelines concerning cooling tower operations for many years as have had governmental agencies in other countries. 

Disposal of residual wastewaters[1] from an industrial plant is a difficult and costly problem. Most petroleum refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants [2] have onsite facilities to treat their wastewaters so that the pollutant concentrations in the treated wastewater comply with the local and/or national regulations regarding disposal of wastewaters into community treatment plants or into rivers, lakes or oceans.