Feed water available for industrial applications contains a variety of soluble and insoluble impurities. Among the dissolved impurities present metal ions such as iron aluminum copper zinc and manganese when present at low concentrations presents the most serious problems in many applications. These metal ions form insoluble oxide/hydroxide compounds under acid and/or alkaline conditions that deposit on equipment surfaces and influence the performance of scale inhibitors and dispersants. This paper is concerned with the evaluation of polymeric (i.e. acrylic acid maleic acid based homo- and copolymers biopolymers (i.e. carboxymethyl inulin) and non-polymeric additives (i.e. phosphonates) as iron (III) stabilization agents and dispersants for iron oxide. In addition results will be presented on phosphonate/polymer blends for their efficacy in controlling iron-based deposits.