it has chemicals that negate the effect of minerals in the water. It works for me and for my money it's a truly awesome maintenance shampoo. Car shampoos are something I've spent a small fortune experimenting with over the years because it's the most important thing in my opinion that you can spend your detailing dollars on. Prevention is worth a ton of expense afterwards. There are many good products out there but for my money it's currently DoDo supernatural shampoo that stands out from the crowd.