The composition of feed water used in electrodialysis (ED) desalination causes the risk of CaCO 3 scale crystallization in ED equipments, which leads to the decrease of process efficiency. To control scaling in water systems, several scaling indices and tests, permitting to predict the scaling occurrence, have been devised. In this study, an accelerated scaling test allowing to follow CaCO 3 formation in water desalination plant using ED process was proposed. Tests were performed using a pilot unit as a conventional ED in batch recirculation mode. By simple in situ measurements of pH and flow rate of the concentrate, the crystallization onset and growth of CaCO 3 were followed during the pilot operation. This leads to precise determination of the number of concentrate recirculation times and therefore to the highest recovery rate without scaling risk as a function of the inlet water quality and the antiscale pretreatment.