a method of hydrating a dry powdered viscosifier such as a powdered polymer is disclosed . the method includes mixing the powdered viscosifier with a solvent such as water to form a mixture ; moving the mixture through a cavitation zone ; inducing energetic shock waves and pressure fluctuations in the mixture by mechanically inducing cavitation events within the mixture , the shock waves and pressure fluctuations untangling , separating , and straightening polymer molecule chains and distributing the chains throughout the mixture , and extracting the resulting hydrated viscosifier from the cavitation zone .