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Water Purification Optimized through Proper Information Usage

Published in Lab Water Purification News
Written by Nicholas Papp

Creation Date Tuesday, 27 August 2013.

Water Purification Optimized through Proper Information Usage

Proper utilization of basic information including water quantity, quality, grade and maintenance is the key for optimal reverse osmosis water purification.

Choosing the right water purification system requires laboratory staff and technicians to consider key issues and industry standards. This knowledge serves as a guide in specifying the latest technologies that may aid in improving laboratory water quality depending on the lab’s requirements.

Before deciding to purchase a convenient standalone unit for a small laboratory or a heavy-duty centralized RO system for a large laboratory, it is essential that the following key factors are taken into careful consideration.

Quantity

Identify the water quantity needed at all points of the purification process. Be sure to specify the peak instantaneous demand as well as the pattern of usage throughout the day across the whole workflow. Determine incidences where all points are utilized at the same time and estimate the number of points in use at each time period, also known as diversity.

It is necessary to know the laboratory requirements to ensure that the water purification system can handle the workload efficiently.

Quality and Grade

Observe specific requirements particularly for specialized applications. For example, the appropriate maximum theoretical purity of water for certain specialized applications including atomic absorption, tissue culture, ion chromatography and other molecular biology applications is 18.2 MΩcm. If this requirement is not satisfied, the whole operation may be compromised.

Define the water grade needed at every point of use to prevent spurious results due to remaining contaminants in the water used.

Maintenance

Failure to observe proper system maintenance may cause increase in running costs and poor water quality.

Regular maintenance is essential to ensure optimal operations and identify minor technical problems before they become detrimental cases and cause downtime. Maintenance should already be considered at the start of system design to minimize disruption when the equipment comes to full-functionality.

Basic maintenance should include checking the RO pretreatment equipment, replacing filter elements and consumables and chemically sanitizing the reverse osmosis membranes every 3 to 6 months.

About the Author

Nicholas Papp

Nicholas Papp

Nicholas Papp has a B.S. in Physics, with Minors in Chemistry and Math, from Baldwin-Wallace College. He is the Vice President and General Manager of AQUA SOLUTIONS, INC., and has worked in the water filtration/purification industry for more than 35 years.