Both vital and versatile, water is used in all laboratories, in preparing media, buffers and additives and for heating, cooling, cleaning and rinsing. It is often taken for granted, but thinking about water quality is very important because the presence of impurities and contaminants can impact experiments and the work environment. Some examples of contaminants are suspended solids, particles, organic and inorganic compounds, bacteria, endotoxins, ions, gases and microorganisms.
Application-specific, purified water systems have been developed for all water purity needs, from simple to complex, in single laboratories or multilaboratory facilities. Many vendors have specialists available to help organizations evaluate current requirements; understand future needs and propose reliable, pure water solutions.
Selecting a pure water system
Analytical laboratories in the pharmaceutical, chemical, life science and food and beverage sectors all require certain levels of water purity ranging from pure to ultrapure, based on their application—buffer preparation, cell culture, chromatography, molecular biology, histology, HPLC, total organic carbon (TOC) analysis, reagent preparation and photometry.
Specifications for pure water standards—whether Type I, II or III—may be defined by the sensitivity of the application or through an industry standard such as published by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or Pharmacopoeias. Laboratory managers should frequently review relevant water quality guidelines and benchmark the impacts of water on their applications and results throughout the entire cycle, including cleaning.
Low consumption users may not notice that stability declines after opening bottled water for use in the laboratory. Facilities with a central system feeding several laboratories should know that water is most pure closest to the source and degrades at the point of use, particularly after being distributed through tubing. Therefore, it is important to test the impact of water quality based on the source and the application (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 – Water purification flow diagram.System features
Figure 2 – Wall-mounted water purification system.Sartorius (Bohemia, N.Y.) offers over 70 water purification systems. This variety enables users to select from a range of flow rates, display positions, UV lights and other features. In order to accommodate small laboratory spaces, the systems are flexible enough to fit on a bench, or be wall mounted or stored in a cabinet. Importantly, the display is always positioned at eye level for ease of use (see Figure 2).
Intuitive touchscreen displays that include color changes and blinking icons provide technical support in four or five lines of text, which often eliminates searching the manual for information. Step-by-step solutions are presented in a simple format that is informative enough for even the novice user. For those who prefer to read the manual, it is available in several languages.
Sartorius offers the arium bag tank systems in 20-, 50- or 100-L versions that last for six months and can be wheeled about for use in multiple laboratories. The 3-4 hours it may take to run a sanitization cycle are replaced with a simple bag change that can be done in less than 2 min. Users do not have to interact with cleaning chemicals, human error is reduced and sterile filtration is enabled for a variety of applications at the point of use (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 – Sartorius arium bag tank systems.Water quality optimization is provided by iJust software, which measures usage data to control cleaning cycles and extend the system lifetime. This positively impacts the environment and reduces the cost of consumables.
Services
For those technical issues that require additional support, such as preventive maintenance, training, qualification and repairs, it is best to consult with company specialists who know the equipment, applications and user parameters. Knowledgeable staff and prompt response times are key deliverables to look for when engaged with service. Some vendors offer service on an array of technologies: Sartorius, for example, services laboratory water products, balances, pipets, analyzers and other instrumentation.
Conclusion
Ensuring the best outcomes for the laboratory requires the inclusion of application-tailored water purification systems that yield reliable, reproducible results and save time, resources and laboratory space.
Frank Gatzemeyer is senior product manager, Labwater Systems, Sartorius Lab Instruments GmbH, Weender Landstrasse 94-108, 37075 Goettingen, Germany; tel.: +49 551 3083493; e-mail: [email protected]; www.sartorius.com