4 Advice to Choose a Laboratory Water Purification Faucet

From buffers and cell culture media to dilution series and blanks, lab water touches virtually every experiment. Given its wide use, every lab needs a reliable source of high-quality water. But where do you start? In this post, we&#;ll share the 10 most important things to consider when choosing a water purification system.

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1. Lab water basics 

Before you begin your search for a lab water purification system, it&#;s important to learn the basics. What are common water impurities and how do they affect your experiments? What are the different lab water purification technologies? Our new ebook, A Guide to High Quality Laboratory Water, is a great resource for these topics, including the three standard grades of lab water:

2. Application 

The water purity you need depends on your intended application. For example, the water used for washing glassware doesn&#;t need to be as pure as the water used in an analytical technique like HPLC. In general, you need Type 1 water for highly critical or sensitive applications, while Type 2 water will do for less critical or sensitive applications. 

3. Daily usage

Your water system should supply the volume of water your lab needs each day&#;and slightly exceed it just in case there are unexpected overages. However, we don&#;t recommend getting a significantly oversized system.

4. Feedwater 

What water source will feed your water purification system? If your &#;feed water&#; is tap water, then you must use a pre-treatment system or combined system to get your desired purity of lab water. If you already have a reliable source of Type 2 or Type 3 water, then you can use a final polisher for Type 1 ultrapure water. Knowing your feed water will help you choose the right system.

5. Water storage 

Water pre-treatment processes, like ones that use reverse osmosis, can be very slow. Tank systems address this by storing purified water for immediate access. While traditional storage reservoirs require routine cleaning to prevent contamination, options like the Arium® Bagtank technology with disposable bags really simplify this step.

6. Ease of use 

Don&#;t underestimate the every-day impact of design and user-experience (UI) features in your water purification system. Big, clear touch screen displays, shortcuts to common functions, and options for volume- or time-controlled dispensing all help to streamline dispensing. 

7. Space 

How much space do you have in your lab? Having flexible options for installation will help you make efficient use of space. Choose systems that offer compact designs in addition to table-top, wall-mount, and under/inside workbench installation options. Further, satellite dispensing points, like the ones offered with Arium® systems, take up little space, while dramatically expanding access. 

8. Connectivity 

Data monitoring and documentation are important in regulated laboratory environments. If you need access to information about your lab water, make sure it is easy to retrieve data from your system with a connected printer or SD-card, and look for real-time monitoring via electronic lab notebook (ELN).

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9. Maintenance 

Lab water purification systems require regular cleaning and maintenance to provide reliable performance day after day. Look into service contracts and the technical support services offered by the manufacturer. Leaving these tasks with the experts will free up your time and help to prolong instrument lifetime.

10. Cost 

In addition to the cost of the instrument itself, you should consider the cost of accessories, pre-treatment requirements, and consumables, like replacement cartridges. Service contracts are an optional cost, however professional maintenance is always a worthy investment.

Continue your learning journey by reading our new laboratory water digital ebook. This comprehensive resource has all the topics you care about organized under easy-to-navigate tabs, with useful links throughout. 

Although suitable for everyday use outside laboratories, tap water may contain impurities, such as suspended particles, dissolved inorganic and organic compounds, dissolved gasses, and microorganisms. These impurities, unfortunately, can significantly affect the accuracy and integrity of experiments, prompting laboratories to use water purification systems that produce high-purity water needed for various lab applications.

Organic compounds such as fungi and algae can introduce variables into experiments, like adding background noise during an HPLC analysis. Heavy metals, minerals, and other inorganic impurities, on the other hand, can interfere with chemical reactions and affect enzyme functions. Moreover, endotoxins, which are part of the cell wall of certain bacteria, can impact the health of cells in cell culture.

Key Factors to Consider Before Selecting a Lab Water Purification System 

Choosing the correct water purification system is crucial in ensuring the reliability of research and analyses. Before making a decision, therefore, consider these factors: feed water quality, daily water usage patterns, and intended applications.

1. Feed Water Quality

   Testing the water source specific to your laboratory is vital to detect the presence of trace elements, chemical impurities, or other contaminants. Remember that even the smallest amount of contaminants can impact the reliability and reproducibility of results.

2. Daily Water Usage Patterns

   Consider the number of researchers working in the lab, the type of experiments performed, and the overall water demand for all applications. Knowing these details will help you assess which systems can consistently meet the specific water needs of the lab.

3. Intended Applications

   Different experiments need varying levels of water purity. Determine the applications of the purified water in your lab, whether it is for sensitive analytical instruments, cell culture, or other research processes. Below are the different types of purified lab water and the correct systems designed for specific applications.

   • Reverse Osmosis Water (Type III)

     - Primary grade or reverse osmosis water is suitable for standard applications and feeding water-consuming systems, such as washing vessels, autoclaves, and preparation methods. It requires three stages of filtration&#;pre-filtration by activated carbon, depth-type filtration, and reverse osmosis&#;that you can find in Arium Advance RO systems.

   • Purified Water (Type II)

     - Purified water, also known as pure or deionized water, is ideal for general laboratory use, especially for preparing reagents, blanks, and non-critical samples. All three previously mentioned steps, plus ion exchange or electrodeionization, are essential to achieve this water quality. Designed to deliver the best-quality Type II water, the Arium Advance EDI is the best choice.

   • Ultrapure Water (Type I)

     - Well-suited for highly sensitive applications, ultrapure water requires a distinct purification process that involves UV oxidation, high-efficiency ion exchange, ultrafiltration, and sterile membrane filtration. Flexible, fast, and easy to use, the Arium Pro is an excellent and reliable source of ultrapure water.

Some laboratories, however, require water with varying degrees of purity for different applications. In such cases, a combined water purification system like the Arium Comfort II takes the spotlight. Despite being compact, it effectively combines purification technologies to deliver Type I, II, and III water on demand.

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