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Lab Trends

2012 Water Purification Survey Results

Designing a new lab water system or retrofitting an existing system requires a thorough understanding and working knowledge of contaminants, purification technologies, industry standards, user requirements, and water distribution options.

Designing a new lab water system or retrofitting an existing system requires a thorough understanding and working knowledge of contaminants, purification technologies, industry standards, user requirements, and water distribution options.

A successful water system design begins with a clear and precise definition of user needs throughout the facility. The purity level and volume of water required at each point of use can vary considerably and therefore must be fully assessed in order to properly inform the designer of the water purification system. Once water purity requirements are defined, it is essential to calculate the volume of water that will be required at each use point. This calculation must take into consideration all use points requiring pure water including sink faucets and instruments such as glassware washers. Timing of water usage must also be determined. Is the expected usage relatively consistent over a typical workday or are there times of peak demand? Will water be used over a 24-hour period or be limited to an eight-hour workday? Will there be demand for water on the weekend? When assessing volume requirements, it is also important to estimate the maximum simultaneous usage when there are multiple points of use. This information provides guidance as to the proper size of equipment, flow rates and pressure requirements of the water system designed for the facility.

The top 10 factors/features in our readers’ decisions to buy a water purification system included the following:

  Important Not Important Don't Know
Performance of product 95% 4% 1%
Durability of product 94% 1% 5%
Low maintenance/easy to clean 92% 7% 1%
Availability of supplies and accessories 90% 5% 5%
Ease of use 90% 9% 1%
Value for price paid 89% 9% 2%
Total cost of ownership 88% 10% 3%
Low operating costs 87% 11% 2%
Service and support 84% 14% 2%
Warranties 80% 17% 4%

Deionization was the most common technique our readers used to remove relevant contaminants, with reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration coming second and third.

Distillation 11%
Deionization 27%
Reverse osmosis 20%
Activated carbon filtration 10%
Microporous filtration 6%
Ultrafiltration 18%
Ultraviolet oxidation 3%
Other 5%

Most of our readers use raw potable as their feed source for their principal water purification systems with deionized being the second most popular source out of those we surveyed.

Raw potable 41%
Deionized 25%
Distilled 10%
Reverse osmosis 15%
Di/RO 7%
Other 3%

The purity levels of ASTM Standards lab water required by survey respondents:

ASTM Type I 52%
ASTM Type II 30%
ASTM Type III 9%
Other 9%

The water purification system components survey respondents are using in their labs:

Storage tank 21%
Dispensing points 18%
UV sterilizer 15%
Distiller 11%
Polisher 12%
Water quality monitor 17%
Water softener 5%
Other 1%

The different types of contaminants our readers tend to find in their water include:

Particulates 27%
Dissolved inorganics (solids and gases) 27%
Dissolved organics 21%
Microorganisms 17%
Pyrogens 5%
Other 2%

For more information on water purification systems, visit www.labmanager.com/water-purification

Completed Surveys: 293

See the latest survey results here