The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----

Deionized water for medical devices manufacturing

Hi!

I am evaluating the use of deionized water for a medical device manufacturing application. The purpose of the water is for quenching. If anyone has information on deionized water applications for medical devices manufacturing, please provide so.

Julio A. Gonzalez
- Manati, Puerto Rico, USA
2000

---

2000

Contact a water purification company. They will be very willing to look at your requirements and show you what equipment is available. Our specific supplier is U.S. Filter, but it is not the only one around. Reverse osmosis (R/O) technology is very common equipment for hospital grade water. You may be able to get the water quality you need from a mixed bed filter tank.

Be careful when your water needs are batches and not continuous. Filtered water that sits around slowly loses its quality by sucking contaminants from its container and/or the air. You may need a recirculation pump to guarantee instant high quality water.

Tim Neveau
Rochester Hills, Michigan

Hello, I have designed and installed several D/I water systems. As stated by Mr. Neveau you should contact a vendor in your area. The first thing you will need is a good water analysis of the water being supplied to the treatment process. This will tell the supplier what equipment is needed to meet your requirements. You should also tell the vendor what quality of water that is required for your system. Also be careful as to the types of material of construction that is used. I like to use sanitary type fitting and either PVDF or Stainless steel piping, etc. The system should maintain turbulent flow of the water. Most medical and pharmaceutical facilities use United States Pharmacopeial (USP) Water. This is based on TOC and Conductivity up to 18 + megohm -cm water. I hope this is of help.

Steve Sarten
- Oak Ridge, TN.
2000

---

2001

Julio,

As was mentioned earlier, any of the manufacture's rep's. or the manufactures themselves can help out. One such contact is Osmonics in Minnesota. The process technology used for DI water will undoubtedly be reverse osmosis. They can be of great help.

The most important thing to keep in mind is the incoming water quality. Depending on this quality, there may be other process's that may be necessary to bring this incoming quality up to level that is compatible with R.O. systems. If this quality is not up to standard, you may find that you have to take the system off line and clean the membranes every couple of hours (operations and maintenance will hate you for it) and production will suffer. Check with Osmonics, they have a lot of experience.

Neil

Neil E. Hatfield
- Franklin Park, Il. USA