Industrial water treatment is crucial for every process in a manufacturing facility, from cooling and cleaning to rinsing and processing. When water purity cannot be maintained, products and the equipment used to manufacture them can suffer, leading to costly downtime and even costlier equipment repair or replacement.

In order to avoid the premature replacement of components or equipment, it’s essential to understand the following principles of industrial water treatment.

Maintaining the quality of water in any facility is a constant challenge. This is especially true in facilities that require pure water for manufacturing. Deionisation produces water in its purest form, free of chemicals, minerals and other impurities. This article will explain more about how deionisation affects chemical impurities in water.

In the same way that Reverse Osmosis plants are dependent on the RO membranes, Deionisers are very dependent on the performance of the Ion Exchange resins within.

During the life span of Ion exchange resins, the performance of the resins will change. This is a factor of the physical condition of the resins and the level of fouling that the resins have on them.

Cleaning and maintenance can be a vital part of having an RO water treatment system in your facility. Membranes can become fouled by several contaminants including algae, viruses, fungi and bacteria. If left untreated, these contaminants can affect the entire system, forcing a complete shut-down that can significantly impact your operation.

It's worth pointing out that whilst there many RO’s that need cleaning and cleaning regularly, there are many RO units that operate without ever being cleaned. It’s all down to the quality of the feed water and the quality of the pre treatment - for more information go to http://www.wychwood-water.com/process/reverse-osmosis/.

You cannot beat quality servicing and calibration in the successful operation of water treatment systems.

Preventive Maintenance

Quality preventive maintenance procedures conducted by an experienced Engineer will optimise the performance of the plant and itemise and predict items that will require replacement in the future. During the servicing of a plant the full automatic process operation of the plant should be tested and replicated in detail. This will often involve adjustments to compensate for seasonal variations and temperatures. All flows, pressures, draws and velocities should be examined and compared with previous service and commissioning data. Quality preventive maintenance will maximise efficient plant operation and minimise costly plant down time.

The type of water purification and treatment system you will need for your cosmetics business will depend on the products you are manufacturing, as well as the size of your operation. Ultimately, however, you will need to choose a system that will allow you to adhere to British and European Pharmacopeia standards for water purification.

Generally speaking, the water purification and treatment system you choose for your cosmetics business will be one that produces water with little to no impurities like nitrates, chlorides, heavy metals and sulphates. Any system used to purify manufacturing water must avoid areas where stagnation might be a risk, as this can lead to the proliferation of bacteria.

Recent microbiological testing in your facility may have revealed the presence of bacteria. One way to address this issue is to install a deionised (DI) water system. Before you do, however, there are a few things to know.

High quality manufacturing water is essential in the pharmaceutical sector to ensure safe, compliant products. In your pharmaceutical business, deionised water is necessary for several applications, including the preparation of culture media, the creation of aqueous solutions, and the cleaning of apparatus and containers. You also know how versatile deionised water is, able to be used as a raw material, an ingredient or a solvent.

Meeting the BP, EP and FDA standards for the water used in your facility can seem fairly straightforward. However, there are many dangers lurking in and around your system that may be threatening the quality of your water, as well as the efficiency of your water system itself.

There are many benefits to working with Wychwood Water Systems to design and build a complete water treatment system within an ISO shipping container. Having worked on a number of these projects (see http://www.wychwood-water.com/containerised-water-purification-systems/), there are a number of questions people ask me: