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.

Choosing the right system for your business involves taking several steps to audit your current system and production volumes.

The Requirements Document And Professional Assistance

It can help to draft a document that details your requirements from a water treatment system. This document needs to be in enough detail that a water system professional can recommend a solution to provide you with the pure water you need.

Writing this document will require an audit of your current system and a survey of your facility. Sometimes this is best accomplished by calling an expert, such as one of our water specialists at Wychwood Water. This professional can tell you how best to achieve the water standards you need for the products you manufacture.

Water Audit Stages

In order to ensure that the right treatment systems are chosen, several audit stages are required.

Stage 1 - Samples

When using a professional to conduct the audit of your facility’s water treatment system, the first stage is to obtain samples from feed water and then conduct detailed microbiological and mineral tests. If the condition of the water is variable, then it is advisable to adopt a system for raw water treatment and pre-treatment that can handle the worst case scenario for water quality conditions.

Stage 2 - Unit Size

After looking at your facility’s pre-treatment system, the next stage is to look at unit size. The professional conducting the audit will find out what the maximum pure water demand is for your facility in terms of volume required on a regular basis. This will allow your facility to have enough water for your future needs, helping you avoid having to pay the cost of an additional system.

Stage 3 - System Configuration

Another stage of the water audit process is to look at how water enters your facility and where it needs to go from there. For example, you may require pure water at more than one location in your facility. If this is the case, you may benefit from a mains-fed type of centralised system. Or, if your system is already centralised, it may be more efficient to link pumps with variable speed drives.

Stage 4 - Storage

Evaluating water storage conditions will be another stage of the audit, especially if you are using high volumes of manufacturing water. Some systems obtain water from the mains, purify it and store it in a tank, where it is then circulated to various locations in the facility as needed.

Water Treatment System Options

The treatment system that is best for your facility will depend on what you are manufacturing. For example, if you need to eliminate particulates, you will likely require some kind of water filtration system to supplement what you may already be doing.

Chlorine compounds and organic contaminants can affect how your cosmetics look and smell. These can be removed by using an activated carbon adsorption system. Cartridge filtration can work for water pre-treatment, and then perhaps a system like reverse osmosis for contaminant removal at the ion level.

For cosmetic products requiring deionised and softened water, it may be that membrane filtration or UV treatment may need to be added to a system. Reverse osmosis systems are very common in the cosmetics manufacturing industry, as they allow for the removal of up to 98% of contaminants and 99% of micro-organisms.

Above all, when it comes to choosing a water system for your facility, the most important factor is selecting the right provider. This will ensure that the solution you choose is cost-effective over the long term.

Get Free Help Choosing Your Next Water System

It can be difficult to know what you need to do to ensure optimal water quality in your facility, but help is around the corner, and you can get it for free. Our Guide to Industrial Water Systems reveals what you need to know about all major industrial water treatment options. It was written by our team of specialists at Wychwood Water and can help you choose the right system for your facility. You can claim your copy here. If you still have questions, feel free to reach us via email on sales@wychwood-water.com.