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From River to Ultrapure Water Quality

Category: Process
Need: High purity water
Customer: Fortune 100 paper manufacturer
Challenge: Provide consistently high purity water from highly variable river source.

The process required consistently high purity water without interruption. The water is critical, and failure of the system could cause equipment damage costing millions of dollars. The water source is a river with constantly changing chemical and physical characteristics. Originally a deionizer was specified, but the varying raw water quality, cost of regeneration and propensity for service interruption were causes for concern.

The WaterProfessionals® worked with consulting and customer engineers to plan custom pretreatment and a double pass reverse osmosis industrial water system followed by service deionizers for an ultrapure quality water treatment system. The RO machine is equipped with duplex pumps and can run with both passes in series or, in case of pump failure or during membrane cleaning, each can operate separately as a single pass. In the highly unlikely event of total machine failure, the process will continue to operate utilizing the pretreatment and the portable service mixed bed deionizers.

The WaterProfessionals® provide service deionizer exchange and customer training and service to ensure the water requirements of this critical process are met 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

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From River to Ultrapure Water Quality

February 26, 2020

📅 Updated: Feb 10, 2025 | 📁 Compliance Standards

WaterProfessionals® is the best provider of ST108-compliant water treatment solutions, offering sales and services trusted by healthcare institutions & large corporations. Ensuring compliance with ST108 AAMI water quality standards is critical for hospitals and surgical centers to maintain the safety and effectiveness of their sterile processing departments (SPDs) and medical device reprocessing operations.

Why ST108 Compliance is Critical for Hospitals

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) developed the ST108 standard to establish strict water quality guidelines for sterile processing and medical device reprocessing in healthcare facilities. Poor water quality can lead to:

Inadequate sterilization: Residual contaminants can compromise the effectiveness of disinfectants and sterilization processes.
Instrument corrosion and damage: Hard water, chlorine, and dissolved solids cause pitting, spotting, and degradation of surgical tools.
Microbial contamination: Bacteria, endotoxins, and organic matter can remain on medical instruments, increasing infection risks.
Regulatory non-compliance: Hospitals failing to meet ST108 water quality standards risk fines, citations, and patient safety violations.

Achieving compliance with ST108 is not just about meeting regulatory requirements—it is about ensuring that every reprocessed instrument is safe for use in critical medical procedures.

Key Steps to Implement ST108 Water Quality Standards

Implementing ST108 water quality standards in a hospital’s sterile processing department requires a strategic approach that includes water testing, treatment system upgrades, and continuous monitoring.

1. Assess Current Water Quality

Hospitals must conduct a comprehensive water analysis to identify:

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): Measures inorganic salts and minerals that can cause residue buildup.
Hardness Levels: Calcium and magnesium can lead to scaling and equipment damage.
Chlorine & Chloramine Levels: Can corrode stainless steel instruments and interfere with sterilization.
Microbial Contamination: Includes bacteria, endotoxins, and organic residues that can compromise sterilization.

2. Upgrade Water Treatment Infrastructure

To meet ST108 standards, hospitals and surgical centers require specialized water treatment systems that ensure high-purity water for sterile processing. The most effective solutions include:

Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems: Removes up to 98% of total dissolved solids (TDS), bacteria, and endotoxins to ensure ultra-pure water.
Deionization (DI) Systems: Achieves ultra-low conductivity water, removing minerals that can interfere with sterilization.
Carbon Filtration: Eliminates chlorine and chloramines, which can corrode surgical instruments.
Ultraviolet (UV) Sterilization: Neutralizes bacteria and viruses, preventing biofilm formation.

3. Establish Routine Monitoring & Compliance Checks

ST108 compliance is not a one-time process—it requires ongoing monitoring to ensure water quality remains within required parameters. Hospitals should implement:

Daily, weekly, and monthly water testing for microbial levels, TDS, and hardness.
Automated water monitoring systems to provide real-time data on water quality.
Regular equipment maintenance to prevent system failures and ensure consistent compliance.

Ensure Your Hospital is Fully ST108 Compliant Today

Meeting ST108 water quality standards is essential for hospital accreditation, regulatory compliance, and patient safety. Failure to comply can lead to instrument damage, sterilization failures, and increased infection risks.

Contact WaterProfessionals® today to schedule a consultation and let our water treatment experts design a custom ST108-compliant system for your hospital or surgical center.

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Contact our engineering team for a complimentary consultation & site audit. We design industrial water solutions tailored to your facility’s unique specifications.