The installation of Millipore's Elix 70 Clinical water purification system provides Laboratoire Thebault with the pure water it requires, at low operating and maintenance costs
Millipore says it has successfully upgraded Laboratoire Thebault, a clinical laboratory located in Choisy-le-Roi near Paris, France, with an Elix Clinical water purification system, which it uses to feed an Hitachi 917 analyser.
The Millipore system combines pretreatment, reverse osmosis and Millipore's patented Elix electrodeionization module to produce high-quality, pure water on a consistent basis.
The laboratory, owned by Bertrand Thebault, uses several analysers for biology analyses routinely prescribed for patients who are covered by France's health maintenance organisation, the Securite sociale.
The lab performs analyses for walk-in clients as well as contract research organisations (CROs), the pharmaceutical research bodies responsible for clinical trials.
"We have always needed pure water to feed and clean analysers, reconstitute reagents and wash glassware," explains Thebault.
A previous reliance on separate reverse osmosis technology and ion exchange resin cartridges resulted in frequent quality dips.
Following an external audit, Thebault began purchasing bottled water, which solved the quality issue, but created a significant additional expense due to the large volume of water required.
Tap water usage was decreased from four liters to two for every one liter of pure water produced.
There is no need to replace saturated ion exchange resins on a regular basis.
Additionally, traceability is no longer a problem, as pure water parameters may be printed from an internal monitoring system.
"Today we experience consistent water quality and easily meet the needs for all functions that require pure water," says Thebault.
"Since the system was installed, the only maintenance required has been the replacement of two purification cartridges.
"The pure water produced fully meets our requirements with a level of quality over and above our daily needs.
"Plus, the system's traceability gives me the peace of mind that I've been looking for."
