Sterile Processing Water

Sterile Processing Water 2017-09-15T13:15:01-07:00

HIGH PURITY WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS FOR STERILE PROCESSING

The quality of water is important to the operation of sterile processing equipment. Water can actually be detrimental to washing, disinfection and sterilization equipment, and to the condition and life of surgical instruments, if it does not meet manufacturers’ specifications. It is important for Sterile Processing personnel to better understand the water they have in their departments, and what they need to do to ensure best processes. Some of the systems that require high purity water include:

  • Automated Endoscope Reprocessors (AERs): The high level disinfection cycle and final rinse will work more effectively and not leave scaling and staining on the endoscope if high purity water that meets the AAMI water quality standards for medical device reprocessing is used.
  • Stills and Steam Disinfection Boilers: Feed water that is high purity ASTM Type II will improve the product and prevent scale and maintenance problems.
  • Medical Washers / Disinfectors: The post-flush rinse should be performed with high purity water that meets AAMI water quality standards for medical device
  • Glassware Washers: To prevent residue that could interfere with the use of glassware, high purity water that meets ASTM Type IV or CLSI Type III should be used.

AmeriWater’s complete high purity water treatment systems have been designed to remove the residual contaminants from tap water that will provide the specified water for the specific application. Field proven in medical facilities across North America, AmeriWater’s sterile processing water treatment systems use a minimum of valuable floor space and are designed to minimize maintenance and deliver greater energy efficiency while providing cleaner water for cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilization.

  • Prefiltration for sediment removal
  • Reverse osmosis unit purifies your water

  • Anti-scalant feed reduces hard water scale on RO

  • Controller with conductivity feed and product water

  • Simple disinfection cycle

  • Storage tank with sealed lid and distribution pump ensures continuous pure water for your systems

  • Flexible configurations available

  • Produces 800 GPD up to 7,500 GPD depending upon the system selected

  • Deionizer polisher includes a 200,000 ohm-cm monitor and alarm

  • Storage tank sizes are 55, 100, and 185 gallons

  • Low feed pressure system shutdown / alarm

  • High conductivity alarm

  • Storage tank empty pump shutdown

Which model is right for your application?

Obtain the model numbers, manufacturer, and flow requirements for each washer/disinfector, sterilizer/boiler, sink and other equipment or fixtures that will need high purity water. To determine the gallons per hour for each unit, find out how many cycles per hour and how long each cycle is. Calculate the total gallons per hour needed for the water treatment system by using the formula in the example below. Choose a system based on the total gallons per hour required. For safety and future expansion, always choose the next largest size.

EQUIPMENT GPH X # SYSTEMS = TOTAL GPH
Washer/Disinfector #1 53 1 53
Washer/Disinfector #2 15.4 1 15.4
Clean Up Sink 120 1 120
Total Gallons Per Hour (GPH) 188.4

The next step is to find out whether the water treatment system should have a standard or high flow distribution pump. Calculate the total minimum flow gallons per minute using the formula below.

EQUIPMENT MIN FLOW GPM X # SYSTEMS = TOTAL GLOW
Washer/Disinfector #1 12 1 12
Washer/Disinfector #2 5.7 1 5.7
Clean Up Sink 2 1 2
Total Minimum Pump Flow GPM** 19.7
** If GPM is ≤ 20 select system with a standard pump. If GPM is between 20-30 select system with a high flow pump. If GPM exceeds 30, contact AmeriWater.

CERTIFICATIONS

  • ETL Listed, Conforms to UL Std 61010-1
  • Certified CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 61010-1
  • ISO 13485 Registered Device
  • Seismic OPA-2202-07