Challenge

A U.S. healthcare products manufacturer wanted to expand operations and production without increasing the water needs and water discharge requirements.  Its current water system was producing 150 gallons per minute (gpm) of high-quality Pharmacopoeia Purified Water.  The manufacturer’s goals were to: add 150-gpm make-up water capabilities to existing capacity; reduce wastewater production by more than 16,000,000 gallons/year; enhance water and energy efficiency to increase production with less cost and waste; improve water quality over existing standards; and operate in a community friendly environment.

Solution

After exploring various options, the healthcare manufacturer chose Siemens to supply an S3® water system, incorporating Ionpure CEDI modules manufactured for the S3 system.  The revolutionary Sanitize, Start, Stop process used in the S3 system provides microbial control by using a quick 30-minute heat sanitization cycle  During dormant periods, the system shuts down rather than continuously recirculating, which provides significant energy and cost savings. A rapid pulse sanitization just before use ensures that the system produces consistent water quality.  The S3 system: consumes considerably less water and energy; creates significantly less wastewater; reduces the need for system consumables such as salt, and ultraviolet (UV) bulbs; lengthens the life of components such as pumps, membranes and CEDI modules; requires less space and unit processes; is easily retrofitted to existing systems; and can be combined with chemical cleaning, chemical sanitization and conventional heat sanitization to best address microbial contamination and biofilm formation.

Results

Commissioned in 2008, the S3 system at the healthcare manufacturer’s plant has met the project goals.  The system is saving 16.4 million gallons of water per year, which translates into considerable cost savings, and is producing high quality water that meets the plant’s specifications

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