A leading medical materials manufacturer has achieved a cost-effective and reliable supply of pharmaceutical standard purified water for equipment washing, sterilisation and steam generation with Veolia Water Technologies’ (VWT UK) Orion® solution.
The manufacturer, located in the south of England, required a purified water solution for a new cleanroom facility at its headquarters. The facility is used to support its new product launches and clinical trials work.
The water, which needs to meet US Pharmacopeia (USP) Purified Water standards, is used as a feed for autoclaves and washer disinfectors for washing and sterilising production equipment components. The new facility has relatively low water volume requirements as the autoclaves and washer disinfectors typically only operate once or twice per day. There were limits on the physical space available for the new plant, which was a consideration for the system integration. This resulted in VWT UK designing a system around its multi-technology packaged Orion purified water generation system, which feeds directly to each of the points of use.
The Orion® water treatment system, which was developed for the pharmaceutical industry, uses a combination of technologies to produce high-purity water that reliably meets industry standards. It combines water softening, dechlorination, Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Continuous Electrodeionisation (CEDI) technologies to achieve USP Purified Water standards. The CFR 21 Part 11 compliant chart recorder included in the Orion® control panel provides easy access to performance and quality reporting for MHRA auditors.
The Orion® system is skid-mounted, tested and supplied fully assembled for easy integration on-site. One of the key benefits of a pre-packaged solution is that it saves valuable space compared with separate units and the final skid could undergo Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) before arrival on site for final Site Acceptance Test (SAT) and handover.
By directly feeding into the distribution ring main the Orion® system eliminated the need for an additional storage and distribution system. This reduced the capital investment needed as well as future costs associated with the operation, sanitisation and maintenance of a storage and distribution system.
A key advantage of the Orion system for the client was its ability to carry out an automated hot water sanitisation at 85˚C, including the ring main.
VWT UK’s ability to provide ongoing support, ensuring the system provides compliant purified water consistently and reliably was an important factor for the client. An Aquaservice™ bundled maintenance contract will ensure the system continues to operate as designed throughout the system’s lifecycle. The Aquaservice™ documents produced by VWT will be used by the client as part of its audit reports.
Maximilian Flannery, Business Development Manager – Pharmaceutical at VWT UK concluded:
“We are pleased to be supporting this pioneering manufacturer in the development of new products and look forward to working with the team in the future as they continue to grow and expand. Our Orion® system is ideal for this type of application where operational flexibility, reliability and cost efficiency are all key criteria.”
