Water purification systems vs. bottled pure water

Bottled pure water: more challenging than it first seems

At first glance, bottled pure water can seem the most simple and economical solution. After all, there’s no capital investment or ongoing maintenance to consider. But in reality there are many pitfalls:

1) Contamination from airborne pollutants

Bottled Ultrapure water (Type 1) degrades to general grade water (Type 3) within just 5 minutes of opening.

That’s because it quickly absorbs CO 2 and other pollutants from the air, reducing resistivity from around 18.2 MΩ-cm to 0.05 MΩ-cm. Any partially used bottles can’t be kept for later and must be thrown away. [See Figure 1]

2) Contamination from packaging leachables

It can be financially tempting to buy bottled pure water in large volumes and store it for future use. But over time leachables from bottles, like solvents and inorganic ions, can contaminate the water. That means the stated purity offers no guarantee of the actual purity upon opening.

3) High and escalating costs

As bottled pure water is so easily contaminated, you’ll end up with a lot of wasted water if you buy large quantities. Purchasing smaller volumes can help overcome this issue, but this can be very expensive and stretch your lab’s budget.

Find out more about the problems with using bottled pure water.

[Figure 1] Resistivity of pure water in air -  Sourced from Elga Veolia

Water purification systems: the smarter alternative

1) Increase the validity of your results

Water purification systems turn simple tap water into Ultrapure water. But the great advantage is that they constantly monitor and maintain purity levels, giving you total confidence in your lab’s water and analytical accuracy at all times.

The better option is to invest in an in-house water purification system. Here are three reasons why:

2) Save on your lab’s running costs

Even accounting for initial investment and maintenance, water purification systems offer very low costs per litre over the long term. In fact, when using volumes of 10 litres a day, the cost per litre of in-house pure water could be as little as £1 – compared to as much as £55 for bottled pure water. That means the savings on your lab’s running costs could be huge.

3) Cut down on waste

Water purification systems allow you to dispense the exact amount of water you need, when you need it. So compared to bottled water, your lab will produce far less waste and help reduce the world’s plastic pollution problem. Not only that, but you won’t have storage issues to consider.

Discover how our innovative Purelab Chorus range of water purification systems could improve your lab’s results and slash running costs.

View Our Full Chorus Range Today