Water Quality Testing Put Your Autoclave’s Water Quality to the Test with Kits from CSS Don’t Let Poor Water Quality Ruin Your Autoclave Consolidated’s water testing kit and service is designed to assess the quality of feed water to your autoclave and to your house steam or integrated boiler. We offer two types of easy, do-it-yourself test kits: a single bottle kit and a dual bottle kit. Each kit comes with bottles, testing instructions, a shipping container, and shipping instructions. Simply fill up the bottle, follow the shipping instructions, and, in just three weeks time, you’ll receive an analysis report offering a detailed breakdown of your water quality, so you can take appropriate mitigation measures. Order a Test Why Is Water Quality Important? The quality of water you use in your autoclave has a direct impact on its overall performance. Poor-quality water contains contaminants such as silica, sodium, and chlorides that can damage your autoclave. If left unaddressed, these contaminants can: Create sediment buildup in the steam generator, causing frequent failures and costly repairs Corrode steel throughout your autoclave, potentially causing leaks in your pressure vessel, which are incredibly expensive to repair Contribute to poor steam quality, which can cause damage to load materials Void your vessel warranty Ultimately, poor water quality greatly increases equipment downtime and maintenance costs and can reduce your autoclave’s usable lifespan by up to 7 years. Carry over to steam, contributing to poor steam quality Cause more frequent breakdowns, increasing your total cost of repairs Require you to schedule more frequent and costly preventative maintenance Reduce the overall usable lifespan of your autoclave Void your 15-year pro-rated vessel warranty To avoid these issues, we recommend testing your water quality at least once a year. If your water quality does not meet specifications, you can easily install a reverse osmosis (RO) or deionization (DI) water treatment system to remedy the issue. Depending on your water quality, an RO or DI system typically pays for itself in 1–3 years by dramatically reducing your maintenance costs. Consolidated’s Water Quality Requirements 1 mg/L = 1 ppm Steam Generator Boiler Feed Water General Vacuum Device & Quench Boiler Feed Water Feed Water into CSS RO Filter System – – Characteristic Recommended Condition Maximum Condition Recommended Condition Maximum Condition Recommended Condition Maximum Condition Temperature [°F (°C)] As supplied 140 (60) – 100 (37.8) 40–60 (4–16) 70 (21) Silica (ppm) 0.0–1.0 2.5 2.5–15 15 0.0–1.0 2.5 Total Dissolved Solids (ppm) 50–150 250 100–1500 1500 50–200 500 pH 7.5–8.5 7.5–9.0 7.5–8.5 7.5–9.0 6.8–7.5 6.5–9.0 Alkalinity (ppm) 50–180 350 50–180 350 50–180 350 Hardness (ppm) 5–25 85 25–225 225 10–85 171 Resistivity (ɥmΩ/cm) 2,000 26,00020 – – 2,000–500,000 500,000 Specific Conductance (ɥmΩ/cm) 500 38.5 – – 500–2 2 Sodium (ppm) 0.0–2.5 10 2.5–100 100 – – Chloride (ppm) 0.0–2.5 10 2.5–125 125 – – Copper (ppm) 0.0–0.2 – – – – – Iron (ppm) 0.0–0.2 – – – – – Zinc (ppm) 0.0–0.2 – – – – – Aluminum (ppm) 0.0–0.2 – – – – – Magnesium (ppm) 0.0–0.2 – – – – – Common Contaminants and Their Impact Contaminant Type Associated Damage Hardness and silica Scale/particle buildup interferes with sensors, causing damage to heaters, valves, regulators, etc. Precipitate sludge Buildup clogs sensors and fills generator chamber High pH and alkalinity Caustic water causes pitting and corrosion Sodium and chlorides Accelerates corrosion Ultra-purified feed water Causes resistivity and sensors to malfunction Damage Caused by Poor-Quality Water The pipes of a newly installed autoclave unit after two weeks of usage with high silicate levels.Steam generator filled with precipitate sludge. Inside of a chamber damaged from routine chloride exposure. How to Mitigate Poor Water Quality Depending on the results of your test, there are numerous ways to address poor water quality, including: WPS-1200-RO system: For carbon steel boilers only. The RO system reduces water contaminants, including chlorides and sodium, by over 90%. It can be sized to feed the generator on any standard size Consolidated sterilizer and requires a separate footprint. WPS-1200-DI system: Required for stainless steel boilers, the DI system produces ultra pure water. Generator blowdown: Reduces buildup of sludge and scale within your generator by draining automatically any time you turn the sterilizer off. This works best in conjunction with the EcoCalendar and is best practice for any sterilizer fed with non-deionized water. Nickel clad chamber construction: Helps prevent corrosion of inner chamber walls. This option is only available for standard size units. Steam filter: Used for HC units and also direct steam applications where steam quality is a known issue. Don’t let poor water quality stand in the way of autoclave performance. Order your test kit from Consolidated today. Not sure what solution is right for you? Get Quote for Steam Quality
