Q: How can the environmental impact of water purification in the lab be reduced?
Water purification in laboratories is a resource-intensive process as water systems require water, electricity, and consumables to make them run. Furthermore, system maintenance often requires hazardous chemical regeneration procedures, and UV lamps frequently contain mercury. A lifecycle assessment performed according to ISO 14040 estimated that 79 percent of the global warming potential of a lab water purification system occurs during system use.1
A: Modern water systems can save water and energy and reduce chemical and plastic waste, impacting the environmental footprint of a facility.
Milli-Q® system engineers are actively working to make water systems and processes more sustainable, particularly in the areas of water and electricity consumption, which have the largest environmental impact. For example, E.R.A.® technology optimizes water recovery from the RO membrane on high-flow systems, reducing water use by up to 50 percent compared to the previous generation of RO systems. This also results in longer pretreatment cartridge lifetime–reducing plastic waste. Milli-Q® IQ , IX, and EQ systems yield up to 35 percent energy savings (up to 2000 kWh over the product lifecycle) compared to older generation systems thanks to optimized components and purification processes, improved Lab Close mode, and the Elix® electrodeionization module. Also available in Milli-Q® IQ and IX systems, ech2o® UV lamps eliminate mercury handling and associated regulated disposal management.
Milli-Q® IQ 7003/05/10/15 series water purification systems have been awarded MilliporeSigma's Greener Alternative Product label.
To learn more, visit SigmaAldrich.com/milliq-sustainability
1. Life cycle assessment performed on an Elix® 100 water purification system (MilliporeSigma)