Types of Purified Water Systems in Pharmaceuticals

One of the most pronounced ingredients in any pharmaceutical engineering is water. Water serves as a solvent and ingredient for formulation in many pharmaceutical procedures. Special care and attention must, therefore, be taken to ensure that the water used, meets the standard quality for purified water. Water is purified to remove impurities and prevent microbes which might cause contamination of products.

For water to be rendered purified, it is passed through different types of induatrial water purification systems including distillation, filtration, reverse osmosis and ion exchange. However, other suitable procedures such as ultrafiltration can also be used. Purified water is used in pharmaceutical applications such as preparation of heavy pharmaceutical products and cleaning of certain equipment and systems.

The primary source of purified water is drinking water. As such, the feed water must be protected from microbial proliferation. When considering any type of industrial water filtration systems, it is essential to consider periodic sanitization because microbes may thrive during production, storage, and distribution. One of the general principles which apply to any type of purified water systems in pharmaceuticals entails prevention of any microbial and physical re-contamination. The justification for use of purified water lies on the premise that purified water contains less solid impurities, estimated to be about one percent, than ordinary feed water.

There are three often used different types of industrial water filtration systems in pharmaceuticals which will be discussed including; ion exchange, reverse osmosis (RO) and distillation.

1. Ion exchange is one of the most desirable types of purified water treatments. It involves separation of water-soluble undesirable ions and exchanging those ions with desirable ones. Therefore, this water treatment technology focuses on altering the ionic composition in a desirable direction. Due to its ease of operation, minimal maintenance, the ion exchange method is mostly preferred in pharmacies as a type of purified water system.

2. Reverse osmosis (RO) entails applying pressure to the concentrated solution in an osmosis process, thereby disrupting the natural osmotic flow. As a result, water starts flowing from the more concentrated to the less concentrated solution. It is strongly advised that RO systems being utilized for pharmaceutical manufacturing be designed for control of bacteria. RO units are often susceptible to microbial fouling and must be cleaned thoroughly and regularly.

3. Distillation is another widely used type of purified water system in pharmaceutical practice is distillation. As a general principle, the first ten to twenty percent distillate must be discarded because the feed water contains innumerable volatile substances. The same case applies to the last twenty percent to prevent excessive dryness which would result in solid impurities contaminating the previous distillate. Heat is used to boil the liquid mixture containing volatile components. Later on, condensation is used to recover the vapor.

Water purification for use in pharmaceutical procedures is aimed at achieving a certain level of chemical purity in order to prevent contamination of pharmaceutical products. Through the various types of purified water systems including; ion exchange, distillation and reverse osmosis, pharmacies are able to remove solid impurities from ordinary drinking water.