Millipore unveils alternative point-of-use purification system

Millipore is a Life Science leader providing cutting-edge technologies, tools, and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

The new Milli-Q Integral water purification system from US-based company Millipore aims to offer users a lower cost alternative to delivering pure and ultrapure water in new labs.

The system has been designed as a one-source solution for pure and ultrapure water and provides labs with an alternative to centralised "loop" configurations.

Each centralised loop water system delivering pure water in cGMP-compliant labs installed in a new building is a complex machine built only once. This solution is expensive, time-consuming to install and requires a specific, tailored qualification protocol, which takes time to develop. Depending on loop length and design, it may be difficult to deliver water within quality specifications.

If a water delivery loop extension is performed to feed additional laboratories, cGMP will require the revalidation of the entire water purification installation, with the risk to impact the existing operation, whereas the installation of Milli-Q Integral systems to feed those new labs will just require the validation of the additional systems.

Combining Millipore's patented Elix technology with the company's best-in-class Milli-Q solution, the Milli-Q Integral system's single water production unit produces pressurised pure and ultrapure water directly from tap water. Users switching from a centralised water purification system/distribution loop to the new Milli-Q Integral systems will gain direct control over water quality throughout the entire purification process, thanks to the system's high-precision integrated TOC and resistivity monitoring devices, which detect both ionic and organic contaminants.

The system has a reduced "footprint" for easy bench integration, or for convenient installation anywhere in the lab (including wall installation). Separate points-of-delivery (POD) dispensers deliver either ultrapure water (from the Q-POD unit), or pure water (from the E-POD unit) at adjustable flow rates ranging from drop-by-drop to 2 L/min. Milli-Q Integral system users are not restricted to a single ultrapure water quality, as is often the case in labs with loop configurations: POD dispensers can be adapted with contaminant-specific final polishers to remove pyrogens, nucleases, bacteria, particulates and organics.

The flexibility of the Milli-Q Integral system lets users adapt their water purification solution easily to keep pace with changing laboratory needs. A range of systems exists to provide users with 70 to 360 L/day of pure and/or ultrapure water. In addition, each system supports up to three POD units, for water delivery exactly where it is needed. Pure water storage reservoirs are designed to accommodate volumes of 30 to 350 L.

Millipore is based in Billerica, Massachusetts.