Advances in Instrumentation Used to Monitor High-Purity Water Treatment Systems

High-purity water treatment technology has progressed and changed significantly in recent years. Major trends include the wider variety of membrane processes driving an increasing share of purification, more use of reclaimed and recycled water, and treatment systems with more user-friendly interface. In addition, industry pure water requirements have also changed. Pharmaceutical waters now have conductivity and total organic carbon (TOC) requirements that are most easily met with on-line measurements. The power industry has more specific water chemistry guidelines and higher priority “core parameters” to be monitored in all plants. The semiconductor industry has more stringent ultrapure water limits as well as process-specific requirements. All of these changes have raised challenges for the associated instrumentation. Application requirements also frequently point toward additional parameters, lower detection levels and lower costs. Progress in instrumentation technology and innovative design are meeting many of these challenges. Presented here is a summary of instrumentation advances that help to meet these newer application needs.