RO systems in laboratories provide essential high-purity water necessary for testing and research purposes. However, hard water scale formation on RO membranes is a significant and costly problem for labs. In fact, premature scaling is one of the most common and expensive RO system problems faced by laboratories. Labs in hard water areas are particularly susceptible, leading to increased maintenance requirements and higher consumable costs.
Operating in ever more restricted and challenging environments, laboratories are seeking more innovative, intelligent and practical pre-treatment solutions. Template Assisted Crystallisation (TAC) pre-treatment is one such effective solution.
In this blog we will look at how TAC works to protect your RO cartridges.
The problem of hard water in laboratories
Hard water contains high concentrations of dissolved calcium and magnesium minerals. When an RO system receives hard water without prior treatment scaling will accumulate upon membranes and cartridges. The build-up of scale from hard water will result in decreased flow rates and degraded water quality while reducing the lifespan of RO components.
While traditional water softeners are the norm in most commercial or industrial applications, they are often not a viable or even desirable solution in the laboratory. Space is often at a premium, and low (and variable) flow rates and minimal system interruption are high priorities. As a result, hardness is often left as an ongoing concern in many laboratory RO systems.
Traditional softening is not always the best option
Softening technology is based on ion exchange resins that remove hardness minerals from the water. A traditional water softener must have space to be housed, constant supply of salt, regeneration cycles, and periodic maintenance. In a laboratory environment, particularly a smaller lab, or lab with multiple point-of-use solutions, this can create unnecessary additional work and costs.
Furthermore, not all labs desire or require complete water softening. Often the objective is only to inhibit scale and protect RO components from hardness while preserving the original water chemistry.
What is TAC Pre-Treatment?
Template Assisted Crystallisation (TAC) is a scale prevention technology that takes a different approach to hardness and does not remove minerals from the water. It is not softening, so it does not use ion exchange and will not lower a hardness reading on a standard water test.
TAC transforms dissolved hardness minerals into tiny non-scaling crystals instead of eliminating them. The microscopic crystals float within the water without sticking to surfaces or producing scale deposits. These micro-crystals pass through RO cartridges without damage and continue in the concentrate stream to keep membranes free from fouling.
How TAC pre-treatment works in practice
A typical TAC pre-treatment arrangement will include two basic stages:
- Depth filtration
A fine particulate filter, which removes suspended solids from the feed water, to protect downstream components and to ensure the TAC media can perform at optimal level.
- TAC cartridge
The TAC cartridge is filled with a proprietary crystallite media that bonds with hardness molecules and transforms them into inert, non-scaling crystals. These crystals are no longer a risk to RO membranes.
This technology provides reliable scale control, with no chemicals, no regeneration and no complicated maintenance.
Advantages of lab RO systems using TAC pre-treatment
If your laboratory is situated in a hard water area, these advantages of TAC pre-treatment are obvious:
- Longer RO cartridge life with no scale build-up
- Improved system reliability and performance
- Lower consumable and maintenance costs
- Compact, space-saving design, perfect for labs
- Chemical, salt and wastewater-free operation with no regeneration
TAC pre-treatment is required when the feed water hardness is greater than 250 ppm, or when ECO variant laboratory units are used, as these units are more scale sensitive.
A flexible solution for today’s labs
Another advantage of TAC pre-treatment is flexibility. The entire assembly can be installed to laboratory units in almost any position. This makes the TAC an easy retrofit for new or existing installations. In addition, with extended cartridge change-out intervals, generally six months for the depth filter and up to two years for the TAC cartridge, help to reduce long-term maintenance requirements.
This is why TAC provides laboratories with a low-maintainance, high-performance way to protect their RO system without the hassle of traditional water softening.
Purite’s TAC pre-treatment
Purite offers a specialised TAC pre-treatment accessory made exclusively for laboratory RO systems. Designed specifically with the challenges of laboratory applications in mind, the Purite TAC pre-treatment assembly will help to protect RO cartridges, increase operational efficiency and decrease total cost of ownership.
Supplied as a complete system accessory kit, with pre-filtration, TAC technology and all necessary installation parts included – it’s an easy-to-use, maintenance-free option that offers an effective solution to hard water problems.
Manage hard water effectively
Hard water need not result in increased costs, downtime and decreased RO performance. TAC pre-treatment allows labs to safeguard RO cartridges, prolong system life and maintain reliable water quality without the problems of conventional softening.
Learn more about Purite’s TAC pre-treatment solution or to see if it is the right fit for your laboratory, contact us. Our team of water treatment specialists will be more than happy to help you find a smarter way to protect your laboratory RO system.