Posted: Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Kidneys filter around 200 litres of blood a day, removing waste products and excess salt and water from the body, and if they are not working properly due to disease or injury patients will undergo renal dialysis to ensure they remain healthy.
Hospitals must meet strict quality specification demands set by the Renal Association for water used in renal dialysis, to ensure that all dialysate fluid is clean and safe.
Purified water plays an important role in the provision of renal dialysis for patients with chronic kidney disease. This is because more than 99% of dialysate fluid used is composed of purified water and the Renal Association specifies that there must be less than 0.1ppm of chlorine in the feed water to the renal reverse osmosis system. The water used for kidney dialysis treatment is not sterile at the point of origin, so must be carefully treated prior to use.
Traditionally, carbon filtration has been used to purify water in preparation for use in dialysis, however UV disinfection presents an excellent alternative. UV technology ensures that water used in dialysate fluid is below the 0.1ppm chlorine limit required, and is a safe, environmentally friendly solution.
The benefits of using UV over the traditional process include the fact that no chemicals are added to the water, no holding time is needed, and UV disinfection is effective against a wide range of microorganisms.
Overall, it is wonderful to see UV disinfection being used to enhance a common and vital treatment in the health industry.
To learn more on how UV technology is being used in the health industry Contact Us.