How Millipore Water Systems Let Work Flow in the Laboratory

In today’s challenging economy where laboratories are being asked to “do more with less,” lab personnel are looking for ways to improve productivity. One often overlooked place to start is the water purification system found in almost every lab.

Water is the most frequently used laboratory reagent. The quality of the water used in labs has a profound effect on all phases of life science and analytical analyses and on lab productivity.

For example, a lab working with yeast cell cultures in southern France observed that the cultures often died before experiments could be completed. The same laboratory experienced poor reproducibility for western blotting and PCR procedures. In both situations, the problem was solved when the water purification system was replaced by a Milli-Q® Integral system, which delivers adequate water quality thanks to the use of proprietary water purification and monitoring techniques. In the U.K., a medical device research lab found that having a constant supply of pure and ultrapure water from a Milli-Q Integral allows researchers to gain time and focus on their work. Water can be dispensed automatically, and no one is obliged to interrupt their activities and wait for containers to fill.

Designed with laboratory productivity in mind, water purification systems from Millipore take into account problems such as those described above. The company’s flagship Milli-Q Integral is a “2-in-1” water purification system that puts pressurized pure and ultrapure water—produced from tap—at users’ fingertips. The system’s convenient POD (point-of-delivery) dispensers allow manual or automatic water delivery; height and flow rate are both adjustable. In addition, integrated Elix® electrodeionization technology ensures consistent high water quality at a low operating cost.

A highly satisfied flow cytometry core facility lab manager recently described her own experience with the system: “The Milli-Q Integral system has decreased my cost to do business. I’m filling large volumes on a regular basis—often ten liters at a time. With the high flow rate offered by the Integral system, I don’t have to wait all day for the carboys to fill.”

“I integrated one of the POD dispensers directly into a system that automatically mixes the water from the Integral with a 10x buffer solution. The core lab used to purchase prepared 1x buffer which is quite expensive, and delivery was often unreliable. I did a simple cost analysis and it was clear—making the 1x buffer myself using the Integral system decreased my cost of doing business. The system will pay for itself in a year.”