Renal upgrade offers reliability and improved infection control

Our client’s acute dialysis unit needed a complete refurbishment, due to infection control issues and general wear and tear. A new water purification system with nine points of use (POUs) was central to the upgrade, and there was a need to find an alternative to chemically cleaning the ringmain and dialysis units, which Veolia was carrying out during off-peak hours, two to four times a year.

Veolia supplied a water pre-treatment set-up and single patient reverse osmosis (RO) units to provide a temporary water supply during the refurbishment, allowing building work to take place during normal working hours. A fully recirculating design reduced the likelihood of bacteria or biofilm growing in stagnant water, and the temporary system used softeners to improve the performance of the ROs. Carbon vessels – each with an empty bed contact time (ECBT) of 10 minutes – removed free chlorine and chloramines, which are dangerous to dialysis patients’ health.

The project was successfully delivered with minimal disruption to dialysis services during the four-month refurbishment process, thanks to the temporary water treatment system that was set up in another ward.