Reverse Osmosis in the Biopharm Industry

MECO biopharm

The biopharmaceutical industry requires massive volumes of water. From research and development to the manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products, water plays a fundamental role in every stage of biopharmaceutical operations, and different processes require different types of water, each with its own testing requirements.

A comparison of two water types in biopharm use

Purified Water (PW), for example, is sufficient for use as a diluent in the production of non-sterile products, for cleaning equipment and as pretreatment in the preparation of Water for Injection (WFI) and pharmaceutical-grade pure steam production. However, it is not adequately sterilized for use as an excipient in sterile pharmaceutical products. In these cases, more rigorously sterilized WFI is the required water type. WFI is used for diluting substances in the manufacturing of parenteral and ophthalmic products, as well as the final rinsing of packaging.

Ensuring high standards for Purified Water and Water for Injection in the biopharmaceutical industry

For obvious reasons, the biopharmaceutical industry is one of the most closely regulated, and each component of a biopharmaceutical production process must be carefully purified and monitored to prevent the contamination of products. Because water is such an integral part of the process, it is necessary to take special precautions in the purification of water intended for use in the industry. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is one of the treatments recommended by International Pharmacopeias, and it offers several advantages to biopharmaceutical companies. The RO process can remove up to 99.5% of constituents from feed water sources, eliminating bacteria, proteins and particles with a molecular weight of 100 Dalton or higher. Reverse osmosis, in combination with other units of operation such as electrodeionization and/or ultrafiltration, meet the requirements of various pharmacopeia monographs for PW and WFI.

How MECO serves the biopharm industry

With thousands of water purification systems successfully installed around the world, MECO serves leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies with more than 25 million gallons of product water each day. Our biopharm portfolio includes the broadest range of engineered products for Purified Water, Water for Injection and Pure Steam. This depth of experience ensures that we understand the critical nature of maximized uptime for your operations. Whatever your water requirements may be, MECO answers with the ideal combination of highly experienced engineers, state-of-the-art manufacturing and first-class service. Discover our broad range of products – Multimedia Filtration, Water Softening, Carbon Filtration, Ultrafiltration, Reverse Osmosis, Multiple Effect Distillation, Vapor Compression Distillation and Storage and Distribution. Get in touch today to see how we can help you.