DI Tank Exchange Service for Healthcare
Deionized Water on Demand
Sterile Mate’s Portable DI Tank Exchange Program is a cost-effective, compliant, and reliable solution designed specifically for the healthcare industry. Our service ensures a consistent supply of high-purity deionized water essential for critical applications such as sterile processing, endoscope reprocessing, and laboratory support. Built to meet AAMI ST108 water quality standards, our exchange program simplifies water purification without compromising performance or safety.
High-Purity Deionized Water Without the Hassle
Sterile Mate’s Ion Exchange (DI) Tanks are engineered to remove ionic contaminants that can compromise sensitive healthcare processes. Our tanks come in multiple sizes and configurations to meet a range of flow rates and purity levels, ensuring dependable water quality for sterile processing, endoscopy, and laboratory use.
Our DI Tank Exchange Service delivers high-purity water with no on-site chemical handling, maintenance, or wastewater discharge. This means you get all the benefits of clean, compliant water—without the operational burden.
Worry-Free Exchange Service
Over time, ion exchange tanks reach their capacity and require replacement to maintain optimal performance. When that point comes, Sterile Mate’s certified technicians handle everything—removing exhausted tanks and installing freshly regenerated, performance-verified replacements—directly at your facility. This seamless exchange process minimizes downtime and ensures your critical water systems remain fully operational
Responsive Scheduling & Remote Monitoring
Sterile Mate’s dispatch team is on-call to coordinate next-day tank exchanges and can provide same-day replacements in urgent situations. To further support uninterrupted operations, we also offer remote monitoring solutions that deliver real-time system visibility and proactive alerts—helping your team stay ahead of tank exhaustion and prevent unexpected downtime.
High-Purity Assurance & Regulatory Compliance
At Sterile Mate, all deionization resins used in our tank exchange program are regenerated under strict quality control standards aligned with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and compliant with ISO 9001 protocols. We utilize only premium-grade ion exchange resins, tested at multiple points during regeneration to ensure optimal effluent quality and throughput consistency.
For critical healthcare, laboratory, and pharmaceutical environments that require compliance with standards such as USP, ASTM, CLSI, ISO 3696 (Types I–IV), CAP, and Milli-Q® specifications, we offer dedicated, isolated DI tank service options with full documentation and traceability—guaranteeing consistent water purity and predictable system performance across every use.
Understanding Deionization: A High-Purity Water Solution
Deionization (DI), also known as demineralization, is one of the most effective methods for removing dissolved ionic impurities—such as salts and minerals—from water. Using specialized ion exchange resins, this process replaces unwanted ions with stable, non-reactive ones, producing water of exceptional purity.
These dissolved ions, though invisible, can cause significant issues in environments that demand high-purity water—especially when used in sterile processing, cooling systems, or as an ingredient in sensitive manufacturing applications. Sterile Mate’s DI systems are designed to target and eliminate these harmful ionic contaminants, ensuring optimal performance and safety.
By selecting the correct combination of ion exchange resins, we tailor each solution to your incoming water quality and the purity level your operation requires. The result is water comparable in purity to distilled water, but delivered on demand and at scale.
Advanced Mixed Bed Systems for Ultra-Pure Water
Sterile Mate’s Mixed Bed Deionizers combine strong acid cation and strong base anion resins into a single tank, delivering exceptionally high-purity water with a stable, near-neutral pH. This setup ensures resistivity levels up to 18.2 megaohms, representing the highest achievable standard in water purification—ideal for critical applications in healthcare and life sciences.
For optimal performance and longevity, these systems are often positioned after a dual-bed deionizer or a reverse osmosis (RO) system. This layered approach significantly extends the lifespan of the mixed bed resins and improves overall water quality.
Each unit is equipped with in-line conductivity or resistivity meters to monitor real-time water quality and signal precisely when tanks need to be replaced—ensuring consistent, uninterrupted access to ultra-pure water.
Dual Bed Deionization Systems for High-Performance Water Purification
Sterile Mate’s Dual Bed Deionization Systems utilize a two-stage process to efficiently remove a wide range of ionic contaminants, delivering high-purity water suitable for a variety of healthcare and facility needs.
Each system typically includes:
Cation Exchange Tank – This first stage removes positively charged ions such as calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, sodium, and manganese, exchanging them for hydrogen (H⁺) ions.
Anion Exchange Tank – The second stage removes negatively charged ions like chloride, bicarbonates, sulfates, nitrates, and CO₂, exchanging them for hydroxide (OH⁻) ions. Depending on the application, we offer both strong base and weak base anion resins. While strong base anion systems target a broader range of contaminants including silica and CO₂, weak base systems are designed for non-silica applications with a lower pH output.
The result is purified water composed of H⁺ and OH⁻ ions—forming clean H₂O. Expected resistivity levels reach up to 200,000 ohm-cm (approximately 2.5 ppm TDS), making these systems highly effective for general-use high-purity water needs, though not full deionization.
To enhance water quality further, a mixed bed ionizer can be added after the dual bed system to “polish” the water—bringing it up to ultra-pure standards (18.2 megaohms resistivity).
Sterile Mate’s modular design also allows for customization and expansion to meet the specific purity demands of your healthcare facility or lab environment.
Expected Purity Performance of Deionized Tanks
| Type | Resistivity | Conductivity | TDS | pH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mixed Bed |
≤18.2 Ω |
≥0.056 µ |
≥0 ppm |
Neutral |
|
Cation-Stong Base Anion |
≤200K Ω |
≥5 µ |
≥2.5 ppm |
>7 |
|
Cation-Weak Base Anion |
≤100K Ω |
≥10 µ |
≥5 ppm |
<7 |
Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Pre-Treatment
Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) plays a critical role in protecting high-purity water systems by removing chlorine, chloramines, and a wide range of dissolved organic contaminants. While GAC does not operate through ion exchange, it is an essential pre-treatment component in many deionization and reverse osmosis (RO) systems. GAC filtration helps prevent oxidation damage and organic fouling, ensuring longer-lasting system performance and improved water quality consistency.
FAQs
How does your DI exchange program work?
Once the water purification system is installed, it will immediately begin producing high-quality deionized water, ensuring the best standards for your healthcare facility. Over time, the deionization tanks will become exhausted as the resin beads become saturated with dissolved minerals. When this occurs, the water conductivity will decrease, and the water quality monitor will alert you that it’s time to contact Sterile Mate for an exchange.
Upon reaching out to Sterile Mate, or utilizing our convenient online tank ordering feature, a new tank will be delivered the next business day (or same day if it’s an emergency) by one of our trained drivers. Our team will handle the entire exchange process, ensuring minimal disruption to your operations. The exhausted tank will then be returned to our facility for regeneration, ready for future use when you need it again.
This service ensures your facility always has access to the cleanest, most reliable water for your critical healthcare needs.
How do I decide what type of DI system I required?
To ensure your facility’s water needs are met, it’s important to determine both the daily volume of deionized water required and the specific water quality standards you need to maintain. Once we have this information, Sterile Mate can provide expert guidance on the appropriate type and size of deionization tanks to support your operations, ensuring optimal performance and water quality for your healthcare needs.
How long with one DI tank last?
In healthcare settings, the need for high-quality deionized water is critical, particularly for applications such as sterilization, laboratory use, and dialysis. The amount of deionized water you can produce depends largely on the water’s total dissolved solids (TDS)—water with higher TDS will generate less deionized water, while water with lower TDS concentrations will produce more.
Other factors, like turbidity and organic content, also influence the effectiveness of the deionization process. Over time, the performance of the DI system can be impacted by issues such as inconsistent flow rates, system misuse, bacterial contamination, bypass valve leaks, the use of copper piping, extreme temperatures, air in the system, and problems with upstream equipment. Proper placement of a 185nm UV system after the mixed bed, as well as ensuring that instruments measuring water quality are accurately calibrated, is also essential for maintaining the effectiveness and efficiency of the DI system.
At Sterile Mate, we take all of these factors into account to ensure the provision of high-quality, reliable deionized water, tailored to your specific healthcare needs, helping to support the proper functioning of your medical devices and sterilization processes.
