Choosing the Right Water Purification System for Your Clinical Lab: A Quality and Efficiency Perspective

Water quality has a direct impact on clinical test accuracy, instrument reliability, and operational efficiency. Here’s how leading labs are approaching water system selection to meet today’s demands. 

Why water quality matters now in the clinical lab 

Water underpins nearly every aspect of modern clinical laboratory workflows—from preparing reagents and calibrators to operating analyzers and maintaining sterility. Yet despite its importance, water quality often remains a background consideration until problems arise. 

Suboptimal water can directly affect clinical test accuracy and reliability, lead to equipment fouling, increase quality control failures, and ultimately delay patient results. As clinical labs face growing complexity, throughput demands, and regulatory requirements, water management is becoming a strategic focus—not just an operational necessity. 

Labs are increasingly recognizing purified water not simply as a utility, but as a critical quality input essential to meeting today’s stringent standards. 

How water quality impacts clinical workflows 

Water used in clinical laboratories must consistently meet well-defined purity specifications. The Clinical Laboratory Reagent Water (CLRW) standard, as defined in CLSI C3, sets limits for ions, particulates, organics, and bacteria. 

When water purity falls short, the impact can be significant: 

• Residue buildup in baths, probes, syringes, and wash stations increases instrument downtime and maintenance. 
• Bacterial contamination can interfere with photometric and chemiluminescence readings, and compromise calibration. 
• Particulates and organics can affect pipetting accuracy and result in reagent waste. 
• Inaccurate calibration or assay interference can lead to repeat testing and unreliable patient results.  
• Increased reagent and consumable waste drives up operating costs.  

Water quality is also integral to maintaining compliance with standards such as ISO 15189 and ensuring consistent quality assurance across all workflows. 

Why water system selection is more important than ever 

Several trends are placing new demands on clinical lab water systems: 

• The growing use of sensitive mass spectrometry and molecular diagnostics 
• Higher throughput expectations with reduced tolerance for downtime 
• Increased reliance on fully automated platforms requiring consistent water quality 
• Tighter quality assurance and accreditation requirements
• Sustainability goals that call for efficiency in water, energy, and consumables  

In this environment, clinical labs must carefully align water system capabilities with workflow requirements and long-term operational needs. 

What leading labs are looking for in water systems 

As clinical labs evaluate new water purification systems—whether upgrading existing infrastructure or specifying equipment for new platforms—several key priorities are emerging. These reflect both the need for consistent water quality and the increasing complexity of modern lab operations: 

• Systems that can consistently deliver CLRW-grade water across all workflows 
• Modular, flexible platforms that scale with changing test menus and throughput 
• Optimized storage and dispensing to minimize microbial contamination risk 
• Built-in monitoring and redundancy to reduce the risk of downtime 
• Sustainable designs that minimize water, energy, and consumable waste 
• Transparent long-term cost of ownership  

By selecting systems that match water quality to specific workflow requirements—and proactively managing risk points—clinical labs can protect data integrity, enhance efficiency, and reduce operational costs. 

Water quality is foundational to the lab

Water quality is a foundational, yet often underappreciated, component of clinical laboratory quality management. As workflows become more complex and accreditation expectations rise, ensuring that water systems consistently meet required standards is essential to protecting both patient results and lab efficiency. 

Clinical laboratories that elevate water management as part of their broader quality strategy will be better positioned to deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes—while controlling cost and complexity in an increasingly demanding clinical environment.