Application of HACCP for development of quality risk management in a water purification system

Abstract The present work reports the implementation of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) methodology to analyze the water purification system of a pharmaceutical site, in order to assure the system quality and prevent failures. As a matter of fact, the use of HACCP for development and implementation of Quality Risk Management (QRM) is not usual in pharmaceutical plants and it is applied here to improve the performance of the water purification system of a polymerization pilot plant used to manufacture pharmaceutical grade polymer microparticles. Critical Control Points (CCP) were determined with the aid of a decision tree and questions were made to characterize whether identified hazards constitute actual CCPs and should be monitored. When deviations were detected, corrective actions were performed and action plans were used for following-up and implementation of corrective actions. Finally, microbiological and physicochemical parameters were analyzed and the obtained results were regarded as appropriate. Therefore, it is shown that HACCP constitutes an effective tool for identification of hazards, establishment of corrective actions and monitoring of the critical control points that impact the process and the quality of the final pharmaceutical product most significantly.

Moringa oleifera Plant as potent alternate to Chemical Coagulant in Water Purification

Abstract Quality of groundwater is threatened due to pollution by industrial, domestic and agricultural waste. A large number of populations are residing in rural areas which are unable to afford high cost water purifiers due to their low income as well as limited awareness. However, limited availability of fresh water has become a critical issue in developing countries. Around 1.2 billion population is deprived of affordable and safe water for their domestic need. Additionally, chemical coagulants which are nowadays being used for water purification pose severe and numerous health hazards to human. Thus utilization of easily accessible natural coagulant for water purification might offer a sustainable, practical and cost effective solution to the current alarming situation in developing countries. Several experimental findings have shown strong efficiency of Moringa oleifera plant extracts obtained from different solvents in the improvement of water quality parameters including physicochemical (such as pH, hardness, turbidity, metallic impurities, total dissolved solid) and biological (E.coli count) parameter. We have also highlighted the limitations and advantages of chemical coagulation in water purification. Altogether, this review summarizes one such miracle tree which has shown significant potential as a natural coagulant and its associated underlying mechanism in water purification process.

Is dialysis water a safe component for hemodialysis treatment in São Paulo State, Brazil?

Failure on the water treatment poses hemodialysis patients at risk of injury and death. Identifying if the patients are exposed to water quality related microbiological risks is an important objective to reduce the mortality for chronic renal patients and is the main issue of this study. We evaluated the microbiological water quality used by 205 dialysis services in São Paulo State, Brazil between 2010 to 2016. The study included heterotrophic bacteria count, total coliforms research, and bacterial endotoxin determination in 1366 dialysis water samples. The number of unsatisfactory clinics for at least one microbiological parameter decreased 16.0% between 2010 to 2015 but increased 57.2% in 2016. In 2010, the most frequent unsatisfactory parameter was related to heterotrophic bacteria count (54.8%) followed by endotoxin determination (45.2%). However, in 2013 an opposite situation was observed: endotoxin determination as the parameter of the higher incidence of nonconformities. Total coliform was verified at a lower frequency. We highlighted the importance of regular monitoring of dialysis water quality to prevent infections caused by dialytic procedures and to ensure that the water is a safe component of the treatment.

Physical and chemical quality, biodiversity, and thermodynamic prediction of adhesion of bacterial isolates from a water purification system: a case study

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of water purification system and identify the bacteria this system, predict bacterial adherence according to the hydrophobicity of these microorganisms and of the polypropylene distribution loop for purified water. The assessment of drinking water that supplies the purification system allowed good-quality physical, chemical, and microbiological specifications. The physicochemical specifications of the distributed purified water were approved, but the heterotrophic bacteria count was higher than allowed (>2 log CFU mL-1).The sanitation of the storage tank with chlorine decreased the number of bacteria adhered to the surface (4.34 cycles log). By sequencing of the 16SrDNA genes, six species of bacteria were identified. The contact angle was determined and polypropylene surface and all bacteria were considered to be hydrophilic, and adhesion was thermodynamically unfavorable. This case study showed the importance of monitoring the water quality in the purified water systems and the importance of sanitization with chemical agents. The count of heterotrophic bacteria on the polypropylene surface was consistent with the predicted thermodynamics results because the number of adhered cells reached approximate values of 5 log CFU cm-2.

The effect of water purification systems on fluoride content of drinking water.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of different water purification systems on the fluoride content of drinking water and to compare the efficacy of these water purification systems in reducing the fluoride content. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five different water purification systems were tested in this study. They were reverse osmosis, distillation, activated carbon, Reviva , and candle filter. The water samples in the study were of two types, viz, borewell water and tap water, these being commonly used by the people of Davangere City, Karnataka. The samples were collected before and after purification, and fluoride analysis was done using fluoride ion-specific electrode. RESULTS: The results showed that the systems based on reverse osmosis, viz, reverse osmosis system and Reviva showed maximum reduction in fluoride levels, the former proving to be more effective than the latter; followed by distillation and the activated carbon system, with the least reduction being brought about by candle filter. The amount of fluoride removed by the purification system varied between the system and from one source of water to the other. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Considering the beneficial effects of fluoride on caries prevention; when drinking water is subjected to water purification systems that reduce fluoride significantly below the optimal level, fluoride supplementation may be necessary. The efficacy of systems based on reverse osmosis in reducing the fluoride content of water indicates their potential for use as defluoridation devices.

Evaluation of media used in indigenous household iron filter units of rural and semi-urban Assam, India.

Ground water, the major source of drinking water in rural and semi-urban areas of Assam, contains an excessive amount of iron varying from 1 to 10 mg/L or more. People in Assam invariably use household iron filter units-indigenously developed using locally available wooden charcoal and river sand as filter media. The present work is aimed to evaluate effectiveness of wooden charcoal and river sand for its iron adsorption capacity. The experiments were carried at a fixed pH of 5.5 with zero dissolved oxygen levels. Batch kinetic studies indicated rapid uptake of Fe(II) by wooden charcoal in the first 20 min. while the uptake with sand was relatively slower. The adsorption seemed to govern by diffusion within pores of adsorbents and Fe(II) removal mechanism appeared to be complex. Equilibrium studies indicated favorable adsorption of Fe(II) on both adsorbents and followed Langmuir isotherm. Column studies indicated relatively quicker breakthrough through sand bed as compared to charcoal bed. Overall, wooden charcoal and sand both seemed to have potentials for Fe(II) removal.

Ozonation of exhausted dark shade reactive dye bath for reuse.

Exhausted reactive dye bath of dark shades were collected from cotton knit wear dyeing units in Tirupur. Ozonation was conducted in a column reactor system fed with ozone at the rate of 0.16 g/min to assess its efficiency in reducing the color, chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon. The potential of the decolorized dye bath for its repeated reuse was also analyzed. The results from the reusability studies indicate that the dyeing quality was not affected by the reuse of decolorized dye bath for two successive cycles. Complete decolorization of the effluent was achieved in 60 minutes contact time at an ozone consumption of 183 mg/L for Red, 175 for Navy Blue and 192 for Green shades respectively. The corresponding COD removal was 60%, 54% and 63% for the three shades while TOC removal efficiency was 59%, 55% and 62% respectively. It is concluded that ozonation is efficient in decolorization of exhausted dye bath effluents containing conventional reactive dyes. However, the corresponding removal of COD from the textile effluent was not significant.

Household pasteurization of drinking-water: the chulli water-treatment system.

A simple flow-through system has been developed which makes use of wasted heat generated in traditional clay ovens (chullis) to pasteurize surface water. A hollow aluminium coil is built into the clay chulli, and water is passed through the coil during normal cooking events. By adjusting the flow rate, effluent temperature can be maintained at approximately 70 degrees C. Laboratory testing, along with over 400 field tests on chulli systems deployed in six pilot villages, showed that the treatment completely inactivated thermotolerant coliforms. The chulli system produces up to 90 litres per day of treated water at the household level, without any additional time or fuel requirement. The technology has been developed to provide a safe alternative source of drinking-water in arsenic-contaminated areas, but can also have wide application wherever people consume microbiologically-contaminated water.

Investigation of the performance of non-conventional pressure filter system in potable water treatment.

The biflow pressure filter system installed at a residential campus was investigated for its performance under different operating conditions. The investigation was carried out to evaluate raw water quality, chemical dosing systems, filter media and overall filtration performance. Treatability studies were carried out to decide optimum doses of chemicals sused in potable water treatment system. It was found that the biflow pressure system could not deliver filtrate of desired quality and therefore its use in potable water treatment may cause ill effects in human-beings.

Characterization of natural organic matters effect on the biodegradation in the slow sand filter.

This study focuses on the differences in biodegradation of the natural organic matters (NOMs) of p-hydroxy-benzoic acid (PHBA) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzoic acid (VA) with slow sand filter (SSF). The PHBA and VA were biologically transformed into another organic matter in the slow sand filtration (SSF) at the start-up period. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of PHBA and VA were stabilized at 2 mg/l after 5th day. The SUVA value of PHBA run decreased with higher sand depth and flow rate, and VA run's increased with higher sand depth, but smaller than PHBA run. Therefore, the PHBA promoted the DBPFP (formation potential of disinfection by products), the VA brought higher biodegradation and lower DBPFP.

Eliminación de biofilms bacterianos mediante variaciones bruscas de Peache en sistemas de depuración de agua para su uso médico / Bacterial biofilms elimination by means of abrupt variations of peache in systems of water purification for its medical use

La formación de conglomerados de colonias bacterianas en las superficies interiores y los intersticios de una planta de tratamiento de agua para uso médico y sus instalaciones de distribución, representa un severo problema en el aseguramiento de la garantía de calidad microbiológica del agua purificada(1).Los biofilms bacterianos adheridos constituyen focos emisores de microbios, endotoxinas y exotoxinas que pasan con facilidad al agua, provocando inconvenientes cuando esta se destina para usos medicinales tales como la hemodiálisis o en la fabricación de formas farmacéuticas líquidas para administración oral y parenteral (2), manifestándose con cuadros de endotoxinemia y efectos piretogénicos en los pacientes que los reciben. El presente trabajo presenta una alternativa química para prevenir la formación de biofilms bacterianos o remover los mismos mediante productos químicos ácidos y alcalino no tóxicos, de alta penetrabilidad y eficiencia, con efectos saponificantes, quelantes y desincrustantes.