| I was shocked to learn, that in January of 1974, | | | | found in pipes made with polypropylene (PP) or |
| one research technician at the Houston Medical | | | | polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). |
| Center learned first-hand the importance of the | | | | One type of piping uses a fast-setting solvent in |
| pipes that carry ultra pure water. Each workday | | | | its joining system. One type of piping requires |
| she counted on the pure water piped into the | | | | fewer supports. One type of piping has an |
| research laboratories. On the upper floors, that | | | | ultra-smooth inner surface, a surface that greatly |
| water not only underwent added purification, it | | | | reduces the ability of bacteria to grow inside the |
| also had to be cooled. During the summer months, | | | | pipes. |
| the temperatures in Houston could actually warm | | | | That third advantage calls for a recollection of the |
| the water in the water pipes. | | | | story in the opening paragraphs, the story about |
| The added cooling was not needed in January. Still, | | | | the absence of pure water. Ultra pure water is |
| there remained at the Medical Center a need for | | | | like the sterile fluid in the human bloodstream. It |
| ultra pure water. Yet during January of 1974, at | | | | can not remain pure, if it is exposed to a surface |
| least one nursing student complained about the | | | | on which bacteria has been allowed to grow. In |
| apparent absence in her dorm room of clean | | | | fact, the research technician who got sick from |
| water. That nursing student told her fellow | | | | the dorm's water had other medical problems. |
| students that she suffered from diarrhea. | | | | Somehow, the presence of pure water and other |
| Meanwhile, those very nursing students heard the | | | | sterile conditions in a surgery room had not |
| same complaint coming from a research | | | | prevented the contamination of a plastic tube, a |
| technician, one who lived just above the nursing | | | | tube placed inside of one young girl. That young |
| student with the unhealthy bowel system. | | | | girl later took a position at a research lab in |
| The nursing students immediately suspected the | | | | Houston, Texas. Eventually, surgeons at the |
| pipes, the pipes that were responsible for carrying | | | | Medical Center had to remove the infected tube |
| the ultra pure water. It seemed that not all of the | | | | in that young research technician. |
| pipes in the Medical Center's dormitory met the | | | | Now that former technician is writing about |
| high standards expected from water pipes in an | | | | modern water filtration systems. After careful |
| area where cleanliness is of paramount | | | | research, she realizes that the typical homeowner |
| importance. | | | | has one primary goal-delivery of clean, |
| Normally, pipes that need to carry purified water | | | | great-tasting, ultra pure water to those living in or |
| have been engineered to hold-up despite the | | | | visiting a home. By reading about various water |
| demands of industrial, medical or other heavy | | | | filtration systems, the former research technician |
| usage. Purified water should pass through | | | | has learned to appreciate the wisdom of the |
| low-extractable piping. In the absence of such | | | | largest percentage of homeowners. |
| piping, substances from the walls of the pipe | | | | Such homeowners have elected to use a filtration |
| might enter the water, water that has been | | | | system that relies on carbon filters with ion |
| filtered using deionization, reverse osmosis or | | | | exchange and micron filtration. Such a system |
| distillation. | | | | stands out, when compared against other cheaper |
| At the same time, the users of low-extractable | | | | or simpler filtration systems. Such a system gives |
| piping need to realize that not all tubes with a | | | | the homeowner the assurance that he or she has |
| smooth inside surface are alike. One type of | | | | not only made the right choice but also the safest |
| low-extractable piping offers advantages not | | | | choice. |