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