Where science meets engineering

For aquatic ecotoxicology tests, any water that conforms to the acceptable chemical characteristics and in which the test species shows appropriate long-term survival is suitable as test water. The test water should be of constant quality during the whole period of the study. To ensure that it is of good and constant quality, we at ibacon produce and store large volumes of reconstituted water. In cooperation with our suppliers, our technicians have designed a fully automated working system that continuously prepares and stores test water.

Reconstituted water is prepared by adding commercial salts to deionised water. Calculated volumes of the stock solutions of four salts (CaCl2, MgSO4, NaHCO3, KCl) are dosed into deionised water. The quality-determining parameters pH, conductivity, and temperature are automatically controlled.

After batch production, the fresh test water is diverted to large storage tanks (5*3000 liter), and it is aerated and circulated in the tanks. pH, conductivity and temperature are controlled, and a resting phase follows. The water is then circulated regularly until the tank is emptied. The use of water in the laboratory brings the need to withdraw water from the tanks. The withdrawals are planned to ensure that the tank in which the contents have been stored the longest is emptied first. The test water is automatically released if the parameters pass the quality criteria, otherwise, the tank will be blocked and no water will be released.

The entire system is centrally controlled and monitored. All measured values ​​and operating states of the components can be easily visualized, and remote monitoring of the performance data is possible. Alarm criteria are stored, and in case they are reached, an alarm message will be sent. The system can also be controlled manually, a user hierarchy has been created and the access is password protected.

This reliable system supplies us with sufficient amounts of test water to carry out our studies in the best conditions.