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EmailIn 2026, Chris Nancrede presented High Purity Water Fundamentals to Stantec, focusing on RO and DI system design for plumbing engineers.
The presentation covered the fundamentals engineers need to consider when designing high purity water systems, beginning with the end use of the water and the quality required by the customer. Chris discussed the differences between reverse osmosis (RO) and deionization (DI), water quality requirements for different applications, and why incoming water conditions need to be understood before the system is designed.
Chris also reviewed how to properly size RO systems, pretreatment, storage, and distribution systems. He discussed the importance of designing around gallons per day and peak demand, maintaining adequate pressure at the RO system, selecting the right pretreatment, and accounting for water temperature and system recovery. The presentation also addressed the role of water softener systems and other pretreatment components in protecting RO equipment.
The presentation covered system reliability and water quality after treatment, including storage tank sizing, continuous recirculation, piping materials, loop velocity, microbial control, sanitization, and minimizing stagnant piping and dead legs. Chris also discussed water quality requirements for applications such as laboratory water, boiler feedwater, pharmaceutical water, and sterile processing water under ANSI/AAMI ST108.
Chris concluded with common high purity water system design mistakes and practical considerations for engineers, including redundancy, equipment access, mechanical room coordination, proper pretreatment, and the importance of working with an experienced water treatment engineer when designing critical systems.