Performance evaluation of reverse osmosis systems for water treatment required of hemodialysis in Yazd educational hospitals, 2013

Every week, hemodialysis patients need to approximately 400 l of water for producing dialysis fluids. So, the quality of water used for treatment of hemodialysis patients is an important factor. This study evaluated the performance of reverse osmosis systems of Yazd educational hospitalsdialysis centers for improving the quality of water used. In this study, 48 samples of input and output of reverse osmosis systems collected in two educational hospitals during October to December in 2013. Then samples analyzed from the aspect of the physicochemical parameters such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, total dissolved solids (TDS), sulfate, chloride, total hardness (TH), EC and pH using standard methods of experiment and the results were analyzed using SPSS v.16. software. The findings of research showed that there is significant difference with 99% confidence between input water to reverse osmosis from aspect of calcium, TDS, EC, pH. Results of paired T-Test and evaluation of performance of reverse osmosis showed that there is significant difference between water quality, before and after of system in the hospital No.1. Except chloride and sodium, there is a significant difference between water qualities in two phases in the hospital No.2. The results of this research showed that reverse osmosis system improves the quality of water used for hemodialysis significantly, but in continuous operation may be faced with reduced efficiency. Thus, using combination methods of water treatment is necessary to prevent the physicochemical pollution for ensuring the hemodialysis with good quality.