Outstanding haemodialysis at the Birmingham Children's Hospital

When Birmingham Children's Hospital built a new Renal Unit in 2009, top of its most wanted list was to leave the old unreliable water plant behind in favour of a new Modula S-TP water purification system from ELGA Process Water, part of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies.

Jane Cotterill, the Unit's Renal Services Manager, explains: "The water plant in the old Renal Unit was continually breaking down and there was limited back up. We were lucky if we could find the spare parts because of its age. In addition, we had to regularly close the unit for half a day to clean and disinfect the ring main, which disrupted patient care. When the new unit was proposed, we knew we only had one chance to get it right and find the best water purification system for dialysis possible."

The Modula S-TP compact design supplies a constant 350-1750 litres/hr flow of ultra-pure water from lower grade feed water. Its twin pass RO stages can operate independently in an emergency to maintain patient treatment while its higher recovery rates and membrane life-span make it efficient, cost-effective and energy-saving. The automatic restart in case of power failure (5 min) provides additional peace of mind and water continuity.

Since the new unit opened in February the Modula ST-P has been running for 10 hours a day feeding 12 points of use. "The nurses are really happy with it," says Jane. "Its back up system means reliability problems are a thing of the past, and the nephRO SAFE automatic disinfection procedures includes heat disinfecting the ring main."

The 5 year extended warranty service contract with ELGA includes all the maintenance and a guaranteed 4 hour on-site response time.