Facilities recently closed out a Health Sciences Instruction and Research (HSIR) Deionized (DI) Water project by replacing aging PVC piping with more reliable stainless-steel lines and energy-efficient pumps to support critical water infrastructure at Parnassus Heights.
“This project improves system reliability and ensures continued, high-quality DI water service for our stakeholders at the Medical Sciences Building (MSB), HSIR, and the Medical Center.” Project Manager Darrick Lo said.
Deionized water is crucial in healthcare and research as it is a highly purified water that undergoes a process to remove minerals. At UCSF, it's used for laboratory research and the cleaning of surgical tools.
To ensure that there was no impact on the DI water, this project required careful phasing, with teams working around the older construction to build the new system in tandem.
“Our UCSF Operations team, alongside our contractors, did an exceptional job carefully planning each phase to ensure our DI tanks remain fully supplied. Thanks to their coordination and foresight, we maintained a reliable supply of DI water to support the campus community throughout the shutdown.” Lo said.
The installation also required rigorous attention to detail and cleanliness to prevent contamination of the deionized water.
Energy-efficient pumps to support critical water infrastructure at Parnassus Heights.
“We ensured the new stainless-steel piping met all certification and compliance standards and conducted a thorough flushing process to verify the system was free of contaminants before filling it,” Lo said.
This effort was made possible through collaboration between Facilities, CBRI engineers, and plumbers.
“We now have a system that can last long into the future, reliably supplying our researchers and health care providers. It’s been a pleasure to work with a dedicated team of managers, engineers, and trades workers who take pride in their work,” UCSF Facilities Lead Plumber Doug Bauer said.
UCSF Assistant Chief Engineer Eric Zarco expressed gratitude to those involved in establishing a more efficient and reliable system.
The upgrades include new controls for monitoring.
“We are confident that the DI water system failures and downtime will be minimal going forward. With the addition of failure alarms and monitoring, any failure in the system will be quickly identified and responded to by our teams,” Zarco said.