Why we publish this, and who writes it

This site is an editorial resource on water as a laboratory reagent: how the published grades are defined, how purity is produced and measured, and how it is lost between the outlet and the bench.

Why this exists

Water is the reagent used in the largest quantity on any bench and the one examined the least. It is drawn from an outlet with a reassuring number on a display, carried across a room in whatever container is nearest, and assumed to be the same thing at the end of the journey as at the start. The questions that would settle whether it is are always the same handful. Which grade, to which standard. Which property was measured, and which were not. Where the reading was taken. How long ago. What it has been stored in since. Those are easier to explain once, properly and in public, than one conversation at a time.

So the site is written as a reference. The position behind it is a plain one: a statement about water purity is worth what it says about where and when it was measured. "High purity" on its own cannot be checked by anybody. A grade, a named standard, a measured value and a date can be.

What we publish, and what we do not

Everything here is descriptive: the five kinds of contaminant in ordinary water; the reagent water types and grades in the two most quoted standards; what each stage of a purification train removes and leaves behind; what resistivity, total organic carbon and microbial counts each show; why high purity water takes up carbon dioxide and leaches its container; how storage, containers and holding times affect it; how a grade is matched to a task; and what a complete document for packaged water contains.

We publish no claims of any kind about any product, material or substance. We describe, recommend, compare and evaluate nothing that is sold anywhere, we give no usage guidance of any sort, and nothing here is professional advice. Figures quoted from standards are summaries for orientation. The current edition of the standard itself is always the authority.

Who it is written for

• Anyone who has read "Type I" on a specification and wondered what it commits anyone to
• People who look after a purification system and want to know what its display does not show
• Anyone comparing two documents for packaged water and wondering what to ask
• Students and new starters who were shown the outlet and never told why the first portion goes to drain

The resource is intended for adult readers aged 18 and over.

Corrections

If something here is wrong, out of date, or reads as more certain than the evidence supports, tell us and we will correct it. Standards are revised and common practice moves, and a reference that is not maintained stops being a reference.

Published by

Biogynx, Inc.
1449 S Michigan Avenue #1123
Chicago, IL 60605
United States
editor@biogynnx.com

This resource is written for adult readers aged 18 and over.