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Saving water in the lab

29 October 2008

Monash environment consultant Michelle Giovas, Danielle Evans from John Morris Scientific, Faculty of Pharmacy Resources Manager Paul Dover and lecturer medicinal chemistry Dr Bim Graham.

A new water saving device will save nearly one million litres of water a year for the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

A $20,000 grant from the Monash Office of Environmental Sustainability will allow the faculty to install recirculating chillers for use with rotary evaporators (rotovaps) in its eight laboratories, instead of using flowing water.

Evaporation and separation are key steps in many laboratories. The rotovap is a device used in chemical laboratories for the efficient and gentle removal of solvents from samples by evaporation.

Key components include a condenser which has a coil through which coolant passes, and a vacuum pump to substantially reduce the pressure within the evaporator system.

The chillers save water by replacing free draining water through the condenser with recirculated, reused chilled water.

Faculty resources manager Paul Dover said each unit would save around 120,000 litres of water per lab, equating to one million litres a year.

"In the past two years the faculty has purchased two solvent purification systems and installed diaphragm pumps to replace water driven vacuum pumps on our rotovaps, both initiatives leading to significant water and financial savings," Mr Dover said.

"This new initiative will build on these savings and our commitment to environmental sustainability in our day to day operations.

"We thank the Office of Environmental Sustainability and in particular Michelle Giovas for supporting the project."