Use 98% less water, 85% less time cleaning pipettes
Water conservation and lab efficiency have become topics of interest in modern lab design. In keeping up with current market needs, Labconco researched laboratory water usage and time-intensive manual processes and discovered one major sinkhole: Glass Pipette Washing.
Gallons upon gallons of tap water are poured down the drain as the common, siphon-style pipette washers fill then drain repeatedly. When washing is complete, rinsing generally begins using deionized (DI) water – a much more expensive solvent. After this time-consuming process of washing and rinsing, pipettes must be carefully removed, sorted into drying baskets and placed in an oven overnight.
Traditional Method
Total elapsed time to wash and dry a single load of pipettes: more than 23 hours.
Tapping into our experience with the design and manufacture of laboratory glassware washers, we decided to address this issue. Combining direct injection cleaning, the scrubbing action of percolation and the consistency of automation, we streamlined the washing process while requiring considerably less water and substantially less time.
Enter the ScrubAir Pipette Washer/Dryer, a one-of-a-kind automated unit to wash and dry in one place! The durable, steel-constructed unit can wash, rinse and dry up to 60 pipettes with just the touch of a button. One stop wash and dry eliminates extra handling steps, lowering the risk of glassware breakage and worker injury. Pipettes only need to be handled two times: once to load and once to unload.
The ScrubAir reduces water usage to as little as 12.5L for wash and rinse versus the 600L (at 2L/min) easily required for four hours of manual washing. At completion of the wash and rinse, forced-air drying is initiated through direct injection.
ScrubAir Method
Total elapsed time to wash and dry a load of pipettes with the ScrubAir: just under 5 hours.
This drops to 3.25 hours with the heated model. The user-friendly interface has three flexible and lockable program cycles including options for both wash and dry duration and number of rinse cycles. The standard model is equipped with a single water inlet and pressurized air inlet. The heated model has an additional water inlet built in, giving the user the added ability to rinse with purified water.
A previously labor-intensive, time-consuming and overall environmentally un-friendly process has been transformed into a fast, simple, environmentally friendly one. Users no longer need to babysit their pipettes. Press a button, walk away and let the ScrubAir do the work!
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