How Much Does a Lab Water System Really Cost

Lab Water System Costs

How much does an ultrapure water system cost?

Which type of water is best for my lab?

How much does a lab water system cost to maintain?

If you manage a laboratory, you want the full picture: what drives price, how to avoid hidden costs, and how to choose a system that won’t let you down test. This guide lays out the true cost of ownership, fit by application, and the pros/cons of each system type.


The quick overview (what you’re really paying for)

Up-front (CAPEX)

  • System hardware (Type III RO / Type II polish / Type I ultrapure, or a combined bench-top)
  • Installation & commissioning.
  • Additional reservoirs & dispense hardware (remote taps, wall/bench kits).

Ongoing (OPEX)

  • Consumables (pre-filters, DI/polish packs, UV lamp, final 0.22 µm)
  • Preventive maintenance & calibrations (Carbon Pretreatment Unit, RO membrane, conductivity/resistivity, TOC)
  • Utilities (water reject from RO, electricity)
  • Downtime (the hidden one: delayed assays, staff time, off-site water purchases)

Purific Lab Water System Price Range

The below table is a range indicator of what a Purific system might cost to run over a 10-year period. Obviously, consumables cost is not included due to there being two main factors that are outside of our control.

  1. Feed water quality.
  2. Pure water usage.

Note: When estimating your consumable usage analyser companies will always give you maximum usage which in our experience can be anywhere up to 50% more than actual average usage. The best method to verify consumption is to measure actually usage over a 2 week period.

Lucid 200Analytica 100Analytica 100 Pro
System and Installation$8,500 – $16,000$15,000 – $27,000$25,000 – $38,000
Dual Redundancy  $3,500
Preventative Maintenance (Annual)$1,100 – $1,900$1,950 – $3,750$3,250 – $4,500
Optional Complete Cover – Zero Call-out Fees (Annual)$1,150$1,250$2,250
Consumables (Cost per Liter)$0.03$0.03$0.03
Capital Outlay$8,500 – $16,000$15,000 – $31,500$25,000 – $41,500
10 Year Maintenance Cost Projection$11,000 – $30,500$25,000 – $50,000$32,500 – $67,000
Total Lifespan Cost Range (10 Years) ex. consumables$19,500 – $46,500$40,000 – $77,000$57,500 – $108,500

Which “type” water do you actually need?

It is important to be aware there are more than 1 standard that can be applied when looking at laboratory grade water. Read https://purific.com/waterstandards/ to understand more about this topic. These include ASTM, ISO 3696:1987, and CLSI (formerly NCCLS).

Generally the following grades would be applicable but is it important to ensure that the quality water your laboratory specifies is fit for purpose.

  • Type III (RO): Glassware rinse, autoclaves, feed to Type II/I.
  • Type II (pure): General reagents, buffers, instruments not sensitive to organics.
  • Type I (ultrapure): HPLC/LC-MS, molecular biology, cell culture, trace analysis; often with TOC monitoring, optional UF (endotoxin, RNase/DNase control), and final 0.22 µm.

Many labs run a stack (Type III → II → I) or a compact benchtop that takes RO/tap and outputs Type I on demand.


Factors to consider when trying to estimate what your lab water system will cost.

What really drives the price (and reliability)?

  1. Daily volume & peak draw (L/day, L/min) and whether you need a reservoir.
  2. Service & Support Is 24/7 Technical support a requirement i.e. does your laboratory support a hospital emergency department? What happens if you system breaks down during the night?
  3. Feed water quality (hardness, silica, chlorine/chloramine, organics/TOC) → pretreatment spec.
  4. Purity targets (Type, TOC, endotoxin, RNase/DNase, particles).
  5. Ergonomics & footprint (bench, wall, under-bench; reach height; noise).
  6. Compliance (IQ/OQ, calibration certificates, audit trails/logs).
  7. Consumables cadence (change intervals at your usage).

Pros & cons by system approach

Ultrapure bench-top (Type II & I)

  • Pros: Small footprint, point-of-use purity, quick-change consumables, ideal for sensitive assays.
  • Cons: Needs suitable feed (RO), reservoir planning matters for peak flows if feed supply has limited capacity.

Wall Mounted (Type II/SRW)

  • Pros: No lost bench space, small footprint, point-of-use purity, ideal for mid size laboratories needing larger volumes of water but not type 1 grade, standard tap water is suitable feed quality in most cases, ideal for clinical analyser supply.
  • Cons: Cannot provide ASTM Type 1 grade water, must have sufficient wall space available in laboratory.

Modular RO + Type II + Type I stack

  • Pros: Scalable; robust for higher daily volumes, clear staging of consumables,
  • Cons: More space, more plumbing, plan maintenance windows across modules.

Central system feeding multiple taps

  • Pros: Best for many users/rooms, uniform quality, fewer individual units to service
  • Cons: Higher CAPEX, harder to maintain high quality due to the number of instances for contamination. i.e every tap, loop join provides opportunity for contamination, distribution loop design/validations, Point of use polishers still required for quality assurance.

The maintenance picture (how to avoid “death by downtime”)

  • User-Serviceable Can your system be maintained by the staff to ensure your laboratory is not beholden to the water system supplier i.e. minor issues can be self-diagnosed and repaired by staff or via the help of a phone call.
  • Design for service: quick-change cartridges, clean handling, and service level provided by vendor.
  • Plan intervals: establish change triggers by throughput or quality thresholds (resistivity, TOC)
  • Keep critical spares: 0.22 µm final filters, absolute filters, UV lamp; log lamp hours/TOC alarms.
  • Calibrate with proof: resistivity/temperature, TOC verification; keep certificates with PM reports
  • Document: PM checklist, part numbers, and stock levels so purchasing isn’t scrambling

Hidden costs to surface (before you sign)

  • Under-spec’d pretreatment → Chlorine breakthrough, sediment blockages.
  • Peak-flow bottlenecks → Instrument timeouts causing run delays.
  • Unclear consumables matrix → Year-2 surprises i.e. EDI failure can be very costly.
  • Long lead times → Inventory carrying costs or downtime risk, supplier not holding spare parts, or system becomes obsolete just after purchase.