This article is a repost from the #IFUCan blog hosted on LinkedIn. The first few paragraphs are teased below, and the full article can be viewed by clicking here. Jim Schneiter's commentary on a recent article regarding sterilization issues at hospital --- While often overlooked, water is important for all stages of reusable medical device processing. Water is required for decontamination, soaking, manual or automated cleaning, rinsing and the final disinfecting rinse. Regretfully, almost all municipal tap water is contaminated with varying levels of toxic heavy metals and other harmful contaminants. Most water treatment facilities in use today were not designed to remove organic chemicals and heavy metals. Depending on water hardness and temperature, tap water used in device processing can lead to the formation of hard water deposits, a layer of lime or scale that is difficult to dissolve. Additionally, corrosion may occur under these deposits. When water evaporates, some substances can remain as visible mineral residues. Calcium, magnesium and water pH can stain instruments and inactivate disinfectants. Contrary to its name, ‘stainless’ steel instruments can in fact become stained over time. “Water can also damage stainless steel instruments. Stainless instruments are susceptible to pitting when there is an increase in the chloride content in the water, when there is an increase in temperature, with decreasing pH values, increased exposure times, insufficient drying and concentration of chloride from dry residues to instrument surfaces after evaporation.” (1) Continue reading here