Iranian Journal of

Background and Objectives: Kidney patients in each dialysis cycle are exposed to extremely large volume of water, which is in direct contact with the patient’s blood. Hence, the occurrence of any type of contamination in the water used can be very toxic to patients. Thus, quality of water plays an important role in patient well-being. The aim of our study was to investigate the quality of water used for hemodialysis in Kashan Akhavan hospital.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on water quality used for hemodialysis in Kashan Akhavan hospital during Oct.-Nov., 2011. During the study a total of 26 water samples were taken from the raw water and inlet of hemodialysis instrument. Collected water samples were analysed for Heterotrophic plate count, residual chlorine, pH , K⁺, SO₄^2- , Na⁺, F- ,Ca²⁺ , mg²⁺ ,No^3- , Hg⁺ , Cd²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Se²⁺ ,Co²⁺,Ag ⁺and As²⁺ according to the standard methods for water and wastewater examination.
Results: Our results showed that the concentration of copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, chromium, and silver were 0.4, 0.6, 0.07, 0.05, 0.08, and 0.04 µgL^-1 respectively. In addition, concentration of the chemical elements and heavy metals did not exceed the standard level in any cases. Moreover, no microbial contamination was observed in the samples analyzed.
Conclusion: Based on the results obtained, all water quality parameters in hemodialysis ward of Kashan Akhavan Hospital were compatible with AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) water quality Standards and no health risk threatens the kidney patients.