Pharmaceutical Water Systems - Troubleshooting and Risk Assessment
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Water is the most important raw material used in the pharmaceutical industry… and yet one of the most difficult to manage and control.
Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 November 2025
Manchester Marriott Victoria and Albert Hotel, Manchester, UK
£1790.00 excl. VAT – £2148.00 incl. VAT (first booking)
£1432.00 excl. VAT – £1718.00 incl. VAT (additional bookings from same site)
Type: Pharmaceutical
About this course
Water is the most important raw material used in the pharmaceutical industry… and yet one of the most difficult to manage and control. The cost of unreliable water systems generating poor quality water can be catastrophic. The safety of your products may be compromised and your livelihood put at risk.
This course will make a difference
Like all NSF-DBA courses, we will not be lecturing to you for hours on end. Instead, this highly interactive and customised course will ensure that you actually learn by doing. This is what will happen…
- Before the course we will contact you to identify your key learning objectives and to find out what questions you want answers to. This information will be used to customise the course to meet your precise needs and requirements
- We will also encourage you to provide us with information, in confidence, about your own systems. This will help us to provide you with the answers and advice you need
- 15-20 minute key point lectures will provide you with the important theory
- These will be followed by case studies and working groups designed to help you learn from others as well as the course tutors
- You will also go away with very detailed and comprehensive course notes
Course outline
System Design and Validation
- The theory, practice and ‘critical control points’ of all water purification technologies and distribution systems, including filtration, water softeners, RO, CEDI, UV, deionisation and distillation
- How to specify, install and qualify systems simply and economically
- How to build in reliability, robustness and low management costs from day one
- How to validate systems efficiently and simply
- The management and control of contractors and other third parties: how to get value for money
- Change control: how to keep your systems in their ‘validated state’… easily!
System Management, Monitoring and Maintenance
- Planned preventative maintenance: who needs to do what, when and how
- Planned maintenance vs reliability-centred maintenance: how to get more from your maintenance budget
- Sanitisation methods: their theory, practice, strengths and limitations
- System management: how to identify accurate and reliable measures of system performance and use the data within hours to improve system reliability
Water Microbiology and QC Testing
- How to identify and remove microbiological ‘hot spots’ and contamination sources
- How to design and implement a simple and effective monitoring programme
- Analytical and microbiological test methods: online and offline
- Rapid microbiological test methods: benefit or burden?
- Trending and reporting methods: how to capture, interpret and use data in hours to improve system performance
Decision Making, Troubleshooting and Risk Assessment
- What to do when things go wrong: how to make the right decision most of the time!
- The practical use of FMEA and HACCP to improve performance and solve problems
- How to identify the root cause of physical, chemical and microbiological issues
Hot Topics
- How to educate and influence senior management on the importance of water systems… and the need for investment
- How to upgrade and improve old and unreliable systems at minimal cost
- How to manage and control your company’s most important asset, your water systems: the role of the ‘system owner’ and the water ‘committee’
- What the good regulatory auditor really looks for and how to be prepared
- Auditing water systems in India, China and other emerging markets presents unique challenges ─ we will tell you what to look for to protect your business
Discussions and Working Groups
A significant proportion of course time will be devoted to group work, where delegates have the opportunity, through case studies, to put theory into practice.
Additionally, discussion periods, including a course tutor panel session, provide delegates with an opportunity to obtain answers to their specific questions and concerns.
There will also be a practical demonstration of orbital welding.
Venue
Manchester Marriott Victoria and Albert Hotel, Manchester, UK
The Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel stands on the banks of the River Irwell, near the city centre but convenient for Manchester Airport (19km), the city’s Piccadilly rail station (3km) and the UK’s motorway networks.
Recently lovingly restored, this Grade II listed building bears many modern features. The hotel has its own car park and a few minutes’ walk takes you to the city’s main shopping and eating district.
Hotel Accommodation
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Online early booking offer – we have negotiated a discounted bed and breakfast rate including free wi-fi.
- To take advantage of this offer, you must book via a special weblink, details of which will be provided to you on receipt of a completed booking form.
- This offer is only available until four weeks before the course start date, after which point the hotel cannot guarantee room or rate availability.
- If you need any help or guidance with the accommodation booking process, please contact our course administration team.
- Your account with the hotel should be settled at check-out.
- Any charges made by the hotel as a result of you not taking up your reservation for any reason will remain your responsibility, therefore please ensure you are aware of the hotel’s cancellation policy.
Tutors
We believe that our team of experts are the best available. Not only have they got years of experience in the industry, but they are committed to tutoring and helping those inside the industry to improve and raise the standards. We understand that you attend courses to learn about the latest regulations and to get your questions answered.
Our experts for this course are:
What you've said
“I believe this course to be extremely beneficial to me if/when the water systems will fail.”
Ben Watts, Systagenix Wound Management, UK
“Use of buzz groups was good to help apply practical information gained from lectures.”
Catriona Carroll, Abbott Ireland, Republic of Ireland
“I now have more of an understanding of water systems for purified water, highly purified water and water for injection, and have a good reference to go back to that will help me when auditing water systems at our suppliers.”
Antony Jefferies, Actavis UK, UK
“I have gained a valuable insight to how water systems work and will be able to apply this in my career.”
Clinton Hill, Systagenix Wound Management, UK
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