Priorclave North America CEO Barbra Wells was recently invited to present on laboratory sustainability at the British High Commissioner’s residence in Trinidad. This gave her the opportunity to visit old friends at WASCO in neighboring St. Lucia—one of Barbra’s first clients when she joined Priorclave.

Delivering a sustainable water supply is a significant ongoing concern in St. Lucia. The precise features that make this island nation so beautiful—its stunning mountains, thick rainforest, and tropical climate—also make it an extremely challenging place to build and maintain infrastructure. This is exacerbated by climate change, which brings ever more powerful storms and storm surges into the Caribbean.

Meeting this challenge falls entirely to WASCO, the Water & Sewerage Company Incorporated of St. Lucia. Established in October 1999 under the auspices of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development, and Urban Renewal, this government-owned company is the sole provider of water and sanitation services in St. Lucia.

WASCO aims for self-sufficiency, environmental sensitivity, and excellence in service/customer care. All of that can be compromised if you’re stuck with balky, unreliable lab equipment

Finding Reliable, Low-Maintenance Equipment

WASCO first contacted Priorclave in 2013. They’d initially hoped to find some way to revive their existing autoclave. They relied on this floor mounted top-loading steam sterilizer  to serve a crucial role sterilizing their water sampling equipment and lab glassware. The unit had long been unreliable. Now it had failed once more, could no longer be serviced locally, and the manufacturer was no longer responding to WASACO’s requests.

WASCO ultimately decided to replace this dead autoclave with a Priorclave 40 benchtop. Initially, they’d simply been relieved to have a working autoclave. It was an added bonus that the new Priorclave took up less lab space while offering more control features and programming options than similar-sized units.

But over the intervening years, their affection for their Priorclave only grew as it kept humming away, hassle free. In eleven years of daily use—running thousands of sterilization cycles—WASCO has only needed a single replacement part.

Achieving Success in Challenging Circumstances with PNA

Priorclave North America CEO Barbra Wells admits that “there’s not a lot to say about a 40-liter benchtop autoclave. It looks low key, and the fact that you have little to say about it is a sign that it’s doing its job well. But it is so critical to doing good lab work, and keeping your lab running smoothly. I was absolutely delighted to see this little guy still chugging away.”

As Wells has previously explained, “One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Priorclave is the commitment to global sustainability. That includes efforts to support the development of local facilities and expertise. Keeping talent and tools as close as possible to the communities who will benefit from their work is vital. But it starts with making rugged, efficient autoclaves with a long, hassle-free working lifespan.”

The Priorclave Team Serves WASCO so the WASCO Team Can Serve St. Lucia

Here’s the WASCO team in 2014, and today:

 

Looking for an autoclave that will get the job done for years to come? Barbra and her team are here to help.