It is estimated that the largest and most sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing facilities can utilize between 2-5 million gallons of ultra-pure water (UPW) per day.  This is roughly the equivalent of the water usage from a city with up to 50,000 people. The quality of the UPW is of critical importance because UPW comes in direct contact with the production wafers multiple times in various cleaning processes.  Semiconductor fabrication process steps can produce contaminants in water including heavy metals, organic materials, and toxic substances.  Fabrication facilities implement many steps to keep water clean in their processes including ultraviolet sterilization, ozone generation, filtration, and others.  Any water that is contaminated and considered out-of-spec can result in a loss of product costing millions of dollars per day.

Additionally, once the water is used in production it may be discharged out of the facility to the local city wastewater treatment facility. Prior to discharging water to the local environment, a semiconductor facility will typically have environmental permitting requirements that require certain materials to be monitored.  A variety of organic matter may be present in the wastewater which need to be monitored continuously prior to discharging to the local authority.

LAR , a  Process Insights  brand, has developed and manufactured online process and wastewater analysis instruments since 1986. For the Semiconductor industry, LAR manufactures the most reliable and safest online continuous process and wastewater TOC analysis products.  With a unique high-temperature sample chamber, the LAR process and wastewater TOC analyzers are catalyst and chemical-free, eliminating a corrosive safety hazard while providing very fast, accurate TOC measurements.

For over 35 years, LAR has provided industry-leading TOC analyzers for various applications including wastewater and process analysis. The high-quality German engineering and manufacturing ensure the LAR TOC analyzers perform to the highest standards providing the semiconductor industry with leading-edge TOC analysis.