Certain disclosed embodiments concern systems and methods of preparing dialysate for use in a home dialysis system that is compact and light-weight relative to existing systems and consumes relatively low amounts of energy. The method includes coupling a household water stream to a dialysis system； filtering the water stream； heating the water stream to at least about 138 degrees Celsius in a non-batch process to produce a heated water stream； maintaining the heated water stream at or above at least about 138 degrees Celsius for at least about two seconds； cooling the heated water stream to produce a cooled water stream； ultrafiltering the cooled water stream； and mixing dialysate components into the cooled water stream in a non-batch process.
