Scribd
Upload
75 views

6 Filtration

Rapid sand filters can filter water at a higher rate than slow sand filters by using larger sand particles. They work by allowing water to pass through a sand bed and be collected by an underdrainage system. The sand bed is periodically cleaned through a backwashing process where wash water is forced upward to remove suspended impurities. Rapid sand filters are able to filter at a rate of 6000 liters/hour/square meter and can remove 80-90% of bacteria and turbidity down to 35-40 mg/l, making them suitable for treating large municipal water supplies.

Uploaded by

Leo Thomas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
75 views

6 Filtration

Rapid sand filters can filter water at a higher rate than slow sand filters by using larger sand particles. They work by allowing water to pass through a sand bed and be collected by an underdrainage system. The sand bed is periodically cleaned through a backwashing process where wash water is forced upward to remove suspended impurities. Rapid sand filters are able to filter at a rate of 6000 liters/hour/square meter and can remove 80-90% of bacteria and turbidity down to 35-40 mg/l, making them suitable for treating large municipal water supplies.

Uploaded by

Leo Thomas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 25

Filtration

• Screening and sedimentation removes a large percentage of suspended


solids and organic matter present in water

• To remove and reduce remaining impurities i.e very fine suspended matter
and bacteria, water is filtered through beds of fine granular material such
as sand

• The process of passing water through beds of such granular material is


known as filtration

• Filtration help in removing colour , odour , turbidity and some pathogenic


bacteria from water
Theory of filtration

Mechanical straining
• suspended particles present in water which are bigger
than size of voids in sand layer get arrested in them

Flocculation and sedimentation


• colloidal matter arrested in voids is a gelatinous mass
and therefore attract finer particles
• the finer particles settle down in voids and is removed
Biological metabolism
• Microorganism and bacteria present in voids of filter
• These organism utilise such organic impurities and convert
them into harmless compounds by the process of biological
metabolism

Electrolytic changes

• Sand grains of the filter and impurities of water carry electric


charges of opposite nature
• When they come in contact with each other , they neutralise
each other thereby changing the character of water
Filter materials
Sand

• Sand is used as filter media and is supported on gravel

• It should be free from dirt and other impurities


• It should be hard and resistant
• It should not loose more than 5% of its weight after being placed in
hydrochloric acid for 24 hours

• Size of sand is expressed in terms of effective size

• Effective size D10 may be defined as size of sieve in mm through


which 10% of sample of sand will pass

• uniformity coefficient D60/D10


Gravel

• used as support for sand

• Should be hard durable, free from impurity , properly rounded and should
have have a density of 1600 kg/ m3

Fine Sand
Coarse Sand 0.25 – 0.35 mm
~ 1 – 1.2 mm

Gravel ~ 5mm diameter


Types of filter

1. Slow sand filters


2. Rapid sand filters
Slow sand filters
Construction of Slow sand filters
Enclosure tank
• Open water tight tank made of masonary or concrete
• Bed slope is kept at about 1 in 100 towards central drain
• Depth of tank vary between 2.5 to 3.5 m
• Plan area 100 to 2000 m2

Filter media
• Consist of sand layers about 90 to 110 cm in depth and placed over gravel support
• Effective size D10 of sand varies from 0.2 to 0.4 mm and uniformity coefficient varies from
1.8 to 3

Base material
• Gravel supports sand
• It consist of 30 to 75 cm thick gravel of different sizes placed in layers
• Generally 3 to 4 layers 15 cm to 20 cm thick are used
• Finest gravel is used in the top layer & coarsest gravel is used in bottom layer
Under-drainage system

• Provided below the Gravel support

• It consist of a central drain and lateral drain

• Laterals are open jointed pipe drains or porous drains placed 3 to 5 m apart on the
bottom of the floor and slopes towards main drain

• Laterals collect the filtered water and discharge it to the main drain

Inlet and outlet arrangement

• An inlet chamber is constructed to admit effluent from sedimentation tank and to


distribute it uniformly over filter bed

• A filtered water well is also provided to collect the filtered water coming out from
main drain
Cleaning of slow sand filter
• Done by scrapping and removing 1.5 to 3 cm of top sand layer

• Top surface is finally raked ,cleaned and washed with good water

• The amount of wash water required is 0.2 to 0.6 % of the total filtered
water

• Then more sand is added

• A lot of manual labour is required in cleaning of filters

Rate of filtration

• Rate of filtration obtained from slow sand filters are 100 to 200 litres per hour
per m2 of filter area
Efficiency of slow sand filters

• Removes 98 to 99 % of bacteria

• Removes odour and taste caused by organic impurities like algae

• can remove turbidities only upto 50 mg /l

• Because of small rate of filtration, they require huge surface areas and
large volumes of filtering material

• This makes them costly and uneconomical for treating large scale supplies
Rapid gravity filters

• Utilise comparatively larger sized sand particles


• So rate of filtration is greater compared to that of slow sand filter
Working of rapid sand filters

• Valve 1 is opened , effluents enter the inlet chamber of filter


• This water filters through filter bed
• Filtered water is taken out from main drain by opening of valve 4
Cleaning of filter - Backwashing
• Wash water send back upward through filter
beds

• This forced upward movement of wash water


will agitate sand particles and remove the
suspended impurities from it

• Valves 1 and 4 closed, valves 5 and 6 opened

• Wash water and compressed air are thus forced


upward through gravel and sand

• Dirty wash water overflows into wash water


trough and is removed by opening the valve 2
through inlet chamber into the wash water
gutter

• Valve 2 & 6 closed , and valves 1 and 3 are


opened- this restores the inlet supplies through
valve 1 , but filtered water is not collected in the
beginning and washed through valve 3 to the
gutter

• Valve 3 is closed and valve 4 is opened to get


filtered water supplies
Construction details

Enclosure tank

• Open water tight tank made of masonary or concrete


• Depth of tank vary between 2.5 to 3.5 m
• Area of filter units 10 to 80 m2

Number of filter units = 1.22 Q 1/2

Q = capacity of plant in million litres per day


Filter media :
• Consist of sand layers about 60 to 90 cm in depth and placed over gravel
support
• Effective size D10 of sand varies from 0.35 to 0.55 mm and uniformity
coefficient varies from 1.3 to 1.7

Base material :
• Base is gravel and it supports the sand
• It consist of 60 to 90 cm thick layers of gravel of different sizes, placed in
layers
• Five to six layers , each of 10 to 15 cm in depth are used

• It distributes the wash water also


Under-drainage system:
• Receive and collect filtered water
• Allow backwashing for cleaning of filters

• Under drainage should be designed in such a way that in addition to collecting filtered
water during its downward journey , it should be capable of passing washwater upward
at a high rate of 300 to 900 l/min/m2 of filter area

Manifold and lateral system


(i) Perforated pipe – laterals are provided with holes

(ii) Pipe and strainer system - strainers are placed on the lateral drains

A strainer is a brass pipe closed at its top by a perforated cap


Wash water trough

 The dirty washwater which comes out of filter is collected in wash water
trough and carried to main gutter
Operational troubles in rapid gravity filters

Formation of mud balls


• Mud from atmosphere accumulates on the sand surface, so as to form a
dense mat
• This mud sticks to sand forming mud ball
• Mud ball sink into the gravel and interferes with upward movement of
wash water during cleaning.

Cracking of filters
• Fine sand contained in the top layers of filter bed shrinks and causes the
development of shrinkage cracks in sand beds
• Impurities penetrate through these cracks and impairs the efficiency
Rate of filtration :
• 6000 litres /hour / sq m

Efficiency :

• Bacteria removal is 80 to 90 percent


• Can remove turbidity to about 35 to 40 mg / l

 Rapid gravity filters are used for treating public supplies especially for
large cities and towns

You might also like