Chapter 10

Water Treatment – Filtration

Water treatment describes those industrial-scale processes used to make water more
acceptable for a desired end-use. These can include use for drinking water, industry, medical and
many other uses

Filtration is the process of passing water through a porous medium with the expectation
that the filtrate has a better quality than influent. The medium usually sand. This reflected by water
treatment plants being commonly called filtration plants or simply “the filters”.

Slow Sand Filter

The first filtration operation (dating from 1829) were design simply to pass water through a
bed of sand without any chemical or mechanical assists to the process. The process is similar to
withdrawing water from an infiltration gallery place int the sand of a river. It is know as “slow sand
filter” because the flow rates per unit surface are in these filter are low compare to later
developments.

The Rapid Filter

Rapid sand filtration is a technique common in developed countries for treating large
quantities of drinking water.

Rapid Filtration generally implies a process which includes coagulation, flocculation,

clarification, filtration, and disinfection. In treating water of low turbidity and industrial process waters
the clarification step may be omitted while other processes may be added if the raw water requires
them.
Theory of Filtration Through Coarse Media

A rapid filter consists of a bed of coarse media, such as sand, ranging in depth from 300 mm
to several meter. The kinetics of removal of particles smaller in size than pore openings is the bed is
described as consisting of a transport and an attachment step.

The transport to the surface of the filtration medium may be produced by diffusion,
interception, settling, impingement, or hydrodynamic carriage. The transport process is aided by
flocculation in the interstices of the filter and by the relatively short travel required for removal by
sedimentation.

Attachment of the particles after their contact with the medium is chemical in nature and is
influenced by pH, ionic composition of water, age of the floc, nature and dosage of polymer, and the
composition and surface condition of the medium.

Pretreatment is required prior to filtration and thus coagulation, flocculation, and filtration
cannot properly be considered as separate unit processes.

Filter employing mixed media, which give an approximation of reverse gradation, or those
with an upflow filtering pattern are less sensitive to influent turbidity and may be proceeded only by
a flash mix of chemicals, with coagulation and flocculation occurring within the filter.

Filter Media

Filter media is material that actively separates solids from a solution and/or binds select
materials in a solution. Base fluids may include coolants, corrosive chemicals, gasoline, diesel fuel,
hydraulic fluid, lubricants, water, oil, inks, dies, and paints. Filter media can also remove particulates
and contaminants from gas or air.

The Choice of a filter medium is dictated by the durability required, the desired degree of
purification, and the length of filter run and ease of back wash sought. The ideal medium should
have such a seize and be of such material hat it will provide a satisfactory effluent, retain a
maximum quality of solids, and be readily cleaned with a minimum of washwater.
Types of filter materials

A wide range of materials used are used as filtration media, from organic carbon-based substances
to synthetic plastics.

-Activated Carbons - Cotton - Glass fibers

-Diatomaceous Earth (DE) - Anion resins - Cation resins

-Activated clay - Metal or porous metal filter - Ion exchange

-Sand filtration - Mixed resins - Glass fibers

-Cellulose -Nylon - Cation resins

- Ceramic materials -Paper - Ion exchange

Mixed Media

Mixed-media filters have two or more types of filter material within a single container,
usually a cylinder. The filter materials are selected to remove specific compounds from the water. A
common form of mixed-media filter may contain fine sand as a pre-filter to remove larger particles
in the water, then some form of activated carbon to remove odors and other compounds followed
by a micro-screen filter that may contain bacteriostatic control agents. Most point-of-use water
treatment devices sold in home supply and hardware stores contain mixed-media filters.
Gravel

Filter Gravel is an extremely effective filter media because of its ability to hold back
precipitates containing impurities. Filter sand size, angularity and hardness are the important filter
sand characteristics to ensure proper filtering.

In standard rapid filters the filter medium may be underlain by 400

to 600 mm of gravel which serves to support the sand, permit the
filtered water to mover freely toward the underdrain, and also allows
the washwater to move more or less uniformly upward to the sand.

Its is placed in five or six layers with the finest size on the top. It is
also specified that it should be hard, rounded, durable, weight
approximately 1600 kg/mc. A common grading and layer thickness
are as follows:

Filtration Rate

For many years the standard rate of filtration has been about 120 m /day. Some state
regulatory agencies still adhere to this criterion despite overwhelming evidence that it is
unreasonably conservative.

The Underdrain System

The underdrains collect the filtered water from the gravel and also distribute the washwater
during the washing process. To be satisfactory, the underdrains should collect and distribute water
as evenly as possible, although this cannot always be done exaltly because of the slight diffence in
head occuring at various points in the system.
H.N. Jenks at Sacramento established the following data covering design of pipe underlain system:

The Filter Unit and Washwater Troughs

A filter consists of two or more unit of sizes depending upon the capacity of the plant. Some
state authorities require that plants producing no more than 318 1/min (545 m³/day) should have
the complate plant capacity in each of two unit. The washwater also leaves the unit from behind the
baffle or through a separatee through.

The trough arrangment depends upon the size of

the unit. In small unit the throughs dischardge to a gullet
on one side, whle in large unit they discharge into central
gullet which divides the unit into two sections.

Since washwater should not travel more than 1m

(40in) laterally in order to minimize the pressure
differneces on the fileter, the troughs are never spaced
more than 2m (7ft) apart from lip to lip. They are
constructed of concrete, fiberglass or steel are of vaious
of cross sections.
The Washing process

Washing consists of paasing filtered water upward throgh the bead at such a velocity that it
causes the sand bed to exapnd unitl its thickness is 25 to 45 percent grater than during filering,
depending upon the media. The Grains move through the rising water, rub agaisnt each other, and
are cleaned of deposits.

The backwash process may consist of simple fluidiztion with or without auxiliary scour or
surface wash, air scour and partial fluidizaiton, or combinations of the first two. The backwash
velocity must be sufficiently great to carr of the suspended matter removed by the filter.

Backwash rate must exceed 0.3 m/min (7 gal/ft² per min), but be less than 10 D60 m/min for
sand and less than 4.7 d60 m/min for anthracite wheree d60 is, as above, the 60 percent size in
milimeters.

The Control system

It has been customary in the past to provide rate of flow controllers to maintain constrant
filtraiton rates despite variations in headloss within.

The types of filter control

1. Constant headloss, constand head – the standard rapid filter with rate controller is genrrally
intended to function as a constant headloss device.

2. Variable headloss, variable head – single filter – In variable head filter the water depth o the bed
is allowed to vary. The controller must compensate for both changes in healoss in the meadia and
changes in water surface.

3. Variable headloss, variable head – multiple filter – In this design the total head on the filter is
autiomarically made equal to the headloss.

4. variable headloss, variable head – unstricted declining flow - If water enters a filter with ni
signifiacnt influent headliss and the flow decrease with time, the increase in headloss in the bed will
match the decrease in headloss in the underdreans.

5. Variale headloss, variable head, restricted declining flow- Flow into the filter can be restricted at
either the inlet or outlet. Restricted at the inlet prevent the possibility of initially high flows which
susended matter through the bed.

6. Variable headloss, constand head. – Hydraulic devices such as a siphon or a float operated
butterfly valve permis maintenance of constant head on a filter.
References:
E. W. Steel. (1979), Water Supply and Sewerage, Fifth Edition

Gerald Kiely. (1973), Environmental Engineering

https://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/manufacturing_process_equipment/filtration_sep
aration_products/filtration_media
http://igreenion.com/gravity-filter.html
https://www.kleenindustrialservices.com/water-filtration-media-filter-gravel.html
 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION

NAME: Ken Orland T. Amizola_________ _

_________
SUBJECT/CODE: CE ELECTIVE III(02653) ____
SCHEDULE: 12:30-1:30 P.M(1ST TERM)______________
DATE OF SUBMISSION: JULY 1,2019_______________
INSTRUCTOR: ENGR. GEFFREN BERNARDO

RATING