16-02-2016

Screening
Plain sedimentation
Sedimentation aided with coagulation
Filtration

What is filtration?
How it works?
What are the Materials used in filters?
How many types of filters are available?
Slow sand filter

16-02-2016

Filtration
Process in which a liquid is passed through a porous medium to separate
out organic or inorganic matter present in it
Porous medium is usually a bed of sand layers
Objective:
To remove very fine particles which are not settled with coagulant and
plain sedimentation.
To remove bacteria from water.

Filtration process
1. Mechanical straining:

suspended particles with bigger size than the voids in sand layer will get arrested.

2. Flocculation and sedimentation:

Voids in the filter acts as tiny coagulation-sedimentation tank. Finer particles than the voids can
be removed by this process.

3. Biological metabolism:

Micro-organisms present in the voids of the filters consume organic impurities and convert them
to harmless compounds (schmutzdecke) by the process of biological metabolism.

4. Electrolytic changes:

The sand grain and impurities in water carry opposite electrical charges. These oppositely
charged particles neutralise each other, thereby, changing character of the water, filtration
improve the quality of the water.

16-02-2016

Filter Materials
Sand:
Free from dirt and impurities.
Uniform in nature and size.
Hard and resistant.
Should not loose > 5% wt after being
placed in HCl for 24 hrs.

Effective size D10

= 0.2 to 0.4 mm for slow sand filters.
= 0.35 to 0.55 mm for rapid gravity filters.
Uniformity coefficient = D60/D10
= 1.8 to 2.5 for slow sand filters.
= 1.3 to 1.7 for rapid gravity filters.

D10 : The size of the sieve through which 10% of sand (by mass) sample will pass.
D60/D10 : Ratio of the sieve size in mm through which 60% of the sand sample will pass
to the effective size of sand.

Filter Materials (contd...)

Gravel (base material):

Hard.
Durable.
Free from impurities.
Properly rounded.
Density 1600 kg/m3.
Placed in 3-4 layers, starting from coarsest to finest.
Each layer is 15-20 cm deep.

Other materials:
Anthrafilt (made from anthracite, coal-stone) being cheaper and having high
filtration rate successfully used in foreign countries
In India , bituminous coal as substitute to anthracite is under research at CPHRI.

16-02-2016

Classification of filters
Based on rate of filtration

Filters
Slow sand filters

Rapid sand filters

Rapid gravity filters

Pressure filters

Based
Based on considerations of gravity and pressure

Filters
Gravity filters

Slow sand filters

Pressure filters

Rapid sand filters

Nowadays, rapid sand filters are most commonly used. The water from the
coagulation-sedimentation plant directly fed into the rapid gravity filters.