Project Profile Information Form

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Project Title: Impact of Backwash Recycling on Water Treatment Plant Performance

Project Number: 2625
Principal Investigators: Fred Marinelli, Kenneth Carlson, Sergio Cocchia, William Bellamy

Objectives:

Provide water treatment plant operators with comprehensive pilot-scale test data on spent backwash
recycling to aid the self-assessment of their recycle practices.

Compare pilot-scale results with data from a full-scale treatment plant.

Improve the understanding of suspended solids removal in conventional and direct filtration processes.

Assess the usefulness of turbidity, particle count, and TSS data for evaluating water treatment plant
performance, particularly when spent backwash recycling is performed.

Background:
The primary motivation for this research is the upcoming Filter Backwash Recycle Rule to be
promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The final rule is scheduled
to be promulgated during calendar year 2000. A limiting factor in developing this regulation is the lack of
pilot and full scale data on the impact of recycle streams on the overall process performance. A goal of this
research was to provide technically defensible data that could be used by the drinking water industry and
USEPA to assess existing recycle practices in the context of overall treatment process optimization. The
results of this study were intended to help identify higher risk recycle practices if they exist.

Highlights:

Steady-state (low flow rate) recycling and surge recycling with backwash treatment greater than or
equal to 30 percent, had little effect on filter effluent turbidity for either conventional or direct
filtration.

The most significant effect of backwash recycling was to reduce the filter run time at which particle
breakthrough occurred.

No turbidity impacts were observed at the full-scale WTP for both steady-state (low flow rate) and
surge (high flow rate) recycling.

A mass balance approach using TSS concentration can be useful tool for understanding the impact of
recycling on the individual unit processes (clarification, filtration).

Approach:
Each experiment entailed a control (non-recycle) run immediately followed by an experimental
(recycle) run. On-line instruments and laboratory analysis of grab samples were used to evaluate the effect
of spent backwash water recycling on filter effluent quality and filter run time for both conventional and
direct filtration processes. During the period of pilot testing, nearly one hundred separate filter runs were
performed. After pilot testing was completed, water sampling was conducted at a full-scale conventional
filtration plant located in Colorado. Plant personnel modified the backwash recycle operation over a period
of four weeks to include steady-state and surge backwash recycling, and to run the plant for brief periods
without recycling.

Results/Findings:
Pilot Scale Evaluation
Steady-state (low flow rate) recycling and surge recycling with backwash treatment greater than or equal to
30 percent, had little effect on filter effluent turbidity. Both of these conditions were associated with
relatively small loading rates of backwash suspended particles to the filter. Significant and consistent
turbidity impacts were observed only for the case of surge recycling with no backwash treatment during
conventional filtration, an operational mode not likely to be followed at operating water treatment plants.

The most significant effect of backwash recycling was to reduce the filter run time at which particle
breakthrough occurred. For a given set of operating conditions, filter breakthrough occurred when the total
suspended mass loading reached a characteristic value, regardless of the manner in which backwash
recycling was performed. This suggests that measured TSS in the filter influent may provide a useful
means of predicting breakthrough time for different recycling scenarios.

Full Scale Evaluation

No turbidity impacts were observed at the full-scale WTP for both steady-state (low flow rate) and surge
(high flow rate) recycling. The lack of turbidity impacts at the full-scale plant may be attributed to the high
degree of solids removal from backwash waste water prior to recycling, a condition associated with a
relatively small loading rate of backwash suspended particles to the filter.

Impact:
A significant finding is that it is feasible to use backwash recycling to improve water treatment
plant efficiency without compromising finished water quality. While this may be no surprise to many water
treatment plant operators, it is a message that regulatory officials should consider carefully as they
formulate and finalize the upcoming Filter Backwash Rule.

The results of this project suggest that the level of backwash treatment prior to recycling may be
more important that the type of recycle mode (such steady-state or surge recycling). Emphasis should be
placed on design and operational modifications that increase particle removal from the backwash waste
water. Site specific data can be used to evaluate operational practices that provide sufficient particle
removal for effective backwash recycling.

Participating Utilities (if applicable; maximum of five):

Soldier Canyon Water Treatment Facility
Hach Company