Environmental Engineering-I

Class Notes

Prof. Dr. Javed Anwar Aziz

Engr. Ghulam Hussain

Institute of Environmental Engineering and Research,

UET, Lahore
FILTRATION
 FILTRATION
 It is the removal of Suspended Particles from water
by passing the water through GRANULAR MEDIA .

 Most commonly used media is SAND

 Other Granular Medias are;

COAL, ANTHRACITE, BURNT RICE HUSK,

GLASS WOOL, ACTIVATED CARBON, COCONUT
FIBRE
 PRETREATMENT TO FILTERS
• TURBIDITY < 10 NTU

TYPES OF FILTER
 SLOW SAND FILTERS
 RAPID SAND FILTERS
 PRESSURE FILTERS
SLOW SAND FILTERS
Slow Sand Filter
 1. SLOW SAND FILTER

 It consists of water tight basin containing a

layer of sand ≈ 0.75-1 m thick, supported on
a layer of gravel ≈ 0.25 m thick.
The gravel is underlaid by a system of
OPEN JOINTS UNDERDRAIN placed 3 to
4m apart which lead the water to a single
outlet where a RATE CONTROL DEVICE is
located.
 1. SLOW SAND FILTER
 The cleaning of filter is done by SCRAPING
about 3 cm of sand from the surface before
returning the filter to service.

 Slow sand filters are highly effective to result

in 98-99% reduction in bacteria.

 These filters are not successful for water with

high turbidity as fine clay may clog the filter.
 1. SLOW SAND FILTER

 Slow sand filters are generally employed in

RURAL AREAS for treating waters
WITHOUT COAGULATION.
RAPID SAND FILTERS
 2. RAPID SAND FILTER
 It consists of a layer of sand supported on
gravel and then an underdrain system. The
filter is CLEANED by BACKWASHING i.e
reversing the flow of water through filter so as
to expand the sand and flush the dirt from
filter into WASHWATER GUTTERS.
 The underdrain system collects the filtered
water and distributes the backwash water.
 2. RAPID SAND FILTER

 The depth of gravel is 0.5m and under

drains are placed 150mm apart.

 The filter has an automatic rate controller.

 The rapid sand filter is not as effective for

BACTERIAL removal as slow sand filter.
 Theory Of Filtration in RSF
 The removal of PARTICLES in a RSF filter takes
place under TWO Processes:

1. TRANSPORTATION of particle to the Surface of

the media

2. ATTACHMENT of particle after coming in contact

with filter media
 1. TRANSPORTATION PROCESSES
 There are following FOUR phenomenon
i. GRAVITATIONAL
The particle strike the media under pull of
gravity
ii. INTERCEPTION
The particle passing with the streamline
touches the media
 1. TRANSPORTATION PROCESSES
iii. BROWNIAN MOVEMENT

Particles less than 1µ in size are removed

through this phenomenon.

VIRUSES are removed through this action.

iv. STRAINING

Particles bigger in size than the size of VOIDS

in media are retained by straining

Voids dia. = 1/7th dia of sand

 2. ATTACHMENT PROCESS
 Attachment of particle after its contact with the
media is a CHEMICAL PROCESS. It depends
upon:
• pH

• Ionic composition of water

• Nature and dose of coagulant

• Surface conditions of media

• Charges on medium

• Charges on particle
 RAPID SAND FILTER WASHING PROCESS
DESCRIPTION GENERAL CRITERIA

Rate of washing 0.2-1.0 m/min (Sand expansion 30-50%)

Water required 1-5% (generally 2%)

Head required 10 m above wash water trough

Time required 5 MIN FOR WASHING (10-20 min in

total)

Washing frequency After 18-36 hours operation when head

loss reaches 2.5-3 m
 SAND FILTERS COMPARISON
PARAMETER SLOW SAND RAPID SAND

Flow Rate 3-6 m/day 120-360 m/day

Sand Size Effective 0.25-0.35 0.45 or High

mm
Unifom. Coeff. 2-3 1.5 or Lower
Sand Depth 75-100 cm 60-100 cm

Depth of water over 1-1.75 m 1-1.5 m

sand
Length of run 20-60 days 12-72 hrs

Impurities penetration Superficial Deep

 SAND FILTERS COMPARISON
PARAMETER SLOW SAND RAPID SAND

Cost of construction High Low

Operational cost Low High

Method of Cleaning Scraping upper 1” Back Wash

layer
Pre Treatment Generally NILL or coagulation
Roughing filters
Bacterial removal More Effective Less effective

Depth of gravel 200-300 mm 400-600 mm

Effective Size

 It is the size when the aggregate weight of all

smaller particle is 10% of the total weight of
sample. This diameter is designated by D10.
Uniformity Coefficient

 The rate of D60 to D10 is called uniformity

coefficient. A uniformity coefficient of 1 means
that all grains in the sample are of the same
size.
 NEGATIVE HEAD

 As clogging occurs in filter, the frictional

losses increases gently, however, mostly in
top layer of filter. When head loss in top
layer becomes greater than the head of
water above the sand, the column of water
below acts as a DRAFT TUBE and a
PARTIAL VACUUM results. This condition is
known as Negative Head.
 NEGATIVE HEAD

 Negative Head, when excessive, allows AIR

to escape from water and LODGE in the
sand. This is known as AIR BINDING and
may interfere with the filtration process.
FILTER OPERATING DIFFICULTIES
 1. AIR BINDING
It is an important filter operating difficulty. it is caused
by
 Negative Head
 High Temperature of water
 Algal action
Air binding may be prevented through;
 Avoidance of excessive negative head
 Keeping the filter under SHED
 Algal control i.e CuSO4 treatment
 2. MUD BALLS
During Back Wash, lateral pressures on
sand surface try to push MUD into LUMPS
or BALLS. These appear unsightly at sand
surface. Mud balls may be removed from
the sand bed with RAKES while the bed is
washed.
 3. CRACKS
Shrinkage of mud blanket at the sand surface,
results in cracks.
Sometimes cracks are quite deep and may
result in SHORT CIRCUITING of filtering water
particularly near the filter walls. Thus the
filtered water quality may be impaired.
Cracks may be avoided using AIR SCOUR and
a THOROUGH BACK WASH
FILTER SIZE L:W = 1.25 TO 1.33