7.

FILTRATION
• The effluent obtained after coagulation and sedimentation does not
satisfy the drinking water standard and is not safe.
• To produce a crystal clear potable water; an additional treatment is
needed.
• After coagulation & sedimentation; the next step is a physical process
called filtration.
Filtration:
• Is one of the water purification process in which water is allowed to pass
through a porous medium;
To remove remaining flocs or suspended solids from the previous
treatment processes.
To assist significantly by reducing the load on the disinfections
As the water passes through a layer or bed of a porous granular
material/filter bed such as sand;
 The suspended particles become trapped within the pore spaces of
the filter material, or filter media
• During the passage of water through sand, the following effects take
place.
i. Suspended matter and colloidal matter are removed
ii. Chemical characteristic of water get changed
iii. Number of bacteria considerably reduced.
 Types of Filters
Two types of filter:
1. Gravity filter system
i. Slow Sand Filter (SSF)
ii. ii. Rapid Sand Filter (RSF)
2. Pressure filter system
 SLOW SAND FILTERS
• Removes particles from the water through adsorption and straining.
• It also removes a great deal of turbidity from water using
biological action.
• A layer of dirt, debris, and microorganisms builds up on the top of
the sand. (schmutzdecke)
• The schmutzdecke ("dirty skin) breaks down organic particles in the
water biologically, and is also very effective in straining out even
very small inorganic particles from water.
• Slow sand filters are best suited for the filtration of water for small
towns.
• The sand used for the filtration is specified by the effective size and
uniformity coefficient.
• The effective size, D10, which is the sieve in millimeters that
permits 10% sand by weight to pass.
• The uniformity coefficient is calculated by the ratio of D60 and D10.
Construction
• Slow sand filter is made up of a top layer of fine sand of effective size 0.2
to 0.3mm and uniformity coefficient 2 to 3.
The thickness of the layer may be 75 to 90cm.
• Below the fine sand layer, a layer of coarse sand of such size whose voids
do not permit the fine sand to pass through it.
The thickness of this layer may be 30cm.
• The lowermost layer is a graded gravel of size 2 to 45mm and thickness is
about 20 to 30cm.
The gravel is laid in layers such that the smallest sizes are at the top.
The gravel layer is used to retain the coarse sand layer and is laid over
the network of open jointed clay pipe or concrete pipes called under
drainage.
• Water collected by the under drainage is passed into the out chamber.
• Requires large area for their construction and high initial cost for
establishment.
• Advantages
a) Simple to construct and supervise
b) Suitable where sand is readily available
c) Effective in bacterial removal
d) Preferable for uniform quality of treated water
• Disadvantages
a) Large area is required
b) Unsuitable for treating highly turbid waters
c) Less flexibility in operation due to seasonal variations in
raw water quality
 Rapid Sand Filters
• The most common type of filter for treating municipal water
supplies.
• Water passes downwards through the filter media and the filters
are cleaned by backwashing.
• It differs from the slow sand filter in a variety of ways the most
important are;
 Greater filtration rate ranging from 100 to 150m/day,
 The ability to clean automatically using backwashing
 Require small filter area.
 Do not use biological filtration
 Depend primarily on adsorption and some straining.
• To achieve the optimum gradation for in depth filtration, it is
necessary to use two or more different filter materials with different
density.
Based on filter material rapid filters may be of three types:
a) Single-media filters: these have one type of media, usually sand or
crushed anthracite coal
b) Dual-media filters: these have two types of media, usually
crushed anthracite coal and sand.
c) Multi-media filters: these have three types of media, usually
crushed anthracite coal, sand, and garnet.
• Rapid sand filter bring down the turbidity of water to 1 NTU.
• Advantages
1. Turbid water may be treated
2. Land required is less compared to slow sand filter
3. Operation is continuous.
• Disadvantages
1. Requires skilled personnel for operation and maintenance
2. Less effective in bacteria removal
3. Operational troubles
Rapid sand filters
Comparison of slow sand filter and rapid sand filter
8. DISINFECTION
• Before water treatment became common, waterborne diseases could
spread quickly through a population, killing or harming hundreds of
people.
• The primary goal of water treatment is to ensure that the water is safe
to drink and does not contain any disease-causing microorganisms
(pathogens).
• Pathogens can be removed from water through physical or chemical
processes.
• Disinfection is one of the process selectively destroying or inactivating
pathogenic organisms in water, usually by chemical means.
• Disinfection in the Treatment Process;
Pre chlorination
Post chlorination
• The substance used for disinfection is called disinfectant
 Requirements of Good Disinfectant
 Destroy bacteria/pathogens within a practicable period of time, over
an expected range of water temperature.
 Effective at variable compositions, concentration and conditions of
water treated.
 Neither toxic to humans & domestic animals nor unpalatable
 Not change water properties
 Have residual in a sufficient concentration to provide protection
against recontamination
 Can be determined easily, quickly, and preferably automatically.
 Safe and easy to store, transport, handle and supply
 Not form toxic by-products due to their reactions with any naturally
occurring materials in water.
 Methods of Disinfection
The disinfection of water can be done by one of the following methods:
 Heat
 Mechanical
Ultrasonic vibration,
Membrane filtration
 Radiation
Ultra-violet rays
 Chemical
Halogens (Chlorine, Bromine & Iodine)
Excess lime
Potassium permanganate [KMnO4]
Ozone (O3)
In most situations chlorine is selected as one of the disinfecting agent
that most closely satisfies the requirement of chemical disinfectants
namely:
(i) Quick and effective at killing micro-organisms
(ii) Readily soluble at the concentration needed for disinfection
(iii) Tasteless and odorless at the concentration required
(iv) Non-toxic to human life at the concentration required
(v) Easy to handle, transport and apply
(vi) Easy to detect and concentration easy to measure
(vii)Capable of providing protection against later contamination.
(viii)Readily available
(ix) Cheap
The various chlorine compounds which are available in the market
and used as disinfectants are:
1. Calcium hypo chlorite [Ca (OCl) 2] – powder form
2. Sodium hypo chlorite [NaOCl] –liquid form
3. Free chlorine Cl2- Gaseous form
Any Questions?