GRANULAR FILTRATION

Lecture 10 & 11
GRANULAR FILTRATION

Waterborne particles
influent

Granular material / filter medium

Effluent or permeate
GRANULAR FILTRATION
 Rapid filtration
 Pretreated with coagulants
 Gravity-driven downward flow
 Filter bed ( 0.6-1.8m)
 Particles are collected throughout the bed

 Slow sand filtration

 Gravity-driven downward flow
 Filter bed of granular material
 Loading rate 100 times lower than rapid filtration

 Precoat filtration
 Thin layer or cake (2-5 mm) of fine granular material
Process Slow Sand Rapid Precoat
characteristics filtration Filtration Filtration
Filtration rate 0.05-0.2 m/h 5-15 m/h 1.3-5 m/h
Media diameter 0.3-0.45 mm 0.5-1.2 mm 4-30μm
Bed depth 0.8-1.3 m 0.6-1.8 m 2-5 mm
Required head 0.9-1.5 m 1.8 -3.0m 6-30 m
Run length 1-6 month 1-4 days 6 h -30 days
Ripening Period Several days 15 min- 2 h None

Pretreatment None required Coagulation None required

Dominant Straining, Depth filtration Straining
Filtration biological activity
mechanism
Regeneration Scraping Backwashing Bed replacement
method
Maximum raw- 10-50 NTU Unlimited with 10 NTU
water turbidity proper
pretreatment
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
 Rapid filtration
 Features
 A filter bed of granular material (uniform size)
 Use of coagulants

 Mechanical and hydraulic system to remove collected solids

from bed

 Filter media (uniform size)

 Depth filtration

 Pretreatment- Coagualtion
 Destabilized particles
RAPID FILTRATION
 Classification of Rapid Filtration by pretreatment level
Filter Classification
Conventional filtration
Direct filtration
In-line filtration or contact
filtration
Two-stage filtration
Description
Coagulation, flocculation, clarification.
Can be used for water with turbidity over
1000 NTU. Common
Coagulation, flocculation but no
clarification. For water with turbidity <15
NTU
Coagulation and incidental flocculation.
Appropriate for low- turbidity source
water (<10 NTU)
Coagulation followed by two stages of
filtration. 1st step: coarse media (roughing
filter). Package plants for small
installations
RAPID FILTRATION
 Classification of rapid filtration by media type

Filter Classification Description

Monomedia One layer of filter media (sand). 0.6-0.76 m
Deep-bed monomedia One layer of filter media (anthracite or
granular activated carbon). 1.5-1.8 m
Dual media Two layer. 0.45-0.6 m of anthracite over
0.23-0.3 m of sand. GAC can be used
instead of anthracite
Trimedia or mixed Three media. Anthracite as top layer
media (0.45-0.6m), sand as the middle layer(0.23-
0.3 n), garnet or ilmenite as the bottom
layer (0.1-0.15 m)
RAPID FILTRATION
 Filter run

Operation of a rapid sand filter: (a) effluent turbidity versus time and (b) head
loss development versus time
 SLOW SAND FILTRATION Depth 0.9-1.5 m
0.30 and 0.45 mm in dia

Source water
turbidity <50 NTU
Color < 30 color units 0.3-0.6 m
Little or no colloidal clay
SLOW SAND FILTRATION
 Advantages of slow sand filtration

 Simple to operate
 No coagulation required
 low energy consuming process
 It has great adaptability in components and
applications maintenance is minimal
 Systems can be built and installed by laymen
 Costs of building and running significantly
lower than other methods
PRECOAT FILTRATIONS
 Thin cake (2-5 mm) of fine granular
 4-30 μm
 Straining at surface
 Run 10 min – 30 days reported
 Diatomaceous earth (Fuller’s earth)
 Pure silica
 Process flow description
 Precoat: material is applied as a slurry (0.5-1 kg/m2)
on septum (supporting material)
 Filtration: during filtration, body feed is added to the
influent water
 Filtration rate 1.3 to 5 m/h
PRECOAT FILTRATIONS
 Not frequently used in drinking water treatment

 Can strain particles larger than about 1 μm

 Can remove Giardia and Cryptosporidium without
coagulation

 Less effective for particles smaller than 1 μm

FILTER MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS
 Grain Size
 Sieve analysis
 The geometric mean ( X g ) and geometric standard
deviation ( S g )
 useful parameters of central tendency and variation

 Effective size, E,
 10 percentile size
 the media grain diameter at which 10 percent of the
media by weight is smaller, d10
 Uniformity coefficient, U.
 ratio of the diameter of media at which 60 percent by
weight is smaller to the 10 percentile sizes, d 60 / d 10 .
Typical grain size distribution curve
FILTER MEDIA CHARACTERISTICS
 Relations between the effective size, uniformity
coefficient, geometric mean size, and geometric
standard deviation
geometric mean
effective size
Ex11-1
geometric standard deviation

uniformity coefficient
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
 Hardness
 an indicator of the resistance to abrasion and wear
that occurs during filter backwashing Moh hardness number
 Diamond has a Moh hardness number of 10
 Porosity
 in-place media (not of the individual grains)

 Specific gravity
 arrangement of the filter media in multimedia filters
 in the backwash flow requirements
GRANULAR FILTRATION THEORY

Mechanisms of filtration

(a) mechanical screening (b) sedimentation,

(c) flocculation (d ) interception

Dashed line is particle trajectory.

Solid line is water streamline (flow
(e) impaction path).
PARTICLE REMOVAL IN RAPID FILTRATION
 Fundamental (or microscopic) models
 Examines the influence of actual transport and
attachment mechanism
 Useful for evaluating the relative importance of
various design and operating parameters

 Phenomenological (or macroscopic) models

 Attempt to explain the physical progression of the
filtration cycle
 Through ripening, effective filtration and breakthrough
 With empirical parameters from site-specific pilot studies
Microscopic Models of Filtration.
Rajgopalan and Tien (RT) Model
PARTICLE REMOVAL IN RAPID FILTRATION
 Depth filtration
 Particles are removed continuously throughout the
filter (in rapid filters)

Filtration coefficient, m-1

C …….(1)
  C Mass or number

z Depth in filter, m
concentration of
particles, mg.L or L-1

Filtration coefficient vary both in time and depth in the

filter
Depend on properties of the filter bed
inversely proportional to the filtration rate, grain size, and
the square of the viscosity (Cleasby and Logsdon, 1999).
mass balance for a differential element
specific deposit
mass of accumulated particles per filter bed volume, mg/L

(2)
filtration rate, m 3 /s ・ m 2 of filter surface area, also m/s

By combining (1) and (2)

basic phenomenological model

  A simplified steady state model
time to breakthrough

filtration rate, m 3 /s ・ m 2 of filter surface area, also m/s

time to the limiting head

HYDRAULICS OF FLOW THROUGH GRANULAR MEDIA
TABLE 11-2
Formulas used to compute the clean-water headloss through a granular porous medium

appropriate for sand filters

when the Reynolds
number does not exceed
6.

derived from the Darcy-Weisbach equation

for flow in a closed conduit
 appropriate for sand filters when the
Reynolds number does not exceed 6.

appropriate for
sand filters when the Reynolds
number exceed 6.
  headloss through a clean stratified-sand filter
with uniform porosity (Rose 1945)
approach velocity (also known as face velocity, filtration rate, or
frictional headloss through the
loading rate ), m/s (or m 3 /s ・ m 2 of surface area)
filter drag coefficient
mass fraction of sand particles of diameter

geometric mean diameter of sand

shape factor depth of filter sand, m grains, m
acceleration due to
gravity, m/s 2
porosity
 The sand grain diameter is multiplied by the shape factor to
account for nonspherical sand grains
 The summation term is included to account for stratification of
the sand grain sizes in the filter
 The size distribution of the sand particles is found
from a sieve analysis
 mean size of the material retained between successive sieve
sizes is assumed to correspond the geometric mean size of
successive sieves
dg = (d1d2 )0.5
diameter of upper and lower sieve openings,
mm
 The headloss is directly proportional to the
square of the filtration or loading rate (m3 of water/d ・
m 2 of filter surface area or m/d or m/h)

 small increases in loading rate are amplified.

 Headloss is inversely proportional to the

diameter of the sand grains

 The porosity, which is assumed constant through

the bed, plays a very strong inverse role in the
headloss
Example 11-2. Estimate the clean filter
headloss in Ottawa Island’s proposed new
sand filter using the sand described in
Example 11-1 , and determine if it is
reasonable. Use the following assumptions:
- loading rate is 216 m3 /d・m2 ,
- specific gravity of sand is 2.65,
- the shape factor is 0.82,
- the bed porosity is 0.45,
- the water temperature is 10oC, and
- the depth of sand is 0.5 m.
 dg = (d1d2 )0.5

Depending upon value of R

fractional mass retained

The last column is summed and the head-loss
calculated
BACKWASHING HYDRAULICS
 expansion of the filter bed during backwash
 a starting point in determining the placement of the
backwash troughs above the filter bed

turbulent backwash velocity

Richardson and Zaki (1954)

approximation technique uses the 60th percentile diameter

 settling velocity must be estimated
EXAMPLE 11-3

Determine the depth of the

expanded sand filter bed
being designed for Ottawa
Island ( Example 11-2 ).
SOLUTION
 select a backwash rate
 the backwash rate must not wash out
particles with a diameter of 0.000126 m
(0.0126 cm)

 for a 0.0126 cm particle with a specific

gravity of 2.65 (sp gr is given in exp 11-2)
 the terminal settling velocity is approximately
1 cm/s (864 m/d). Figure 11-7
The estimated settling
velocities in the third
column are found from
Figure 11-7
 The Reynolds
number is computed
with the estimated
velocity

The drag coefficient ( CD ) is calculated in the same

fashion as Example 11-2 Depending upon value of R
The settling velocity is calculated

density of the sand grain

Reynolds number is re-computed with the calculated
velocity
0.2247 R0.1=0.41
COMMENTS
 The expansion ratio is De/D = 0.7m/0.5m=1.40 or
a 40% bed expansion
 setting the elevation of the backwash troughs

De - D = 0.70 m - 0.5 m = 0.2 m above the

undisturbed bed surface plus a factor of safety
EXAMPLE 11-4, 11-5
Water and Wastewater Engineering by Mackenzie
L. Davis
READING ASSIGNMENT
11-26 to 11-45
 Hydraulic head-loss during backwashing
 gravitational force of the entire expanded bed

Converting to pressure by dividing by the area of the bed and converting

units of pressure (N/m2 ) to units of head (m)
GRANULAR FILTRATION PRACTICE
 Filter Type
 strongly influenced by the characteristics of the raw
water
 treatment processes that precede and follow the
filter

 Deep bed anthracite monomedia filters

 accumulate headloss at a low rate
 high capacity for accumulating solids

 provide a more robust design when the raw water is

improperly conditioned
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Filter type
 Dual- or multimedia filters
 raw water source is a large lake

 recommended for rivers with seasonal flooding, that results

in large, rapid changes in turbidity over short periods of
time

 Monomedia filters
 water source characteristics change only slowly with time
and
 chemical conditioning can keep pace with the changes
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Number

 Minimum two for smaller plants (< 8,000 m3 /d)

 Four for > 8000 m3 per day

 Rule-of-thumb Kawamura 2000

maximum design flow rate, m 3 /d
total number of filters

N = 0.01 95(Q)0.5
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Filtration rate
 conservative design filtration rates are
 7.5 m/h for rapid sand filters,
 15 m/h for dual-media filters, and

 25 m/h for deep, coarse monomedium filters that have

polymer added as a filter aid.

GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Dimensions
maximum day flow rate, m 3 /d
area of a bed, m2
filtration rate, m3 /d ・ m 2
A = Q/Nq
number of beds

up to 200 m2 for extremely large plants

200 m2 for large plants

25 to 100 m2 with an average of about 50 m2

(Kawamura, 2000; MWH, 2005)

 Gullet

Filter
cell

Filter
box Filter bed

COMPONENT PARTS
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Dimensions
 Two cells per filter box bisect by a Gullet
 The width of a filter cell should be less than 6 m
 “off-the-shelf” wash water troughs

 length-to-width ratio of a cell

 2:1 to 4:1 (Kawamura, 2000)

 filter box depth

 4 to 8 m
 space for the underdrain system, media, and headloss

 2 to 3 m of available head through the filter bed -

construction cost
1. Identify two design
parameters that may be
adjusted if the clean bed
headloss in a granular filter
is too large.
2. Which of the following
granular filtration systems
should be chosen if the quality
of raw water is highly
variable: (a) dual media, (b)
monomedia?
Example 11-5. In continuing the
design of Ottawa Island’s rapid
sand filter, determine the area
of each individual filter and the
plan (horizontal) dimensions of a
filter box. Use the filtration rate
of 216 m 3 /d ・ m 2 from
Example 11-2 .
SOLUTION

a. the initial estimate of number of filters is 4

(Example 11-4)
b. Area of bed when all beds are in service
maximum day flow rate, m 3 /d
area of a bed, m2
filtration rate, m3 /d ・ m 2
A = Q/Nq
number of beds
c. Redundancy capacity for the maximum day with one
filter out of service must be provided. The choices are:

1. Increase the number of beds to five and reduce the area.

2. Increase the number of beds to six and reduce the area.

3. Maintain the number of beds at four but make the area

larger. This allows for a lower q during average conditions
and meets the design loading rate with one bed out of service
on the maximum day.

4. Switch to a dual-media filter that would allow a higher

loading rate.
d. Because of construction and operational
considerations, filters are built in pairs.
 Thus, alternative (1) is eliminated.
 Alternative (2) would be acceptable but would have a
capital cost 50% greater than the four-filter system.
 Without switching to dual media, Option 3 offers the
most economical alternative.

e. If each filter is increased by 1/3, the filtration rate

with one filter out of service would be

Therefore, for a trial calculation assume the area of one

filter is (1.3333)(21.3 m2 ) = 28.4 m2 .
f. As a trial, select a total width of two cells 5.2
m. Each cell has a width of 2.6 m. The length of
each cell is then

g. An assumption of a gullet width of 0.6 m yields the plan view

sketched below.
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Media
 The primary design criteria are the effective size ( E )
and the uniformity coefficient ( U )

low uniformity coefficient (U)

results in better utilization of
the filter bed
  The media in multimedia filters must be matched
to ensure that all the media fluidize at the same
backwash rate
 one media is not washed out or fails to fluidize.
density of medium with diameter d 2 , kg/m 3
diameter of lighter media, m The drag and gravitational forces of the smallest
denser media grain size can be balanced with
the largest lighter media grain size by equating
the settling velocities of these particle sizes

diameter of denser media, m density of water, kg/m 3 Kawamura, 2000

density of medium with diameter d 1 , kg/m 3

GLUMRB (2003) specifies the following effective sizes and

uniformity coefficients:
• For sand, E of 0.45–0.55 mm and U ≤1.65
• For anthracite coal as a monomedium, E of 0.45–0.55 mm and U
≤1.65.
• For anthracite coal as a cap, E of 0.8–1.2 mm and U ≤ 1.85.
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
FILTER SUPPORT AND UNDERDRAINS
 Underdrain system
 support the filter medium,
 collect filtered water,
 distribute backwash water and
 air scour

 several layers of graded gravel (called filter

support ) are placed between the underdrain and
the medium
Great Lakes--Upper Mississippi River Board
Filter underdrains: ( a ) perforated pipe
laterals, ( b ) vitrified clay block, (c)
Integral Media Support
(IMS ).
R

In view ( c ): left is water flow during

filtration, right is backwash flow
pattern.
Filter underdrains: (c) Integral Media Support
(IMS ). In view ( c ): left is water flow during filtration, right is
R

backwash flow pattern.

Typical filter underdrains: (a) Type S and SL with and without integral media
support (IMS) cap (courtesy F. B. Leopold Company, Inc.)
00 Typical filter underdrains
(b) direct retention
underdrain system
(courtesy Johnson
Screens), and (c)
nozzle-type underdrain
system
(b)
(courtesy of Ondeo-
Degremont).

(c)
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Backwashing
 Criteria
 The headloss across the filter reaches the
maximum design level or more customarily a
preset limit in the range of 2.4 to 3.0 m;

 The filtrate turbidity reaches a set upper

limit; Or

 some maximum time limit, usually in the

range of three or four days, has been reached
Each degree Celsius increase in water temperature requires about a 2
percent increase in the wash rate to prevent a reduction in bed
expansion
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Backwashing
 Typical wash volumes
 range from 4 to 8 m3 of wash water/m2 of surface area
of the bed (Cleasby and Logsdon, 1999).
 Wash time
 not less than 15 minutes of wash of one filter at the
design wash rate be provided
 Sand filters
 30 and 60 m/h for periods from 10 to 20 minutes
(MWH, 2005).
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Backwashing
 The limiting factor in choosing a backwash
rate
 the terminal settling velocity of the smallest medium
grains that are to be retained in the filter.

 filter backwashing process is effectively an upflow

clarifier
 the backwash rate becomes the overflow rate that

determines whether a particle is retained in the

filter or is washed out through the backwash
trough.
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Backwashing
 Provisions shall be made for washing filters as
follows: GLUMRB (2003)

 A minimum rate of 37 m/h consistent with water

temperatures and the specific gravity of the media or;

 A rate of 50 m/h or a rate necessary to provide 50

percent expansion of the filter bed is recommended or;

 A rate of 24 m/h for full depth anthracite or granular

activated carbon media.
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Surface wash systems
 Fixed grid and
 Rotating arms

 inject jets of water into the surface from about 2.5 to

5 cm above the surface

 operated for one to two minutes before the upflow

backwash

 continue to operate until about two to three minutes

before the end of the upflow backwash
 Surface wash
arms

SURFACE WASH ARMS

GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Air scour systems
 supply air through the underdrain system

 Add complexity in the system

 Kawamura (2000) and MWH (2005) recommend air

scour systems when the media depth exceeds 1 m
 air flow of 0.9 to 1.5 m3 of air/min・m2 of filter area
GLUMRB (2003)
 Backwash flow rate must be variable from 20 to 37
m/h (lower rate when air scouring is used)
a b

Figure 11-17 Typical filter washwater troughs: (a) plastic

adjustable type and (b) cast-in-place concrete (MWH)
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Wash Troughs
 Fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP),
 Stainless steel, or
 Concrete

 “off-the-shelf” FRP or stainless troughs (easy to

install)
 Semicircular bottoms
 to create smooth flow streamlines and
 to prevent accumulation of foam and solids under the

trough
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Design elevation of the weir edge of the trough
 Depth required for maximum bed expansion +
 depth of the trough +
 a margin of safety of 0.15 to 0.3 m (Castro et al.,
2005)

 Anthracite
 the distance to the top of the troughs from the surface of the
filter bed should be 1.1 to 1.2 m [Cleasby and Logsdon
(1999)]
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 GLUMRB (2003) recommends
 The bottom elevation of the trough be above the
maximum level of the expanded media during
washing;
 A 5 cm freeboard inside the trough be provided;
 The top edge be level and at the same elevation for
all troughs;
 The troughs be spaced so that each trough serves the
same number of square meters of filter area;
 The maximum horizontal travel of suspended
particles to reach the trough not exceed 1 m.
Example 11-6. Design the backwash
system for Ottawa Island’s rapid sand
filter. Use the filter dimensions from
Example 11-5 . The backwash system
includes the layout of the backwash
troughs, backwash velocity, volume of
backwash water per trough, the
trough dimension (width and depth),
trough elevation, volume of backwash
tank, and elevation of the lowest
water level in the backwash tank.
SOLUTION
a. Using GLUMRB guidance
 the wash troughs are to be spaced
so that each trough serves
approximately the same number of
square meters of filter area and
 so that the maximum horizontal
travel of suspended particles to
reach the trough does not exceed
1 m.
Using the sketch from
Example 11-5 , place wash
troughs at intervals as
shown below to achieve an
even spacing.

As shown by the arrows, the

maximum distance a
suspended particle must
travel to a trough is 1.1 m.

This does not meet the

GLUMRB recommendation
but is acceptable.
 The backwash velocity is 864 m/d (EX 11-3)

slightly less than the GLUMRB recommended minimum of

37 m/h

this rate will avoid washing out the finest sand (EX 11-3)

 The maximum flow rate of backwash water per trough is

at the end trough
(36 m/h)(2.6 m)(1.1 m+ 0.8 m) 177.8 or 180 m3/h
b. Using a backwash flow rate of 180 m 3 /h and
Figure 11-13 , select a trough width dimensions
c. W =30 cm and Y= 23.5 cm.

From the drawing in the figure, the depth of

the trough is 23.5 cm + (30 cm/2) + 5 cm = 43.5 cm
d. The trough elevation is determined from the
backwash expansion calculated in Example 11-3
Height to the weir edge above undisturbed media =
De – D + depth of trough + 0.15m
= 0.7 m -0.5 m +0.435 m + 0.15m = 0.785 or 0.8m

e. The volume of backwash water for 15 minutes

(0.25 h) of backwash is
(36 m/h)(2 cells)(2.6 m)(5.5m)(0.25 h) =257.4 m3
Provide two times this volume or 514.8 or about
520 m3

f. Assuming a gravity feed, for the lowest level of

water, the backwash tank should be 11 m above
the lip of the wash troughs (Kawamura, 2000).
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
 Gullet
 carries pretreated water to the filter and
 carries backwash water and filter-to-waste water
away for treatment and recycling through the plant
 Flat-bottomed gullets wash water
depth at discharge, m 3
upstream depth at distance /s
x in Figure 11-14 ,
end, m m

acceleration due to
gravity, 9.81 m/s 2 width of gullet, m

length of gullet, m
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE

The upper elevation of H

the depth of wash water at
the upstream end
set below the bottom of the
wash troughs discharging into the
gullet so that the wash trough
discharge is a free fall.
GRANULAR FILTRATION
PRACTICE
The elevation of the bottom of the gullet
(the lower elevation of H ) is highly
variable.
at the bottom of the underdrain,
at the bottom of the media,
at some elevation between the top and
bottom of the media, and
at the top of the media
(Amirtharajah, 1978; Castro et al., 2005; Kawamura, 2000;
MWH, 2005, Reynolds and Richards, 1996).
the flow of backwash water out of the gullet
controls the dimension h. (Fig 11-14)

The lowest feasible depth h at the outlet of the

gullet is determined by:
the height of wash water required to overcome the entry
headloss into the outlet pipe (0.7 v2 /2g) + the velocity head
that is lost in producing the desired velocity in the pipe. Bernoulli’s equation
The backwash conduit velocity is generally in the
range 1.2 to 2.4 m/s.
height of wash water
required to overcome the
entry headloss into the
outlet pipe
 The wash water discharge, Q ww , is determined from the
backwash rate and the area of the filter

 The solution is iterative. A trial value of b is selected and

the dimension H is calculated.

 Measuring from the bottom of the wash troughs, the

depth is checked against one of the criteria noted above.
 If the depth is greater than the depth to the bottom of the
underdrain, it is too deep.

 If the bottom of the gullet is above the media, the width may
be too large.

 Depending on the size of the plant, with smaller plants having

smaller gullets, trial widths in the range of 0.4 to 2 m are
suggested.
Example 11-7. Determine the gullet
dimensions for Ottawa Island’s rapid
sand filter. Use the filter dimensions
from Example 11-5 and the backwash
rate from Example 11-6 . Assume a
450 mm diameter pipe from the gullet
is to carry the wash water at a
velocity of 1.8 m/s.
11-
6
DESIGN CRITERIA