Effect of filter media configuration characteristics on the performance efficiency in quartz sand filter

The particle size, bed depth and configuration of filter media play a key role in filtration process. Based on the practice, three typical monomedium sand configurations were selected to conduct performance comparison with several focuses. The results revealed that homogeneous sand media have some advantages in head-loss increasing control, filtered water average turbidity, particles removal efficiency, filter net production ratio and performance index F value. The particle count control depended on the bed depth mainly, and the effect of filter media equivalent depth L/d on particle removal was proved. The particles with size 2~5 μm was the most groups difficult to remove with sand filter. The less size and depth of media configuration means higher head loss increasing, higher filtered water turbidity and particles count, although this configuration could avoid the detrimental effect from turbidity increasing at the end of run. All of above, the media configuration with deeper bed depth and more uniform size distribution along depth should be regarded as the prior alternative choice for filter design and prompting in the future.