Environmental Engineering: Dr. Ramakrishna Bag Dept of Civil Engineering NIT Rourkela

Environmental Engineering
Dr. Ramakrishna Bag

Dept of Civil Engineering
NIT Rourkela
Rapid sand filter
Rapid gravity filters Pressure filters

Uses large size sand particles Uses development of
which allows greater rate of pressure over filtering water
filtration. and thereby increase of
Used in large municipal filtration.
supplies. Used for small installations
such as swimming pool.
Constituents of Rapid gravity filter
Constituents of Rapid gravity filter
Enclosure tank:
Open water-tight rectangular tank made of masonry or
concrete.
Depth: 2.5 to 3.5 m.
Area of filter unit: 10 to 80 m2 for each filter unit.
No of filter units require in a plant is estimated by
N = 1.22 Q , where Q plant capacity in million litres per
day
There should be minimum two filter units in any plant.
Each filter unit capacity should be less than one-fourth
of total capacity of the plant when, plant capacity > 9
million litres per day.
Filter media:
Sand layers of 60 to 90 cm deep placed over a gravel support.
Effective size (D10) of the sand = 0.35 to 0.55 mm.
Uniformity coefficient (D60/D10) varies from 1.3 to 1.7
Base Material:
Like slow sand filter, the base material is gravel.
In addition to supporting sand layer, it distributes wash
water and hence careful grading is very important.
Total 60 to 90 cm thick.
Laid in 5-6 layer, starting from coarsest at the bottom to
finest at the top.
At the bottom size = 20 to 40 mm.
Intermediate layer size = 12 to 20 and 6 to 12 mm.
At the top size = 3 to 6 mm.
Under-drainage system:
Unlike slow sand filter, under drainage system for rapid

gravity filters serves two purposes.
To receive and collect filter water.
To allow back washing for cleaning of filter.
Therefore, design should consider collecting filter water

during downward journey as well as allowing wash water
to move upward with sufficiently high velocity.
Back washing increases the volume of filter sand by 25 to

40%.
Under-drainage system:
Rate of back wash water flow: 300-900 litres/min

/m2 of filter area.
Rate of filtration: 50-100 litres/ min/m2 of filter
area.
Therefore, rate of back wash water flow is 6-18
times greater than the rate of filtration.
The design of under drainage system depend on
uniform distribution of back wash water.
Types of under-drainage system:
a) Manifold and lateral system
b) The wheeler bottom
c) Porous plate bottom
Two types of manifold and lateral systems are

mostly used in India
i) Perforated pipe type
ii) Pipe and strainer type
i) Perforated pipe type :
Lateral drains are provided with holes at

the bottom side.
Holes are 6 to 13 mm in dia.
Holes make 30o angle with vertical.
Holes are 7.5 to 20 cm c/c
Holes are lined with brass coatings to
reduce corrosion of the surface of holes.
40-50 mm concrete blocks are placed
under the perforated laterals.
ii) Pipe and strainer type
Laterals are attached to the manifold but
strainer are provided instead of drilling holes.
Strainer is a small brass pipe closed at its top
by perforated cap.
Strainers are provided on lateral at 15 cm
apart.
In pipe and strainer system, compressed air is
used to back wash the filter, hence saving the
wash water.
In perforated system ( when no strainers are
used), the water jet is used for back wash and
the required velocity is very high 600 to 800
litre/min/m2 of filter area, known as high velocity
wash.
When strainers are used wash water is required
at the rate of 250 to 300 litre/min/m2 of filter
area because compressed air assists in agitating
sand particles , known as low velocity wash.
Design considerations
Total c/s area of perforations should be about 0.2%
of the total filter area.
For 10 mm and 5 mm dia. Perforations, c/s area of
each laterals should be about 2 and 4 times to the
c/s area of perforations, respectively.
The c/s area of the manifold should be twice the c/s
area of lateral drains.
(Length/ dia) of lateral < 60
Max permissible velocity in the manifold to provide
required wash water is 1.8 to 2.4 m/s.
Other components
Wash water troughs:

Collect wash water.
made of concrete, steel or fibre glass.
Square, V-shaped or circular
Troughs are spaced 1.5 to 2.0 m apart
Air compressor:
During back washing compressed air is used to
agitate the sand particles.
Agitation time : 4 min
Rate of compressed air supply: 600 to 800 ltrs/min/
m2 of filter area
Rate controller
Provide uniform rate of filtration irrespective
of the head loss through filter.
Head loss indicator

To measure head differences between water
resting on sand bed and the effluents
coming from the filter.
Working and cleaning of rapid gravity filters
Back washing require about 15 min time.

Amount of water required for back wash vary
from 2 to 5 % of total amount of water filtered.
Rapid gravity filters are required to wash every
24 to 48 hrs.
Rate of filtration: 3000 to 6000 ltrs/hr/m2 of
filter area.
Efficiency: 80 to 90% efficient in bacteria

removal, therefore less efficient than slow sand
filter.
Rapid gravity filters are best and most
economical, therefore, most widely used.
However, it is less safer as compare to slow sand
filter and hence require further treatment before
supply.
Operational difficulties in rapid gravity filters
Formation of mud balls
Accumulation of mud on the sand surface.
if inadequate washing is done, mud may sink
into the sand bed and stick to the sand
grains, thereby forming mud balls.
Size of mud balls gradually increases.
May sink down to gravel layer and interfere
with upward movement of water during back
wash.
Mud balls may be broken by mechanical
rakes, using water stream or injecting
compressed air.
Sometimes caustic soda, is used to soak the
filter bed for 12 hours, then agitated with
air-wash.
8 hours later filter bed is washed until clear
water comes out.
If filter gets badly clogged, entire filter bed
may be replaced
Cracking of filters:
Shrinkage cracks develop at the wall
junctions when find sand contained in the
top layers shrinks.
Cracks gradually propagates through filter
sand.
The floc, mud and other impurities get
arrested in the crack and thus effecting
both washing of filter and rate of filtration.

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Environmental Engineering

Dr. Ramakrishna Bag

Rapid gravity filters Pressure filters

Unlike slow sand filter, under drainage system for rapid

Therefore, design should consider collecting filter water

Back washing increases the volume of filter sand by 25 to

Rate of back wash water flow: 300-900 litres/min

Two types of manifold and lateral systems are

Lateral drains are provided with holes at

Wash water troughs:

Head loss indicator

Back washing require about 15 min time.

Efficiency: 80 to 90% efficient in bacteria

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