FILTRATION AND

DISINFECTION OF
WATER
(Module 4)

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WATER TREATMENT PROCESS

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 FILTRATION OF WATER
“In order to remove or to reduce the contents of impurities still
further, the water is filtered through the beds of fine granular
material like sand”

THEORY OF FILTRATION:
• Mechanical straining
• Sedimentation
• Biological metabolism –
schmutzdecke or dirty skin
• Electrolytic changes

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FILTER SAND
Filter sand is classified on the basis of effective size and uniformity
coefficient.
• The effective size is the size of sieve through which 10% of the
sample of sand by weight will pass.
• Uniformity coefficient: D60/ effective size

CLASSIFICATION OF FILTERS:
Slow sand
Gravity filters
filters Rapid sand
Filters
Pressure filters
filters

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SLOW SAND FILTERS:
Purpose:
The water is allowed to pass slowly through a layer of sand placed
above the base material and thus the purification process aims at
simultaneously improving the biological, chemical, and physical
characteristics of water.

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 Design considerations

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 Slow sand filter

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Essential parts:
Enclosure tank: -stone masonry/brick masonry
-waterproof material
-bed slope is 1 in 100 to 1 in 200
-depth of the tank is 2.5 m to 3.5 m

Under drainage system:

Central drain

Lateral drain

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Lateral drain:
• Placed at a distance of about 2.5 to 3.5 m.
• Stopped at a distance of 500 mm to 800 mm from walls of the tank.
• Open joint pipes
Base material:
• Placed on top of the under drainage system
• Varies from 300 mm to 700 mm depth
• Graded and laid in layers of 150 mm
LAYER DEPTH OF SIZE OF
LAYER GRAVEL
Topmost 150mm 3mm- 6mm
Intermediate 150mm 6mm- 20mm
150mm 20mm- 40mm
Lowest 150mm 40mm- 65mm
Total 600mm depth
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Filter media:
• Sand layer is placed above the gravel of layer depth 600 mm
to 900 mm.
• Size of the sand varies from 0.2 mm to 0.3 mm.
• Uniformity coefficient of sand is 2 to 3.
• The finer the sand, the better will be the filtration.

Working:
• The water is allowed to enter the filter through the inlet
chamber. It descends through the filter media and during this
process, it gets purified.
• These filters are usually worked for a maximum filtration head
of 750 mm.

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Cleaning:
• Top layer of the sand is removed to a depth of 15 to 25 mm
• Effective depth of filter media is reduced
• Fresh layer of 150mm depth of graded sand is added

Rate of filtration:
100 to 200 liters per hour per m² of filter area

Efficiency:
• Bacterial load: 99.50 to 99.9 percent is removed
•Color: less efficient in removal of color(20-25%)
•Turbidity: can remove turbidity of 50 p.p.m

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 RAPID SAND FILTER OF GRAVITY TYPE:

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Rapid sand filter – sectional details

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Filter media of sand:
• Filtering medium: sand ( effective size of sand particles 0.4-0.7 mm,
coarse sand)
• Depth of sand bed: 1-1.5 feet deep
• Clogging of filters by suspended impurities and bacteria: Loss of
Head
• Cleaning by back-washing daily or weekly for 15 minutes

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Layout of typical rapid sand filter(gravity type)

Advantages:
• Rapid sand filter can deal with raw water directly
• No preliminary storage is needed
• The filter beds occupy less space
• Filtration is rapid, 40 – 50 times that of a slow sand filter
• The washing of the filter is easy
• There is more flexibility in operation
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COMPARISON OF RAPID & SLOW SAND FILTERS

Properties Rapid sand filter Slow sand

filter
Area Small area Large area
Rate of 4000-7500 100-200
filtration(L/m2/hr)
Sand size (diameter) 0.4-0.7 mm 0.2-0.3 mm
Pretreatment Coagulation and Sedimentation
sedimentation
Filter cleaning Backwashing Scraping
Operation More skilled Less skilled
Removal of colour Good Better
Removal of bacteria 98-99% 99.9%-99.99%
Prior water storage Storage needed No need
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PRESSURE FILTERS:
“Filter is enclosed in space and the water passes under pressure greater
than atmospheric pressure”

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Construction:
•Closed steel cylinders.
•Diameter varies from 1.5 to 3.0 m.
•Length or height varies from 3.5 to 8.0m.
•Manholes are provided at the top for inspection.

Working:
•The water mixed with coagulant is directly admitted to the pressure filter.
•In working condition all valves are closed except those for raw water and
filtered water.

Cleaning
•The compressed air may be used to agitate sand grains.
•Valves for wash water and wash water drain are opened during washing.

Rate of filtration: 6000-15000litres/hr/sq.m.

Efficiency: Less efficient than the rapid sand filters.

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Cleaning:

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 DISINFECTION OF WATER
• Disinfection is the process of removing harmful bacteria.
• The substances or materials which are to be used for disinfection are
called the disinfectants.
• When water leaves the filter plant, it is till
found to contain some of the impurities.
These impurities can be grouped as:
-Bacteria,
-dissolved inorganic salts,
-color, odor and taste,
-iron and manganese.

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METHODS OF DISINFECTION:
BOILING METHOD
• This is the most effective method of killing bacteria but
impracticable in large scale.
• Most of bacteria are destroyed when the water
has attained of about 80˚C temperature.
• Prolonged boiling is unnecessary and wasteful.

EXCESS LIME TREATMENT

• Treatment of lime is given to the water for the removal of dissolved
salts.
• Excess lime added to water works as disinfecting material.
• When pH value is about 9.50, bacteria can be removed to the extent
of 99.93 per cent.
• Dosage 14 to 43ppm
• Lime is to be removed by recarbonation after disinfection.
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OZONE TREATMENT(3O2 =2O3)
• Nascent oxygen is very powerful in killing bacteria.
• Ozone is unstable and does not remain in water when reaches the
consumer.
• Ozoniser:

• Dosage of ozone is about 2 to 3 p.p.m. to obtain residual ozone of

0.10 p.p.m
• Contact period is about 10 minutes
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IODINE AND BROMINE TREATMENT
• Use of iodine or bromine is limited to small water supplies such as
swimming pools, troops of army, private plants, etc.
• Dosage of iodine or bromine is about 8 p.p.m.
• Contact period with water is 5 minutes.
• Available in the form of pellets or small pills.

SILVER TREATMENT
• Metallic silver ions are introduced into the water by passing it
through a tube of solid silver electrodes which are connected to DC
supply of 1.5 V.
• Dosage of silver varies from 0.05 to 1 p.p.m.
• Contact period is about 15 minutes to 3 hours.
• It is costly and not adopted for public supply.

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POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE TREATMENT(KMnO4)
• It is a powerful oxidising agent, effective in killing cholera bacteria
• Restricted to disinfection of water of village wells and ponds
• Dosage is about 1-2 p.p.m
• Contact period of 4 to 6 hours
• The treated water produces a dark brown coating
on porcelain vessels and this is difficult to remove
except with scratching or rubbing.
ULTRA-VIOLET RAY TREATMENT
• For generating these rays, the mercury is enclosed in one or more
quartz bulbs and electric current is then passed through it.
• The water should be passed round the
bulbs several times .
• Depth of water over the bulbs should
not exceed 10 cms.

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 CHLORINATION

Used as a disinfecting material as,

• Readily available as gas, liquid or powder.
• Very toxic to most of the micro-organisms;
Capable of disinfecting for longer periods
• Easy to handle
• Cheap and reliable.
Demerit-Imparts bitter and bade taste if used in greater amounts

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 Mechanism of action:
1. H2O+Cl2 (at pH> 5) = HCl + HOCl (main disinfectant)

HOCl (at pH > 8) H+ + OCl- (at

pH<7)(minor action)
HOCl is more destructive than OCl- , therefore ph
generally maintained below 7.

2. NH3+ HOCl = NH2Cl/NHCl2/NCl3 + H2O

at pH 7.5.5-6.5 and 4.4 respctively
(Mono, Di ,Tri Chloramines)

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Various forms in which chlorine
can be applied
• As free chlorine-
1. As liquid chlorine or as chlorine gas
• As combined chlorine
1. As hypochlorites or bleaching powder
2. As chloramines
3. As chlorine dioxide

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Problem
• It is required to supply water to a population of
20,000 at a per capita demand of 150 litres per day.
The disinfectant used for chlorination is bleaching
powder which contains 30% of available chlorine.
Determine how much chlorine is required annually
at the water works, if 0.3ppm of chlorine is required
for disinfection.

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 Types of chlorination
• Depending upon(1) the quantity of chlorine added
(2) the stage at which chlorine is added
(3)upon the results of chlorination, there are various
terms:
 Plain chlorination
 Pre-chlorination
 Post- chlorination
 Double chlorination
 Break point chlorination
 Super chlorination
 Dechlorination

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• Plain chlorination
o Only chlorine treatment and no other treatment has been given
to the raw water
o Technique for relatively clearer water, turbidity <20 to 30mg/L, or
in emergency situations where full fledged treatment cannot be
done.
o Dosage- 0.5mg/L
• Pre-chlorination
o Process of applying chlorine to the water before filtration or rather
before coagulation sedimentation.
o Dosage- 5 to 10mg/L
o Always followed by post-chlorination
• Post-chlorination
o Process of applying chlorine in the end
o After filtration an before the water enters into distribution system
o Dosage- so as to leave a residual chlorine of 0.1-0.2mg/L
o Contact period- 20 minutes

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• Double chlorination
o Indicates the water has been chlorinated twice
o Pre-chlorination and post-chlorination are generally used in
double chlorination
• Break point chlorination
o Represents the dose of chlorination beyond which any
further addition of chlorine will appear as free residual
chlorine
o Generally a residual of 0.2-0.3mg/L maintained

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• Super chlorination
o Indicates excessive addition chlorine( 5to 15mg/L)
o For highly polluted waters, or epidemics of water borne
diseases
o Dosage such as to give 1 to 2 mg/l residual chlorine
o Dechlorinated after the end of desired contact period. It is
again chlorinated to a dosage of 0.1 to 0.2mg/L
• Dechlorination
o Process of removing chlorine from water
o Generally required when super chlorination has been done.
o Dechlorination done upto residual chlorine of sufficient
quantity present or if fully dechlorinated, chlorination done
again
o Commonly used dechlorination agents are: Sulphur dioxide,
Sodium thiosulphate, Sodium metabisulphate..etc
o SO2 gas dosage 0.3 to 0.6ppm and a contact period of 10 to
15 minutes

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 End of Module 4

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