Energy and Water Savings during Backwashing of Rapid Filter Plants

This paper describes an analysis of the effects of adjusting the intensity of filter backwash to the water temperature. The consequences of the lack of such adjustment for the life of filter beds, the amount of water used for backwashing, the amount of energy used for backwashing and the quality of the first filtrate are presented. In order to determine the losses and profits resulting from controlling the intensity of backwash water depending on its temperature, an analysis was carried out at a water treatment plant in southern Poland. Laboratory measurements were used to determine the granulation and specific gravity of sand grains filling the filtration beds. On the basis of measurements on a semi-technical scale, the magnitudes of filter bed expansion were determined for average monthly wash water temperatures. They were first calculated from the Richardson-Zaki equation, using different formulae for the value of the exponent of the power in this equation. Due to significant differences in the density and shape of grains covered with a permanent deposit after several years of filter operation, a satisfactory match between the formulae known from the literature and the results of expansion measurements was not obtained. Therefore, an new formula for the bed expansion was developed based on the Richardson-Zaki equation. A good fit of this formula to the experimental results was obtained. Monthly average values of water temperature were compiled, and on this basis the required amount of backwash water and energy was computed. The computations were made for 25% of fluidized bed expansion. Possible energy and water savings were estimated, as well as further gains from keeping the required expansion of the porous bed constant regardless of the wash water temperature.