AWWA ACE95102 ✓ Most Recent

The water treatment industry is facing new pressures that are resulting in the reevaluation of some standard filtration practices. These pressures include the following: increased attention to cyst removal; avoidance of disinfection byproducts (DBPs); increased reliance on particle counts to monitor treatment performance; and containment of treatment costs. Because filtration is the final barrier for particle removal, including parasite cysts, these pressures have resulted in a renewed interest in filter media design. This paper reviews the fundamentals of particle removal and the results of recent pilot- and full-scale performance to predict the following trends in filter media design: deeper filter boxes; deep-bed monomedia or deep-bed dual-media design will replace multimedia designs as state of the art; increased loading rates; and air backwash systems. See more