Low Flow Stacked Rapid Sand Filtration
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Low Flow Stacked Rapid Sand Filters are an adaptation of rapid sand filters optimized for flows less than 3 L/s. SRSF is a game changing technology invented by the AguaClara team that is significantly simpler to operate than conventional rapid sand filters. LFSRSF are currently being built in AquaClara plants in India to treat flow rates of around 0.8 L/s. |
Spring 2014
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This semester, the team aims to complete fabrication of the 30 cm diameter LFSRSF, which includes a simplified hydraulic control system. The team will add slotted pipes and sand to the filter column, as well as pipe stubs to the inlet and outlet tanks. They will also build a water recycling system to facilitate hydraulic testing of the filter. Testing will involve evaluating the headloss necessary to fluidize the sand bed of the filter during clean and clogged conditions, determining the head required to initiate backwash, and measuring the flow distribution between filter layers. The team will also simplify the sand drain design and and develop a better method to open and shut it. Finally, the team will optimize pipe sizes and elevation of the inlet and outlet tanks to improve access and efficiency.
Fall 2013
The Low Flow Stacked Rapid Sand Filter team seeks to design and build a 30 cm diameter filter that will accurately model the filters being constructed in India by AguaClara, LLC and to use the existing 10 cm diameter filter to quantify the effects of incorporating a backwash initiator and to construct an improved sand drain. The 10 cm team has constructed a constant head device, run the filter, and determined that the backwash initiator does not actually aid in the initiation of backwash, and is in practice a fluidization indicator. The 10 cm team has also constructed an alternative sand drain, but has not yet utilized it. The 30 cm diameter team has constructed a filter column, an inlet tank, and an exit tank. They have developed and implemented new methods to assemble these components, and they have documented their progress to facilitate the construction of new filters.
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