The impact of increased loading rate on granular media, rapid depth filtration of wastewater

The impact of loading rate on tertiary filtration of wastewater was studied using a pilot-scale, dual-media, rapid depth filtration system. Loading rates of 12.2, 15.3, 18.3, 21.4, and 24.4 m/h were tested on parallel filter columns treating the same coagulated secondary wastewater to determine the impact on removal of turbidity, particles (2–15 μm), total coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, and MS2 bacteriophage, as well as on the particle deposition profile in the filter bed. Increasing the loading rate from 12.2 to 24.4 m/h decreased the removal efficiencies for all metrics. The observed impact of loading rate on particle removal was similar to that predicted by a clean-bed filtration model, although the model significantly underestimated the removal efficiencies of the smaller particles. For two loading rates, 12.2 and 18.3 m/h, the effect of coagulant dose was also studied; the negative impact of loading rate on removal efficiency was eliminated by increasing the coagulant dose for the higher loading rate, which also resulted in removal of particles deeper in the filter bed. For all conditions studied, loading rate had no observable impact on the ability to disinfect filter effluents with chloramines. The results of this research indicate that loading rates higher than those typically used in tertiary filtration can produce acceptable effluent quality, and support a regulatory approach based on filter effluent turbidity.