{"id":117268,"date":"2023-06-09T18:33:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T22:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/?p=117268"},"modified":"2023-06-13T18:35:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T22:35:32","slug":"sand-filtration-an-old-yet-sustainable-water-purification-technique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/sand-filtration-an-old-yet-sustainable-water-purification-technique\/","title":{"rendered":"Sand Filtration: An Old yet Sustainable Water Purification Technique"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Sakshi Kabra Malpani, <\/span>Publishing Associate: Researcher and Writer <\/span>at Save the Water\u2122 | June 09, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n Sand filtration is an old yet sustainable and cheap water purification technique. Water pollution and lack of access to safe drinking water by <\/span>80% of rural people is a serious global concern<\/span><\/a>. But sand filtration can improve water quality in rural, low-resource areas. Specifically, this method removes suspended particles and dissolved organic chemicals from wastewater. In addition, sand-filtration reduces turbidity, taste, and foul smelling problems.<\/span><\/p>\n Sand filters are composed of the following basic components:<\/span><\/p>\n These filters only work if certain criteria is met:<\/span><\/p>\n Three types of sand filters are most common: buried; open or intermittent; and recirculating.<\/p>\n First, buried sand filters are built onsite and buried 4 to 5 feet deep in the soil. The entire unit is kept in a leak-proof chamber. Underdrain pipes and a layer of crushed rock are placed at the bottom of the filter bed and finer gravel layer on the top.<\/p>\n Next, open or intermittent sand filters are\u00a0about 2 feet deep. These filters are placed partially above the ground. These filters contain more than two filter beds in a sequence either in single line (series combination) or across each other (parallel combination) which allow partial working of the filter around the clock. To safeguard filters from fouling smell, extreme weather conditions, and tedious maintenance, we can cover these filters.<\/p>\n Lastly, recirculating sand filters are modified versions of open sand filters and can solve foul odor problems. Specifically, these types of sand filters increase the oxygen content in the wastewater. In this filter, wastewater flows from a septic tank to a recirculation tank containing a pump, float valves, and a timing mechanism. The wastewater is pumped to the filter at regular intervals. After treatment is finished, a portion of treated water is directed back to the septic tank, mixed with wastewater, and then recirculated to the sand filter. Thus oxygen level increases in wastewater and odor is eliminated.<\/p>\n Currently, rapid sand filters amended with granular limestone have been used to eliminate nanoplastics from wastewater<\/a>. On top of this, sand filters enriched with coke<\/a>, gypsum, coal<\/a>, biochar<\/a>, and activated carbon have been designed to remove harmful chemicals from wastewater.<\/p>\n The efficiency of sand filtration is influenced by several factors. First, it is important to pretreat the wastewater before filtering it with sand filters. This can be done by using screens, septic tanks, or aerobic units to remove suspended solids. Failure to do so can lead to clogging of the filter beds.<\/p>\n Second, the filter media used in sand filters also plays a crucial role. Factors such as size, composition, and uniformity of the filter media can affect the filter’s performance. Before using the filter media, it is essential to check its solubility, acid strength, and hardness. The grains of the media should be of uniform size and shape, properly sieved, and washed. Ideally, the size of the media should range from 0.3 to 3 mm in diameter for effective wastewater treatment. Using media that is either too coarse or too fine can lead to inefficiencies, as coarse particles won’t effectively filter small impurities, while fine particles can clog the filter bed.<\/p>\n Third, the loading rate of organic contaminants such as (herbicides, pesticides and many more) in the wastewater can also impact the filter’s performance. If there is a high concentration of organic material, the filter may not be as effective in removing impurities.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the loading rate of water, as well as the dose and frequency at which wastewater is fed into the sand filter, can affect its efficiency. If large amounts of wastewater are introduced too frequently, the filter may not be able to adequately remove pathogens and other contaminants from the water.<\/p>\n Lastly, the general climate and temperature conditions can also influence the functioning of sand filters. In frozen climates or lower temperatures, recirculating and open filters may not work as effectively.<\/p>\n Sand filters have the following benefits:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>In spite of the above, some drawbacks are also associated with sand filters as given below:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By Sakshi Kabra Malpani, Publishing Associate: Researcher and Writer at Save the Water\u2122 | June 09, 2023…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12894,"featured_media":117269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[2164,2039,612],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117268"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117275,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117268\/revisions\/117275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117268"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=117268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Design of Sand Filters<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
How do Sand Filters Work?<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
Types of Sand Filters<\/span><\/h2>\n
Factors Influencing Efficiency of Sand Filtration\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Pros and Cons of Sand Filters<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
\n
What can be Done to Promote Sand Filtration Technique?<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n