Achieving even water filtration

When it comes to filtering drinking water, it goes without saying that the stakes are high. Consumers rightly expect safe and clean drinking water, and facilities need to know their systems are reliable.

So when a water treatment facility recently undertook a major refurbishment, routine testing of its filtration system showed cause for concern.

The facility’s filtration system had been in place for some years and, when it came time to refurbish, the company chose to replace their filtration system with an identical design. Tecpro was commissioned to supply high-quality filter nozzles, which had been installed in the refurbished system.

But during routine testing, it became clear that a problem within the system meant the new nozzles were not functioning as they should. Uneven bubbles emanating from the nozzles during the air scour cycle test provided a strong clue that inconsistency was being created within the system, but the cause of the issue could not be immediately identified.

Working with the contractor who had commissioned the nozzles, Tecpro set to work to troubleshoot the problem. Based interstate, the contractor supplied videos and images to show Tecpro’s in-house experts what was occurring within the system, allowing them to analyse the process taking place and where the underlying problems were.

An important clue lay in the discovery that some filter nozzles were sitting higher than others, causing uneven flow when air scour was introduced. Even filter nozzles are a crucial part of any filtration system, and this provided an important detail in understanding the underlying cause of the issue.

After reviewing the videos and consulting with Italian manufacturer Ilmap, Tecpro quickly identified that the problem experienced in the system was in fact the way the air scour was being introduced into the pipes below. Incorrect introduction was pushing air unevenly through the filter nozzles. Ultimately, this inconsistent distribution of air across the filter meant that the impurities were not being efficiently removed from the water.

The incorrect air scour introduction was found to be a flaw in the original design of the system. Having been identified by Tecpro within weeks of the problem arising, a partial redesign of the system was undertaken to correct the problem quickly.

Without quick identification and remediation, this underlying design flaw could have spelled disaster for the water treatment facility in a number of ways. Compromised standard of drinking water would have been the immediate issue — a risk no water treatment facility can tolerate. In the long term, uneven filtration would lead to clogging of filter nozzles, running the risk of having to repair or even replace the system prematurely. The ramifications of an offline filtration system for weeks or even months would have created significant operational issues for the facility, and risked the reputation of the operator with the local government and the community.