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Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering)  2008, Vol. 9 Issue (11): 1576-1581    DOI: 10.1631/jzus.A0820053
Environmental & Chemical Engineering     
Effect of a biological activated carbon filter on particle counts
Su-hua WU, Bing-zhi DONG, Tie-jun QIAO, Jin-song ZHANG
College of Environmental Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Shenzhen Water (Group) Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518039, China
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Abstract  Due to the importance of biological safety in drinking water quality and the disadvantages which exist in traditional methods of detecting typical microorganisms such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia, it is necessary to develop an alternative. Particle counts is a qualitative measurement of the amount of dissolved solids in water. The removal rate of particle counts was previously used as an indicator of the effectiveness of a biological activated carbon (BAC) filter in removing Cryptosporidium and Giardia. The particle counts in a BAC filter effluent over one operational period and the effects of BAC filter construction and operational parameters were investigated with a 10 m3/h pilot plant. The results indicated that the maximum particle count in backwash remnant water was as high as 1296 count/ml and it needed about 1.5 h to reduce from the maximum to less than 50 count/ml. During the standard filtration period, particle counts stay constant at less than 50 count/ml for 5 d except when influenced by sand filter backwash remnant water. The removal rates of particle counts in the BAC filter are related to characteristics of the carbon. For example, a columned carbon and a sand bed removed 33.3% and 8.5% of particles, respectively, while the particle counts in effluent from a cracked BAC filter was higher than that of the influent. There is no significant difference among particle removal rates with different filtration rates. High post-ozone dosage (>2 mg/L) plays an important role in particle count removal; when the dosage was 3 mg/L, the removal rates by carbon layers and sand beds decreased by 17.5% and increased by 9.5%, respectively, compared with a 2 mg/L dosage.

Key wordsBiological activated carbon (BAC) filter      Cryptosporidium      Giardia      Particle counts      Turbidity     
Received: 17 January 2008     
CLC:  TU991.2  
Cite this article:

Su-hua WU, Bing-zhi DONG, Tie-jun QIAO, Jin-song ZHANG. Effect of a biological activated carbon filter on particle counts. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering), 2008, 9(11): 1576-1581.

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http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/zjus-a/10.1631/jzus.A0820053     OR     http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/zjus-a/Y2008/V9/I11/1576

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