Water is a vital resource for a variety of industrial processes, and with freshwater scarcity becoming a growing concern, the need to manage water resources effectively and sustainably is more important than ever.
Filtration plays a vital role in water treatment, filtration for process water, and wastewater reuse as it helps to remove suspended solids, microorganisms, and other contaminants from the water, ensuring that the treated water complies with requirements for safe and sustainable reuse.
In this blog, we’ll take an in-depth look at the importance of filtration in water treatment for process water and wastewater reuse, including its benefits in protecting equipment and processes, complying with regulatory standards, and conserving water resources.
The process of removing particulate impurities suspended in water is called filtration. The techniques for removing pollutants and waste mainly include filtration, flocculation, sedimentation, and surface capture.
Filters are divided according to their main capture technology. Filtering to remove particles on the surface of the medium is called filtration, and filtering to remove particles deposited inside the medium is called depth filtration.
Filtration is one of the very important steps in industrial process water and wastewater reuse applications. Be aware that extraction of wastewater from oil refineries, food and beverage, textile, oil production water, and other industrial applications requires pre-filtration to ensure the removal of large amounts of suspended solids in these applications.
To illustrate the importance of filtration in water treatment, we will use the oil refining process as an example. You can fuel your car with gasoline, one of the many byproducts of this process. A car that is regularly serviced gets fresh, filtered gas, and has its oil changed can last for many years.
Petroleum under the ground is not directly transferable to cars, diesel trucks, or planes for use. Petroleum needs to be filtered, and generally what comes out of a refinery is clean, processed, and free of any substances that could cause excessive engine wear.
The filtration process is like an oil refinery, while the downstream processing units are vehicles. The entire filtration process eliminates and reduces contaminants that downstream systems cannot handle. The filtration process not only lowers the overall operation and maintenance expenses but also considerably increases the overall efficiency of the water treatment process.
The following are water treatment technologies that require pre-filtration to function properly:
Disinfection systems primarily refer to the treatment of microscopic pathogens through oxidation. Among them, particulate matter will interfere with the system and reduce the treatment efficiency of the entire device.
Take the example of ultraviolet disinfection radiation that kills microorganisms. The light’s wavelength flows through the fluid from the light source to the intended pollutants. When there are suspended particles in the fluid, the light waves cannot physically reach the contaminants that need to be cleaned.
Compounds are dissolved via advanced oxidation, which works similarly to disinfection. primarily by employing hydroxyl radicals produced by a combination of ozone, hydrogen peroxide, UV light, or electro-oxidation devices.
Contaminants like these (hydroxyl scavengers), which are present in the fluid in sufficiently high concentrations, also reduce process efficiency. However, such pollutants can be blocked and removed with proper pre-filtration and other treatment methods.
Improved filtration refers to the series of membrane filters (ultrafiltration, microfiltration or nanofiltration, reverse osmosis filters, etc.), finer media filters, and nano cartridge filters. Most filtration systems operate in a gradient mode, starting with coarse filtration, and proceeding step by step to achieve the desired optimal effect.
The fine filtration process is designed to keep the filter running for as long as possible before needing to be cleaned, backwashed, or replaced. It should be known that if the mixture of silt and sand is suspended in the solution, it will cause a blockage of the filter system equipment, which will affect its filtering effect. Subsequent fine filters can only play their best role if they are filtered through the filter in advance.
Coagulation methods, whether chemical or electrochemical, involve a certain amount of pre-filtration to operate more efficiently. The coagulation system is mainly used for tiny particulate matter that cannot settle quickly or effectively during the coagulation and flocculation process.
The whole process involves adding chemical additives or electric current to drive the operation. Therefore, pre-filtration treatment is required to filter out larger particles before the system is running, which can effectively ensure that the system can operate at the highest efficiency.
Process water and wastewater recycling processes are inseparable from water treatment and filtration, and even most of them cannot be solved by a single filtration treatment.
Want to know more about filtration is so important to treated water and wastewater reuse, contact the water treatment expert at Brother Filtration via email at [email protected] for an initial consultation to discuss your application.
