A research on the performance of the pumice media filter
Abstract
This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of pumice and sand media in removing suspended solids from irrigation water. In the study, sand and pumice media passed through 0.05-1 mm and 1-2 mm sieve openings were used. Raw water with a sediment concentration of 150 mg/L was passed through the media filters under the operating pressure of 100 kPa. For each hour of process time, the discharge velocities are measured, and sediment contents are determined via the gravimetric method. Total cumulative flow volumes for sand and pumice media were 14349 L and 15218 L, respectively, after the 35 h operating period. The discharge velocities were changed between 47.71 m3/m2/h and 3.22 m3/m2/h for sand medium, and 49.46 m3/m2/h and 3.44 m3/m2/h for pumice media. At the end of the study, it can be concluded that the sediment contents and discharge velocities decreased as the total amount of treated water increased in both sand and pumice media filters. Layers of small size were more effective than the other layers at removing the solid particles. Based on the amount of sediment measured in the treated water, it can be said that the sand media was more effective than the pumice media.
