Comparison of crushed rock sand and natural river sand as filter media for rapid filtration

The objective of this work was to evaluate the crushed rock sand (CRS) as a filter bed in rapid filtration for water treatment. The experiments were carried out using pilot-scale filtration units: one with a CRS filter bed and the other with natural river sand (NRS). Both filter media were prepared in accordance with typical standards for rapid sand filtration (particle size range and distribution, and filter bed depth), and were further characterized in terms of chemical composition, particles and bulk density, porosity, acid solubility and sphericity coefficient. Over four months, 14 filter runs using filtration rates of 90, 180, 270 and 360 m3 m−2 d−1 were monitored and characterized in terms of run length, head loss increase along filter bed depth, turbidity removal along filter bed depth. Overall, the performance of the CRS filter was similar to or even better than that of the NRS filter, producing filtered water with turbidity lower than 0.50 NTU along the entire run, with head loss increasing rates and run length similar to those of the NRS filter. It is concluded that CRS presents a high potential for use as filter media for rapid filtration in water treatment, without technical or operational disadvantages.