Deep‐bed filtration with fiberball medium

Abstract The objective of this paper is to investigate the transient processes of deep‐bed filtration with fiberball as medium. The study was conducted with a laboratory filtration column. The experimental results unveiled that the porosity of fiberball beds was reasonably distributed. Suspended solids in water flow were collected layer by layer along the whole bed depth. The filtration curve was of “S”; pattern moving along bed depth. The pressure drop peaked at deep layer instead of at upper layer as usually occurred in sand filtration. Backwashing was carried out with water and air simultaneously. The remnant deposit of concern within fiberball was kept at about 10% of fiberball weight. It was demonstrated that the fiberball is an innovative filtration medium combing the advantages of granular medium and fibrous medium and has high potential in application to water and wastewater treatment.