11/13/2016

HowSedimentFiltersWork

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HowSedimentFilters
Work

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Tank

Virtuallyallcartridgestylesedimentfiltersfollowthe
"radialflow"patternseenintheillustration.Ina
radialflowdesign,waterflowsthroughthewallof
thefilterintotheinnercore.Thisarrangement
providesfilteringsurfacethatconsistsoftheentire
lengthandcircumferenceofthecartridge.Thefilter
aboveisa"depth"filter.Pleatedfiltersoffereven
morefilteringsurface.
Waterfiltershavemanypurposes.Somearedesignedto
removechemicalsfromwater.Othersremovemetallic
contaminantsor"dissolvedsolids"orchargedparticles.
Thisarticleisaboutfiltersthatremovesuspendedsolids,
variouslyreferredtoasturbidity,sedimentor
particulate.
Ingeneralterms,filtersofthistypearesievingdevices.
Theyarelikenetsthatcatchandholdparticlesthatare
toolargetopassthroughtheholesintheirsurface.
Therearelargebackwashingfiltersthatperformthis

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HowSedimentFiltersWork

ROMembrane
Flush
SedimentFilters
SiphonFilters
SpinDown
Filters
StaticMixer
UndersinkFilters
Ultraviolet
Water
Treatment

function.Theyusebedsofnaturalmedialikesand,
garnet,andanthracitetofilteroutunwantedparticleslike
dirtorironrust.Thenewerversionsusuallyrelyon
specificallydesignedandmanufacturedmediawithbrand
nameslikeFilterAg,ChemSorb,orMicroZtocatch
particles.Whenparticlesaretrappedinthebed,thefilter
"backwashes"byrunningwaterbackwardthroughthe
mediabedtowashtheunwantedparticlesdownthe
drain.
Thisarticle,however,isaboutcartridgestylefilters
ratherthanbackwashingfilters.Cartridgesareforthe
mostpartdisposableitems.Exceptinrarecases,they
arenotbackwashed.Theyareuseduntiltheystopup,
thentheyarediscarded.Certaincartridgescanbe
cleanedandreused.Moreofthatlater.

Undersink
Reverse
Osmosis
WaterSoftener
Controls
(metered)
WaterSofteners
WholeHouse
Reverse
Osmosis

RatingFiltersbyRejectionEfficiency
Nominal,Absolute,andBetaRatio.
Theseratingsareusuallystatedinmicronsize.The
micronisastandardmeasureofsizethatisusedby
filtermakers.Thediameterofahumanhairisabout90
microns.Sedimentfiltersareusedtocatchparticles
1/300ofthat.
Mostsedimentfiltersaregivenratingsbytheir
manufacturersthatdescribetheireffectivenessat
removingparticlesdowntoaspecifiedsize.Themost
commonoftheseare"nominal"and"absolute."
Nominal,accordingtotheWaterQualityAssociation
(WQA),meansthatthefilterwillfilteroutatleast85%
oftheparticlesofthesizeitisratedfor.Inotherwords,
afilterthatisratedasa1micronnominalcanbe
expectedtopickout85%oftheparticlesthatare1
micronorlargerfromthewaterthatpassesthroughit.
Absolute,theoretically,meansthatthefilterwillreject
virtuallyalloftheparticlesofthegivensize.Theusual
expectationisa3logrejectionor99.9%.Absolute
ratingsareusuallyusedforthetightestfiltersandfor
purposeswhereefficiencyreallymatters.Forexample,if
afiltermakerpromisesremovalofE.coli,moreorless
85%efficiencyisn'tgoodenough.Ifyou'regoingtotrust
yourlifetothefilter,youexpectanabsolute3logor4
logratingattheveryleast.
Theproblemwiththeabsolutevs.nominalsystemisthat
thereisreallynouniversalstandardthatassures
uniformity.Somemakersoffiltersfornoncritical
applications,forexample,mightconsider70%rejection
suitableforanominalfilter.Definitionsvaryfromone
manufacturertoanother,andthereisreallynowayfor
theendusertoverifytheclaim.

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HowSedimentFiltersWork

BetaRatioislessfrequentlyused.Itestablishesaratio
betweentheparticlesthatareretainedandtheparticles
thatpassthroughthefilter.TheformulaisParticlesIn
dividedbyParticlesOut.Thus,thehighertheBetaRatio
ratingthebetter.Abetaratioof1000wouldmeanthat
thefilterallowsonlyoneparticleper1000topass
through.Abetaratioof100meansoneparticleper100.
The1000ratedunit,therefore,is10timesaseffective.
Note,however,thatthebetaratioisnoguaranteethat
thefilterwillperformaswellinareasotherthanwhatit
wastestedfor.Thefilterthatworksbestinone
applicationmaynotbeeffectiveinanother.
TypesofSedimentFilters
Thethreebroadclassesofsedimentcartridgesare
surfacefilters,depthfilters,andadsorptivefilters.Depth
andsurfacefiltersaremostcommon.Whichisbest
dependsonwhatyouwantthefiltertodo.
DepthFiltersrequirethewaterbeingfilteredtopass
throughathickwalloffiltermaterialandtreatmenttakes
placethroughoutthedepthofthefilter.Somedepth
filters,infact,havewhatiscalleda"gradeddensity"
structure,meaningthatthefiltergetstighterasthe
waterpassesthroughthefilterwall.Gradeddensity
filtersremoveparticlesofavarietyofsizes.Theoutside
catchesbigparticlesandtheinsideholdsthesmaller
ones.
Depthfilterscanbeofthewound
stringtypeorwhatiscalled"melt
blown."Woundstringisprobably
themostcommon.Depthfilters
aremadeofavarietyof
materials,includingceramic,
cellulose,polypropylene,acrylic
fiber,glassfiber,andpolyester.
Ceramicfiltersaresimply
extremelytightdepthfilters
madeofceramic.Theyusually
haveabsoluteratingsandare
tightenoughtofilterout
microorganisms.
SurfaceFiltersaremadeina
thinsheetsothatonlythesurface
trapsparticles.Theseare
commonlycalled"pleatedfilters"
becauseoftheiraccordionshaped
pleatedstructure.Thepleated
arrangementgivesthefilter
surprisinglymoresurfacearea
thandepthfilters.Oneoftheir
greatadvantagesisthattheyare
washableandreusable,moreso
inlargethansmallmicronsizes.
http://www.purewateroccasional.net/hwsedimentfilter.html

Agradeddensity
filter.Itgets
tighterasthe
waterprogresses
towardtheinner
core.

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HowSedimentFiltersWork

Tocompare:Depthfiltershavemoredirtholding
capacity,andtheyareusuallymoreeffectiveifavariety
ofparticlesizesarebeingfiltered.Pleatedsurfacefilters
havemoresurfaceareaandthereforemorecapacityfor
filteringparticlesofauniformsize.Itisalsoeasierto
manufacturepleatedfilterstoaspecificmicronsize.As
stated,theycanalsobecleanedandreused.Pleated
filterscanmakeupforthelackofdepthbyprovidinga
muchlargerfiltersurfacearea.
AdsorptiveFiltersarebecomingmorepopular.Theycan
bemadeineitherpleatedordepthformat.Someof
thesefiltersare"charged"sothattheyrelyonaprocess
called"electrokineticadsorption"whichenablesthemto
attractandholdnegativelychargedmicroorganismsand
colloidalmattersosmallthatiteasilypassesthrough
conventionalfilters.Adsorptivefilters,therefore,canbe
madeinarelativelyeasyflowing2micronformatbut
theycangrabandholdcolloidalmattermuchsmaller
than2micronsinsizethatpasseseasilythrough
standardfilters.
OtherIssues
Commonquestionsaboutsedimentfiltersinvolve
pressuredrop,flowrates,differentialpressures,and
overallfilterarea.Theseoftenhavenospecificanswer
andthefilteruserislefttofindwhatisbestforhis
situationbytrialanderror.
Ingeneral,flow
ratesforsediment
filtersarehigherthan
forequallysizedcarbon
ormediafilters.The
tighterthefilter,the
slowerthe
recommendedflowrate
isalsoageneralization
youcancounton.One
manufacturer,for
example,givesthe
followingmaximumflow
ratesforitspleated
9.75"X2.5"filter
cartridges:
1MicronAbsolute3
gpm.
2MicronNominal4
gpm.
5MicronNominal7
gpm.
20MicronNominal8
gpm.
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SedimentFilterInaClear
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HowSedimentFiltersWork

50MicronNominal10 Housing.Thepressure
gpm.
gaugesmeasurethe
differentialpressureto
Carbonblockcartridges indicatewhenthecartridge
inthesamesizeare
needsreplacement.
usuallyratedata
maximumflowrateof1gpm,andifseriouschemical
removalisexpected,theflowrecommendationwouldbe
slower.
Differentialpressuremeasuresthedifferencebetween
thewaterpressuregoingintothefilterandthatcoming
out.Thegapbetweenthetwo,ofcourse,increasesas
thefilterpicksupparticulatefromthewater.Alowinitial
pressuredifferentialmeansthatthefilterisofferinglittle
resistancetoflow.Thisisadesirablecharacteristicin
mostresidentialfilters.

Thesurfaceareaofthefilterisanimportantfactor.As
stated,pleatedfiltershavemuchgreatersurfacearea
thandepthfilters.Increasedareaprovidesmoreholding
capacityandlessresistancetoflow.
WhichIsBest?
Formanyuseswithresidentialtreatmentvirtuallyany
filterstyleworkswell.
Forexample,a5micronwoundstringsedimentisthe
traditionalfilterofchoiceasprefilterforaresidential
reverseosmosisunit.Itservesthepurposeprotecting
thecarbonfilterthatfollowsitortheROmembranefrom
incomingdirtanddebrisquitewell.However,itcanbe
replacedwithvirtuallyanygoodsedimentfilteramelt
blownorpleatedfilterworksaswell.Youcouldreplaceit
witha10micronfilteror,ifthewaterisclean,witha1
micronfilterandtheROunitwouldrunfineinmost
situations.
Therearecases,however,wherefiltersaren't
interchangeable,and,asindicated,it'ssometimesa
matteroftrialanderrordiscoveringwhatisperfectfor
thejobyouhave.Often,changingfromonestyleorfrom
onemicronratingtoanotherdramaticallyaffects
performance.Someusers"swearby"onestyleor
anotherastheonlythingthatworkswellintheir
application.
SomeFlowRateFigures
Herearesuggestedmaximumflowratesingpmforthe
fourmostcommoncartridgesizesinFlowmatic(Watts)
popularFlowMaxseries.Thesearewashableand
reusable(5micronandlarger)pleatedcartridges.
Micron
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2.5X

2.5

4.5

4.5
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HowSedimentFiltersWork

Rating

9.75

X20

X10

X20

1
Absolute

12

0.35
Nominal

13

1
Nominal

10

15

5
Nominal

14

15

25

20
Nominal

16

15

25

50
Nominal

10

20

15

25

Conclusion
Sedimentfiltersareessentialtoolsinwatertreatment,
butchoosingoneoftenrequiressometrialanderror.The
informationpresentedabovecanhelpyoumakean
intelligentchoice,buttherealitiesofyourspecific
situation,whichalmostalwaysinvolveunknownslike
exactparticlesizesandflowraterequirements,usually
makeitnecessarytoexperiment.
Thebestsedimentfilterisonethatcleansupthewater
withtheleastpossiblerestrictioninflowandhasthe
longestlifespan.

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