Evaluación de una manta sintética no tejida en un sistema piloto de filtración lenta para el tratamiento del agua

Abstract

Access to good quality water in rural communities of developing countries is a challenge; the use of synthetic Fabrics in slow filtration systems for potabilization can be an effective option in medium and small scale rural water supply systems, based on the use of alternative materials that have been studied very little if compared with conventional slow sand filtration. Non-woven synthetic fabric in a slow filtration system to water treatment was evaluated. For this we evaluated three different configurations of slow filters with and without non-woven synthetic fabric as a filter medium and determining the removal of turbidity, apparent color, organic matter and Escherichia coli (E. coli) using flows of 6, 9 and 12m3/m2.day. Additionally, the development of the established biofilm in each of the filtration systems. The system composed by sand and synthetic fabric on the surface using a flow of 6 m3/m2.day showed the highest efficiency, reaching removing of 98% for turbidity, 91% of apparent color, 72% of organic matter (TOC), and 99% of E. coli (3,2Log).