Client: Amathole District Municipality
Industry: Potable Water
Region: Eastern Cape, South Africa
Product: AGF42S, 3 units, 97m³/h per unit @ 7m/h
Installation Date: 2000

Challenge

• Amathole District Municipality operates a 7MLD potable water treatment plant at Alice, a rural town in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa.
• During the design phase, process engineers were looking for polishing filters that would ensure compliance with potable water standards for Turbidity and TSS.
• They required:
  • easy installation
  • high efficiency
  • low maintenance costs
  • easy maintenance functions
  • zero electrical energy consumption
  • high reliability

Application

• Final Filtration / Mechanical Rapid Gravity Sand Filters (polishing filters) at Potable Water Treatment Plant.

Solution

• The inherent simplicity of the Autonomous Gravity Sand Filters (AGF) addressed constraints presented by the rural location and it easily met the requirements set by the design engineers.
• Easy Installation:
  • Minimum civil works on site.
  • Fabrication under tightly controlled factory conditions. • High efficiency:
  • AGF filters cycle autonomously between filtration and backwash cycles resulting in regular, thorough cleaning of the filter bed.
• Low Maintenance Costs:
  • No peripheral equipment (backwash pumps, controllers, compressors) required.
  • Manpower limited to period oversight functions.
• Easy Maintenance:
  • Maintaining the integrity of the mechanical structure and periodic replacement of nozzles and sand.
• Zero Electrical Energy Consumption:
  • Gravity flow through the filters.
  • Complete Autonomous Function.
• High reliability:
  • No moving or rotating components.
  • No peripheral components.
• 3 x AGF42S Mechanical Rapid Gravity Sand Filters were installed, processing 97m³/h per unit at an average filtration velocity of 7m/h.

Results

• Since commissioning in 2000 the AGF filters have consistently provided efficient filtration.
• Maintenance and operating costs have been kept to a minimum.
• The filters continue to produce filtrate that complies with the drinking water standard.