New Cloth Media Filter System Replaces 4 MGD Traveling Bridge Filters with 12 MGD Capacity in Existing Tankage

The Little Falls Run Wastewater Treatment Facility began experiencing operational difficulties with the dual-bay traveling bridge filter process as flows approached the rated capacity for the filters. Although initially the Utilities Department staff intended to duplicate the original filter process and thereby double the capacity, the recent introduction of a cloth media filter product designed to retrofit traveling bridge filters provided the opportunity to install filters with substantially greater capacity within the existing tankage and reserve valuable treatment facility space for future capacity increases.Following a successful pilot test and approval by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the project was re-designed for the Aqua-Diamond filters. Replacement of the first filter cell was completed within six weeks and followed by a rigid performance and reliability test period. Results from this and subsequent testing have demonstrated the greatly improved efficiency of the cloth media filters over the previous traveling bridge sand media filters.