Determination of the optimum design parameters for a 10.000 m3/h declining rate filtration plant by using a pilot filters plant

Abstract

Water supply for Montevideo, the main city in Uruguay, is provided from the Aguas Corrientes treatment plant which is located 60 km from downtown. In this plant, one of the potabilization systems called “Planta Vieja” has two mechanical flocculation systems, each one provided with seven cells. The flocculation in each cell is made by vertical mixers generating axial flow. At the moment, these units treat a peak flow of 14.000 m3/h with a detention time of 30 minutes. This paper tries to determine the maximum flow that this flocculation systems can admit, based on two items: hydraulic capacity and efficiency of flocculation process for flows up to 22.000 m3/h