The Evaluation of the Rapid Sand Filter Wash Interval at the Central DWTP in the Czech Republic

This paper evaluates the washing interval of the rapid sand filter at the central drinking water treatment plant Nová Ves—Frýdlant nad Ostravicí in the Czech Republic (DWTP Nová Ves). The aim was to conduct automated flow cytometry measurements (FCM) and find the link between FCM and turbidity. The monitor parameters were the length of the wash cycle in hours, the flow rate of the filter and the production, the pumping of the recirculating wash water, and the physico-chemical and microbial analysis of the water samples. The focus of this paper is the detailed characteristics of the filtration mode evaluated during the summer and winter periods. During the measurements, it was confirmed that turbidity replicated the FCM data measured by the FC BactoSense instrument. Turbidity can be identified as one of the key features that can be related to the measurements made. Turbidity and the cell count itself are influenced, among other things, by the pumping of the return water, whereby an increase in the cell count can be observed after the pumping has stopped but gradually stabilizes at the values measured before pumping.