European Commission project  for yourLife & the Environment click here

ISO 9001 quality  company

AFM

Active Filter Media

replaces sand in all types of sand filter

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AFM Applications ] | Drinking water | Swimming pools | Aquaria & water parks | Sewage effluent | Industrial wastewater | Desalination pre-treatment | Fish Farms | Cooling towers |

AFM filtration media is the ideal media for all forms of  industrial waste water treatment, sewage effluent and  just general water treatment where you are required to remove solids. The packaged systems are manufactured in stainless steel so they are ideally suited for clean water applications as well as serious dirty water.

• food process industries
• sewage effluent
• paper mills
• metal plating 
• ground water treatment
• etc, etc etc.

3cubm/hr AFM system and 8 cubm/hr skid mounted system.  Both units are running on sewage effluent

Installation steps for system AFM 1 to 3 cubm/hr

1. Locate the test bed on a level base,  it is important that the AFM filter is perfectly level.
2. Carefully un-wrap the rig, remove any components that may have been stored in the back-flush water tank
3. Remove the nuts from the top of the 500mm stainless steel cylinder.  Note the position of the lid and the gasket,  these components should go back on in the same position they were removed.  There is a notch in the lid and a V on the gasket to indicate the correct location.  Remove the lid.
4. Check that there is nothing in the filter,  looking into the filter you will see the false bottom with a stainless steel wedge wire plates.
5. Add two bags of pea grave to the filter, and level the top of the bed. Add 4 bags of grade 1 AFM and then level off the bed.
6. Replace the lid and gasket back onto the filter and tighten the nuts.
7. The pipework will have been shipped un-assembled,  there are three components to the pipework,  it can only connect  in one configuration. Use the photograph above as an indication of the correct configuration.. Refit the pipework making sure that the rubber `o` rings are fitted in the unions. You may find it useful to add a little Vaseline or silicon grease (not silicon sealer) to help keep the `o` rings in place while the pipe is being assembled. Keep the unions loose until you have the pipe section in place and then tighten until the `o` rings grip,  do not over tighten.
8. Pneumatic valves ( 4 off) are controlled by 7 bar pressure air from the small air compressor by a 6mm blue air line.  The air compressor is connected to the panel in which there is a solenoid valve that controls the air to the valves.  Locate the correct air line from the panel and connect all of the valves in series to the same air line.
9. The second blue 6mm air line is connected to a saddle and valve on the 1" PVC pipe after the MONO pump.;  This is a high pressure alarm line.  Close the valve and then crack open by 1/4 of one turn. If the system gives an alarm after a back-flush close the valve by 1/8 turn.
10. Connect the 1" suction hose to the inlet side of the mono pump. Use silicon sealer on the out-side of the hose tail to insure that you have a good seal between the hose tail and the hose.  Secure with the screw clip.  It is important that this connection is gas tight,  otherwise air will be drawn into the pump.  If air is drawn into the pump,  the pump may not prime,  or it could cause damage to the pump. The coil of hose is 30m long.  Connect the hose to the water supply.  The pump will self prime by around 0.5m, once primed it will lift the water by approximately 4m.  However make sure you minimise the length of hose and the suction lift.   Avoid the hose coming out of the water,  and avoid drawing large solids and sludge into the pump.  If there is a danger of drawing large solids into the mono pump fit a basket strainer on to the end of the suction hose.
11. The filtered water is discharge by gravity flow from the rectangular water storage tank.  Fit the 1.5" hose on to the hose tail on this tank, and secure with the screw clip
12. The back-flush water is discharge through the 1.5" connection on the top of the filter.  The green discharge hose is clearly seen in the photograph above.  Secure the hose with the screw clip provided
13. The system has now been installed.

Start up Procedure

1. Open up the electrical panel and remove the panel instructions
2. Close the panel door and set the front door panel key to the manual position
3. Make sure all of the switches on the front panel are in the off position
4. Connect the system to your power supply.  The panel is protect by and RCD,  however it is always advisable to protect the system using your own RCD for added security
5. If no power indication is apparent from the panel,  check that the emergency stop button is out
6. Turn on the air compressor,  the compressor should start and compressed air will fill the small receiver tank.  The compressor will automatically cut off when the air pressure  reaches about 100 psi.  Make sure that the discharge valve on the air compressor is open.  The blue 6mm hose connects into this valve.  The pressure is given on a pressure gauge,  if it does not increase  it means that there is a leak from one of the hose connections,  or the air bleed on the bottom of the receiving tank is open.  If the compressor stops after around 5 minutes and the pressure is stable,  proceed to the next stage.
7. Pour some water down the 1" hose feeding the mono pump.  If this pipe can be filled with water prior to starting the mono pump,  it will prime almost immediately.  Make sure the hose is under water or connected to the feed water supply. Turn the speed control dial to maximum, then turn the system key to automatic. The mono pump should now start.  Make sure that the pump is drawing water,  it may take around 1 minute to properly start.  The water flowrate will be 1500 litres per hour.  If the pump is turning but not pumping water, prime the pump and try again,  make sure the hose is not out of the water,  and that there are no objects causing an obstruction.  If the pump appears to be working okay, leave the system on,  after around 15 minutes water will start to appear in the discharge back-flush tank.  Allow this tank to fill and over flow via the 1.5 " hose.
8. There will be quite a large quantity of dust associated with the pea gravel.  If possible dump all of the water in the back-flush tank and allow to fill for a second time.  Repeat this action and dump the water for a third occasion.  On the fourth occasion, as soon as the tank starts to over flow,  press the manual back-flush button.  The ITT pump will start, all the valves will change position and a large volume of water will be discharge out of the 1.5" discharge hose from the top of the filter. After 1min 40 seconds the back-flush pump will stop and the valves will return to their original position.  If this does not happen,  the timer inside the panel will require adjustment. Turn the system off, disconnect the power supply, open the panel door and refer to the electrical panel instructions for adjusting the back-flush duration.  The back-flush should stop just before the back flush tank is completely drained and air is entrained into the back-flush ITT pump.
9. Once the back-flush duration has been set to the correct time interval and there are no leaks in the system,  the system can now be left to operate with the key switch in the automatic position. The key can be removed for security.  The panel controls are all disabled in automatic mode except for the emergency stop button and the speed control. If the pump flow rate is reduced to less than 750 litres per hour,  it may not start up if it is turned off and on.  Please therefore make sure that the speed control is set to give a flowrate above 750 litres/hour when the system is started.
10. The system has now been installed and requires no further attention.  However keep a close check on the equipment over the first 40 hours to make sure no initial problems develop with the equipment.

Decommissioning

When the trial is over,  drain down the system,  remove and discard the filter media and disconnect the pipework.  Make sure none of the `o` rings are lost.