Innovative Gravity Fed Clay Candle Filter with Enhanced Rate of Filtration for Turbidity Removal

Abstract

Surface water contamination is a pressing problem encountered in recent times due to several anthropogenic activities. Recently research on clay candle filters for water treatment application is gaining attention due to their unique pore structure, hydrophilic surface, high chemical, thermal and mechanical stability. This study focuses on the use of nature-based materials such as clay and groundnut shell dust for preparing a ceramic composite water filter. The clay was obtained from Krishna river basin soil with an effective size of < 300. The filter was tested for three combination ratios of groundnut shell dust; Coarse 25% + Medium 25% + Fine 50%, Coarse 50% + Medium 25% + Fine 25% and Coarse 25% + Medium 50% + Fine 25%; all sintered at 750^oC for 6 h. The combination of Coarse 25% + Medium 50% + Fine 25% was found to be the most effective for turbidity removal. Results indicated that the clay candle filter showed an excellent flow rate after the first and second cycles, along with the superb capacity of turbidity removal.