Water

How Glass Benefits The Water Filtration Industry

Recycled glass sand is the ideal medium for water filtration media, and with its many added benefits can be used as a direct replacement for silica sand and gravel. In recent studies, crushed recycled glass was found to be a useful, cost efficient alternative to silica sand in dual-media filters. Glass not only behaves with the same effluent quality, but also outperforms silica sand in generating both a smaller clean-bed head loss and a smaller clogging head loss. From residential and commercial swimming pools to industrial and environmental water facilities, SiONEER glass products come in a variety of sizes to fit all applications, providing you with the ultimate water treatment solution.

Key Benefits of Using Glass as Filtration Media:

• Extremely efficient and energy saving water filtration media
• Outperforms silica sand in clean-bed head and clogging loss
• Filter life of 10+ years, more than twice as long as silica sand
• Less maintenance due to advanced durability
• Eliminates risk of algae growth

The Difference Between Glass-Based Sand and Silica Sand Medias

Glass makes for an extremely efficient and energy-saving filtration media. As water passes through the filter, crushed and processed recycled glass minerals placed inside retain any impurity in the water. Unlike sand, glass is not incredibly porous, and doesn’t saturate nearly as quickly or easily. This translates to less maintenance, a dramatic reduction in clogging, and less chances of the media caking in the filter, as commonly seen with silica sand. Glass is also incredibly durable, and due to its composition eliminates the risk of algae growth. While silica sand filters last around 3-5 years, glass medias in comparison last up to 10 years, more than twice as long. Glass also has the added benefit of being less dense, equating to roughly 15% less weight needing to be used to fill the filter. Overall, glass media provides a cleaner, superior filtration.

Recent Studies on Glass Filtration Media

One particular study conducted in Oswego, NY evaluated the use of crushed recycled container glass cullet as a filter medium in wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal for a residential subdivision. The performance of the wastewater treatment facility was extensively monitored for a 16 week period, and a series of physical tests were performed on samples of both the crushed glass and natural sand used for intermittent sand filters locally. The physical tests included acid solubility, magnesium sulfate soundness, and permeability.

Researchers found the weight loss of the crushed glass filter media in both the acid solubility and magnesium sulfate soundness tests were significantly less than that of the natural sand in identical tests. Furthermore, the crushed glass outperformed the natural sand media in permeability and durability, and was deemed more economical and mechanically superior. In addition, the study also noted that small towns in New York still using natural sand were having to routinely replace the media in their filters due to clogging issues.

Applications Benefiting In The Water Filtration Industry: