IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v14y2024i9p1570-d1475064.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Efficiency of Backwashing in Removing Solids from Sand Media Filters for Drip Irrigation Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Miquel Duran-Ros

    (Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, Carrer de Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Joan Pujol

    (Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, Carrer de Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Toni Pujol

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Construction, University of Girona, Carrer de la Universitat de Girona 4, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Sílvia Cufí

    (Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, Carrer de Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Jonathan Graciano-Uribe

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Construction, University of Girona, Carrer de la Universitat de Girona 4, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Gerard Arbat

    (Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, Carrer de Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena

    (Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, Carrer de Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Spain)

  • Jaume Puig-Bargués

    (Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Girona, Carrer de Maria Aurèlia Capmany 61, 17003 Girona, Spain)

Abstract

Sand media filters are especially recommended to prevent emitter clogging with loaded irrigation waters, but their performances rely on backwashing. Despite backwashing being a basic procedure needed to restore the initial filtration capacity, there is a lack of information about the solid removal efficiency along the media bed depth. An experimental filter with a 200 mm silica sand bed height was used to assess the effect of two operation velocities (30/45 and 60/75 (filtration/backwashing) m h −1 ) and two clogging particles (inorganic sand dust and organic from a reclaimed effluent) on the efficiency of backwashing for removing the total suspended solids retained in different media bed slices. The average solid removal backwashing efficiency was greater with organic particles (78%) than with inorganic ones (64%), reaching its maximum at a 5–15 mm bed depth. A higher operation velocity increased the solid removal efficiency by 16%, using organic particles, but no significant differences were observed with inorganic particles. The removal efficiencies across the media bed were more uniform with organic particles (63–89%) than with inorganic (40–85%), which makes it not advisable to reduce the media height when reclaimed effluents are used. This study may contribute to future improvements in sand media filter design and management.

Suggested Citation

  • Miquel Duran-Ros & Joan Pujol & Toni Pujol & Sílvia Cufí & Jonathan Graciano-Uribe & Gerard Arbat & Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena & Jaume Puig-Bargués, 2024. "Efficiency of Backwashing in Removing Solids from Sand Media Filters for Drip Irrigation Systems," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:9:p:1570-:d:1475064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/9/1570/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/9/1570/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mesquita, M. & Testezlaf, R. & Ramirez, J.C.S., 2012. "The effect of media bed characteristics and internal auxiliary elements on sand filter head loss," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 178-185.
    2. Zhou, Hongxu & Li, Yunkai & Wang, Yan & Zhou, Bo & Bhattarai, Rabin, 2019. "Composite fouling of drip emitters applying surface water with high sand concentration: Dynamic variation and formation mechanism," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 25-43.
    3. Tarjuelo, José M. & Rodriguez-Diaz, Juan A. & Abadía, Ricardo & Camacho, Emilio & Rocamora, Carmen & Moreno, Miguel A., 2015. "Efficient water and energy use in irrigation modernization: Lessons from Spanish case studies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 67-77.
    4. Arbat, G. & Pujol, T. & Puig-Bargués, J. & Duran-Ros, M. & Montoro, L. & Barragán, J. & Ramírez de Cartagena, F., 2013. "An experimental and analytical study to analyze hydraulic behavior of nozzle-type underdrains in porous media filters," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 64-74.
    5. Miquel Duran-Ros & Joan Pujol & Toni Pujol & Sílvia Cufí & Gerard Arbat & Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena & Jaume Puig-Bargués, 2023. "Solid Removal across the Bed Depth in Media Filters for Drip Irrigation Systems," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joan Pujol & Francesc X. Espinach & Miquel Duran-Ros & Gerard Arbat & Toni Pujol & Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena & Jaume Puig-Bargués, 2022. "Environmental Assessment of Underdrain Designs for Granular Media Filters in Drip Irrigation Systems," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Miquel Duran-Ros & Joan Pujol & Toni Pujol & Sílvia Cufí & Gerard Arbat & Francisco Ramírez de Cartagena & Jaume Puig-Bargués, 2023. "Solid Removal across the Bed Depth in Media Filters for Drip Irrigation Systems," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Bové, Josep & Puig-Bargués, Jaume & Arbat, Gerard & Duran-Ros, Miquel & Pujol, Toni & Pujol, Joan & Ramírez de Cartagena, Francisco, 2017. "Development of a new underdrain for improving the efficiency of microirrigation sand media filters," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 296-305.
    4. Solé-Torres, Carles & Puig-Bargués, Jaume & Duran-Ros, Miquel & Arbat, Gerard & Pujol, Joan & Ramírez de Cartagena, Francisco, 2019. "Effect of different sand filter underdrain designs on emitter clogging using reclaimed effluents," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Pedro Garcia-Caparros & Juana Isabel Contreras & Rafael Baeza & Maria Luz Segura & Maria Teresa Lao, 2017. "Integral Management of Irrigation Water in Intensive Horticultural Systems of Almería," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Afshin Uossef Gomrokchi & Atefeh Parvaresh Rizi, 2021. "Flexibility of energy and water management in pressurized irrigation systems using dynamic modeling of pump operation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(12), pages 18232-18251, December.
    7. Pereira, Helga & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2017. "An analytical review of irrigation efficiency measured using deterministic and stochastic models," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 28-35.
    8. Duran-Ros, Miquel & Puig-Bargués, Jaume & Cufí, Sílvia & Solé-Torres, Carles & Arbat, Gerard & Pujol, Joan & Ramírez de Cartagena, Francisco, 2022. "Effect of different filter media on emitter clogging using reclaimed effluents," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    9. Julián González-Trinidad & Hugo Enrique Júnez-Ferreira & Carlos Bautista-Capetillo & Laura Ávila Dávila & Cruz Octavio Robles Rovelo, 2020. "Improving the Water-Use Efficiency and the Agricultural Productivity: An Application Case in a Modernized Semiarid Region in North-Central Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-15, October.
    10. Miguel Ángel Pardo Picazo & Juan Manzano Juárez & Diego García-Márquez, 2018. "Energy Consumption Optimization in Irrigation Networks Supplied by a Standalone Direct Pumping Photovoltaic System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    11. Lei Song & Jiumao Cai & Guoliang Zhai & Junjie Feng & Yongshen Fan & Jinzhao Han & Pingping Hao & Ning Ma & Faqiang Miao, 2024. "Comparative Study and Evaluation of Sediment Deposition and Migration Characteristics of New Sustainable Filter Media in Micro-Irrigation Sand Filters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-17, April.
    12. Armario Benitez, Julia I., 2020. "Land, water and energy: the crossing of governance," UC3M Working papers. Economics 31463, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    13. Cervera-Gascó, Jorge & Montero, Jesús & Moreno, Miguel A., 2023. "An intelligent irrigation management model for direct injection of solar pumping systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    14. Liu, Zeyuan & Muhammad, Tahir & Puig-Bargués, Jaume & Han, Siqi & Ma, Yongjiu & Li, Yunkai, 2021. "Horizontal roughing filter for reducing emitter composite clogging in drip irrigation systems using high sediment water," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    15. I. Fernández García & P. Montesinos & E. Camacho Poyato & J. A. Rodríguez Díaz, 2017. "Optimal Design of Pressurized Irrigation Networks to Minimize the Operational Cost under Different Management Scenarios," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(6), pages 1995-2010, April.
    16. Eekhout, J.P.C. & Delsman, I. & Baartman, J.E.M. & van Eupen, M. & van Haren, C. & Contreras, S. & Martínez-López, J. & de Vente, J., 2024. "How future changes in irrigation water supply and demand affect water security in a Mediterranean catchment," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    17. Hou, Peng & Liu, Lu & Tahir, Muhammad & Li, Yan & Wang, Xuejun & Shi, Ning & Xiao, Yang & Ma, Changjian & Li, Yunkai, 2024. "Effect of fertilization on emitter clogging in drip irrigation using high sediment water: Perspective of sediment discharge capacity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    18. Hou, Peng & Ma, Changjian & Wang, Jia & Li, Yan & Zhang, Kai & Hou, Shance & Li, Jingzhi & Sun, Zeqiang & Xiao, Yang & Li, Yunkai, 2024. "Failure behavior of pressure compensating emitter under different operation pressures in drip irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    19. Loureiro, Dália & Beceiro, Paula & Moreira, Madalena & Arranja, Carina & Cordeiro, Diana & Alegre, Helena, 2023. "A comprehensive performance assessment system for diagnosis and decision-support to improve water and energy efficiency and its demonstration in Portuguese collective irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    20. Masoud Ghaffari & Jaber Soltani, 2016. "Evaluation and Comparison of Performance in the Disc Filter with Sand Filters of Filtration Equipment in Micro Irrigation Systems," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(8), pages 264-264, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:9:p:1570-:d:1475064. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.