Innovative Uses Of Pile Cloth Media Filtration: Strengthening Primary And Wet Weather Treatment Resilience

Pile cloth media filtration is evolving beyond its traditional role in tertiary treatment. As wastewater utilities face stricter nutrient limits, more frequent wet weather events, rising energy costs, and aging infrastructure, compact and energy-efficient treatment technologies are becoming increasingly important.

The technology is now being applied to advanced primary treatment, increased secondary treatment throughput, and high-rate wet weather flows. In primary applications, pile cloth media filters can provide high TSS and BOD removal without chemical additions while requiring a smaller footprint than conventional clarifiers. Improved solids capture can also help divert more carbon to anaerobic digesters, increasing biogas production while reducing aeration energy demands.

The article highlights the Minden Road WWTP in West Virginia, where an AquaPrime® system helped expand capacity without adding new clarifiers or biological tanks. The system allowed the facility to increase SBR cycles and manage flows well above its expanded design capacity within a compact footprint.

Pile cloth media filtration also offers a high-rate approach to wet weather management. At Tomahawk Creek WWTF in Kansas, AquaStorm® filters provide tertiary polishing during normal conditions and high-rate treatment during storms, handling flows ranging from 19 MGD on average to peaks of 115 MGD.

These applications demonstrate how pile cloth media filtration can support capacity expansion, resilient operations, reduced infrastructure needs, and more efficient wastewater treatment.