Wastewater systems and solutions experts Jacopa is to enter the UK and Ireland tertiary treatment market with a range of high-performance, low-operating cost, cloth media tertiary filters for wastewater treatment. 
The move marks a watershed for the company as it consolidates and builds on its extensive wastewater treatment expertise to provide a one-stop-shop for wastewater treatment products and services.
The FFP™ fixed plate cloth media filters are manufactured by American company Fluidyne, a well-established innovator in filtration technologies. The filters are already recognised internationally as an ideal solution for phosphorus removal in wastewater treatment works, and have a wide range of further applications.
The deployment of tertiary treatment processes to polish effluents, reducing concentrations of suspended solids, is well established and requirements to achieve higher standards is leading to increased interest in priority substance removal including phosphorus, putting more reliance upon tertiary treatment to maintain compliance with ever tightening consent standards.
Fluidyne FFP™ cloth media filters feature an innovative, fixed panel design that uses simple gravity to produce filtration and backwash flow. The high performance, low-operating cost, cloth media filter is suitable for tertiary treatment for both large and small wastewater treatment applications.
Their popularity is due to a combination of factors including ease of operation, simple maintenance, cost-effectiveness, robustness, and reliability. The filter requires no internal or submerged moving parts; so much of the mechanical complexity, maintenance, and costs that arise with other systems are removed.
The exceptionally low cost of media replacement is a particular advantage. The chemically resistant acrylic cloth media is supplied in flat sheets, requiring no stitching or fabrication and is simply clamped to the cassette frame with no specialist tools required. This simple design reduces replacement media cost, lead-time, and maintenance.
The units deliver highly effective filtration and have a wide capacity range. Fluidyne filters remove suspended solids down to 10 microns and can be configured for flows ranging up to 250 litres/s per unit. The filters are provided as completely factory assembled freestanding modular stainless steel packages, additionally modules can be retrofitted into new or existing concrete basins. Packages are built offsite and delivered fully assembled requiring just power and piping connections enabling efficient, economical installation and set up with reduced site health and safety risks.
Tertiary suspended solids and phosphorus removal are seen as key applications in the UK and Ireland, though the cloth filters have multiple potential uses both for municipal and industrial applications upstream and downstream of other treatment processes.