These Installation Guidelines were written by Brentwood Industries, Inc. with the expressed purpose of providing helpful hints and examples for contractors and other installers of the varied methods of installing trickling filter media. These Guidelines are not to be construed as the only Brentwood-approved methods for media installation or the final installation authority. The text and pictures are for illustrative purposes only. Check with the trickling filter owner/ project engineer for their contract/specification requirements.

Brentwood recommends the pre-engineered AccuPier® Support System for media installations or, alternatively, 8" (minimum) to 10" wide pre-cast (or poured) concrete beams. The 10" beam will require a 2 inch (50.80mm) wide "drainage channel" in the middle of the 10" support to allow the wastewater to flow out of the media. All concrete beams are placed at 2 ft. (610mm) center-to-center distance.

A support ledge at least 4" (10 cm) inches wide must be provided around the center column and the tank perimeter wall. The top of each of the media support beams and the top of the support ledge should be at the same elevation and within a maximum tolerance of ± 1/8th inch (3.2 mm) in their elevation.

Pictured below is the AccuPier® Support System with base, stanchion, cap, and grating, and concrete/other type support beams that have been used in other trickling filters and are typical for many tanks:

The module packing arrangement shall be as recommended by the media manufacturer and shown on the engineer-approved installation drawings. Media modules within each layer shall be installed such that the sheets of all modules are parallel to each other. Modules in respective layers shall be installed at right angles to the layer immediately below and above. With that said, it is important to understand that the media can be installed as quickly as it can be supplied to the workers inside the filter.

For estimating manpower needs, a crew consisting of one crane operator, one forklift operator, one or two other workers to unload trucks and rig media pallets, plus three to five inside-tank workers should be able to install from 600 to 900 modules per day.

The following installation pictures illustrate proper media placement and module orientation:

All on-site module cutting is done with a chain saw. A 28" bar is preferable because it is long enough to make most of the cuts with one pass, yet manageable enough so as not to create any additional safety concerns.

The media modules should be carefully measured and cut or trimmed to fit within 2 inches (or less, especially if specified by the project engineer) of the center column and the tank perimeter wall. The shaping, cutting and trimming of the media modules may be done in the trickling filter provided that precautions are taken by the Contractor to prevent any chips, broken pieces, or debris from falling into the media by using a plywood floor with canvas tarpaulins or similar working materials to cover the plywood cutting area/media modules. All media modules shall be cleared of any such fallen material before a new layer of media is added.

The top layer of media should also be completely protected from damage and such falling material due to any subsequent work until the "start up" of the system. The media module edges should be protected from damage due to workmen walking on them. To prevent such damage of modules the Contractor should use plywood or other suitable temporary planking.

Following are pictorial examples of cutting shacks and tarped cutting areas contractors have used on previous media installations:

All of the information, observations, and recommendations provided in these guidelines are being furnished only as a matter of general information and are not in any way intended as a guarantee on the part of Brentwood Ind., Inc., Reading, PA.