 INTRODUCTION TO BEADFILTERS
Beadfilters are closed (pressure) vessels filled with millions of small plastic beads. These beads float and therefore provide a means of mechanical filtration and the enormous surface of these beads provides the biological filtration.
Mechanical filtration: the beads float in a closed vessel and are packed very close to each other. The pressure of the pump makes the water flow upward through the beads. The small dirt particles will stick in the bead pack. The longer the filter is active, the more bio film there will be around the beads and therefore smaller particles can be filtered.
Biological filtration: the specific surface of the beads is about 1600m2 per m3(6 times more than a blue Japanese Mat), so the bio film layer around the beads extremely useful for nitrifying bacteria that consume vast amounts of ammonia and nitrites.
ULTRABEAD OPERATION
Water enters into the tank (A) under pressure from the pump. This water, by means of the unique design of the UltraBead, spins separating the heavier solids and forcing them to the centre of the tank. The solids are collecting in the centre of the filter, waiting to be hydraulically purged out under pressure from the pump. All you have to do is open the swirl separation valve (B) with the pump running and the filter in it's normal filtration mode and the heavier solids are evacuated in just a couple of seconds. What does all of this mean? The most unique, efficient filter of its kind. An efficient filter doesn't hold solids, it gets rid of them!
Now that the water is in the tank it is forced slowly upward in the vessel through zillions of beads about the size of BBs. On these beads are billions of nitrifying bacteria and these hungry bacteria are consuming vast amounts of ammonia, nitrites, etc. and performing what is known as nitrification. This is how we actually have clean, healthy water is due to the work these minute organisms are performing. Water continues to flow upward through the beads and exits out of the vessel via the top spray bar (C). This water then continues into the multi port valve and depending on the setting on the multi port (FILTER), the water continues then to the pond.
The UltraBead® series have another unique feature: the UltraTrust Blower (D). This blower is mounted on a special air check valve. It is important that the valve be in the rinse position for the blower agitation of the beads. When the blower is active the beads and debris are dispersed throughout the interior of the filter. This breaks up the beads and releases the trapped particles. This debris then can easily be backwashed out to waste through the spray bar (C).
After the RINSE cycle with air we perform a backwash in which the water enters at C en leaves the filter through A. After the backwash there will be another RINSE cycle but with water instead of air. This takes any remaining debris and sends it to waste (from A to C), instead of sending a cloud of dirt back to the pond.
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