Talk:Rapid sand filter

"Appropriate" technology

The statement that rapid sand filters are "not usually classed as an appropriate technology" seems to be POV. Please check. 68.50.203.109 02:59, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

The term appropriate technology has nothing to with whether the technology is "appropriate" for your own use, and is not a matter of POV. Rather, it refers to how well that technology fits the use for which it is commonly intended. In particular, from the linked article:

Appropriate technology is technology that is most appropriate to the environment and culture it is intended to support. It is suitable for use in developing nations or underdeveloped rural areas of industrialized nations, which may lack the money and specialised expertise to operate and maintain high technology.

In this particular case, the statement suggests that, because of the daily maintenance required, this particular type of filter if often not the best match for water filtration in areas that may lack the resources to perfrom frequent maintenance. Tylerl 21:08, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Disadvantages

The disadvantages are not supported. Frankly, I think that the disadvantages listed here are incorrect. I have removed them previously because there is no supporting discussion related to the subject.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.16.94.3 (talk • contribs) 06:10, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

I've edited the article in an attempt to restore some balance, and added a reference. However, I'm considering tagging the Advantages & Disadvantages section as off-topic. This is an article about the rapid sand filter, not an article on how to select the best drinking water treatment system for a particular setting, whether it be a village in a developing nation or a large, developed metropolitan community. The rapid and slow sand filters are no longer directly comparable (although they were a hundred years ago, when the technologies were new). In current engineering practice, rapid sand filters are not intended to be used as stand-alone systems; I added this point in the "Design and operation" section. Comparisons of various drinking water technologies are already provided, to some extent, in the Water purification article. Moreau1 (talk) 03:25, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Changes made, per my previous comment. Moreau1 (talk) 22:41, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

First modern rapid sand filtration plant

Footnote #2 which is meant to support this claim includes a comment on the same page -- "Fredericton, NB, Canada, had a complete rapid sand filtration system in 1906; engineered by Frank Barbour of Boston, and using equipment supplied by the New York Continental Jewell Filtration Company. George Fuller might have been great, but not 'first'!"

I work for the City of Cedar Rapids and we have historical newspaper clippings that refer to our 1896 rapid sand filtration system as either the first or one of the first in the United States.

Curious if we should remove this bit as it may prove difficult to cite a source for the true first. Would be happy to list City of Cedar Rapids as "one of the first."