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There are elevated levels of phosphorus in the wastewater in  Barntrup in North Rhine-Westphalia
the town is  using an innovative process using fiber balls known as Fuzzy Filter® balls
8,800 tons of medicines and 11 tons of  microplastics enter Germany’s largest river
there is an additional purification stage in many wastewater  treatment plants
It filters out microplastics measuring between five micrometers  and five millimeters and removes micro-pollutants such as pharmaceutical  residues
large clarifier must  be used to filter out up to 80% of the pollutants
wastewater  treatment plants without this additional purification stage retain just 30% of  the trace substances trapped
The Westphalian town of Barntrup found this 80% level too  low because the purified water can enter a drinking water catchment area via a  river system
The town opted for the world’s first wastewater treatment plant  using Fuzzy Filters
which eliminate 95% of all trace substances while also  cleaning the wastewater of microplastics and phosphorus
Another advantage is  that no large clarifier is needed
Pure water thanks to activated carbon and Fuzzy Filter balls
With both the standard process and the new technique
 activated carbon is mixed into the water in the additional purification stage
activated carbon has a huge inner  surface
One teaspoon of powdered activated carbon has the same surface area
This area gives micro-pollutants and trace  substances plenty of space to adhere to it
the contaminated water  finally flows through the Fuzzy Filter balls from top to bottom
These are made  of synthetic fibers that are made into a ball around 33 millimeters in diameter  with the aid of a clip
The balls remove the activated carbon with the  micro-pollutants it has absorbed
along with the microplastics from the water  and the filtered water then flows out of the system from the top
Valves and slides are opened via Festo pneumatic  swivel/linear drive units controlled by valve terminals
enabling the automatic  inflow of wastewater containing micro-pollutants and the outflow of the  purified water from the Fuzzy Filter system
Cleaning and reusing the Fuzzy Filter balls
Both the Fuzzy Filter balls and the activated carbon can be  reused many times
They must be cleaned using a backwash cycle
while an external bellows blows cleaning air into  it
The filter balls are set dancing in the turbulent air flow so that dirt particles  that have stuck to them are removed and are rinsed out of the filter
The  filters are then returned to the aeration tank along with the activated carbon  and used for another cleaning process because the activated carbon is only  slightly contaminated with pollutants after the first cleaning process
Festo pneumatic swivel/linear drive units are also used when  cleaning the Fuzzy Filter® balls
They let the correct amount of cleaning air  into the system and help to remove the sludge
 DLP pneumatic linear  drives operate the slide gate and enable the reliable opening and closing of  guillotine valves to remove the sludge.