Hello,
I have to run suspended sediment concentration test on 500 ml river water samples. I am using Pall membrane filter papers with 47 mm dia and 0.45-micron pore size. However, some samples take up to an hour to filter in the vacuum filtration setup. Is this very common? Should I go for a higher pore size ~ 1 -micron?
For the determination of Total Suspended Solids according SMWW 2540 D method, you can use a glass fiber filter < 2 µm nominal pore size.
The filtration time for river water samples can vary based on sediment load and particle size. It's not uncommon for some samples to take up to an hour with a 0.45-micron pore size. Switching to a 1-micron filter may speed up the process but could affect the accuracy of suspended sediment concentration measurements. Consider other factors like filter paper pre-wetting or adjusting the filtration setup for efficiency before changing the pore size.
Thank you for your response, Tabassum. It is helpful to know that the filtration time that my samples are taking is not uncommon.
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