SAF (Submerged Aerated Filter)

Jacopa’s® Copa® SAF has a proven performance record, supported by over twenty years of development and many installations throughout the UK and worldwide wastewater industry for secondary biological treatment.

The Copa® SAF has an immediate effect on BOD reduction, and the system can be 100% effective within four weeks of start-up.

Copa® SAF is a fixed film biological treatment unit, capable of treating municipal and industrial wastewaters.

Also available for hire, they can be applied to a wide range of treatment applications in addition to secondary treatment, including roughing, BOD/ammonia removal.

For tertiary applications, our SAF is simple to operate, needs minimal maintenance and is exceptionally flexible and versatile, providing outstanding effluent quality. The solution can be used for both permanent and temporary schemes, above and below-ground installations, and for municipal and industrial use.

Our experienced engineers configure SAF plants from our standardised range to meet customer specifications and asset standards, incorporating any site-specific modification required.

Jacopa’s™ Copa® SAF (Submerged Aerated Filter) is a high performance biological filter for the treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater. Copa® SAF wastewater treatment systems are designed to, typically, provide biological treatment for sewage works with population equivalents up to 3,000. The system can achieve an effluent qualities of less than 15mg/l BOD, 25mg/l SS, and 5mg/l ammonia at 95 percentile performance. Utilising Jacopa’s™ decades of experience in SAF design, Jacopa™ has developed a solution robust enough to handle fluctuating flows and loads, the Copa® SAF is ideally suited to smaller works where intermittent loading can be a particular problem.

Our units are designed with flexibility in mind: they can be installed as a permanent solution, or to provide temporary treatment for emergencies, or as part of a planned works maintenance program.

A Copa® SAF system includes a SAF tank(s) and a walk-in GRP kiosk, housing air blowers and a control panel. Where multiple SAF tanks are required, a flow split box divides the flow evenly between parallel units.

Copa® SAF tanks and pipework are manufactured typically in stainless steel but also as an option in mild steel. Tanks are painted in a high quality polyurethane coating, extending the design life and dramatically reducing whole life costs. No specialist operation is required. Our below ground SAF allows diffuser replacement without the need for draining tanks or removing media, minimizing maintenance costs.

Aeration: Steel SAF tanks comprise a number of treatment cells, arranged in series. Each cell houses a number of fine bubble membrane diffusers, mounted below rigid, PVC media. The diffusers provide air to keep the treatment system healthy and to air scour the media, releasing dead biomass and eliminating the need for backwashing. For both above and below ground installations, the diffusers can be removed for maintenance without removing the media. Low maintenance side channel blowers supply the diffusers with air. Diaphragm valves ensure that only the necessary amount of air is provided for biological treatment and continuous air scouring of excess or dead biomass that may accumulate on the media. Each SAF tank is typically supplied with a duty blower, with a common standby unit for the system as a whole. The blowers are virtually maintenance free, needing blower air filter replacement just once in every 6 months. The aeration pattern on top of the media can be observed by opening the hatches on the top of the tanks. There is no need for dissolved air measurement or returned sludge control.

Above Ground Design: Installing the SAF tank above ground, is the most common approach to providing SAF treatment, this reduces installation time and civil costs. Units are also easily moved for temporary and semi-permanent schemes.

Diaphragm valves ensure that only the necessary amount of air is provided for biological treatment and continuous air scouring of excess or dead biomass that may accumulate on the media. Each SAF tank is supplied with a duty blower, with a common standby unit for the system as a whole. The blowers are virtually maintenance free, needing blower air filter replacement just once in every 6 months. The aeration pattern on top of the media can be observed by opening the hatches on the top of the tanks. There is no need for dissolved air measurement or returned sludge control.

Below Ground Design: The Copa® SAF system can be installed either partially or completely below ground, reducing the visual impact on sensitive areas. Diffusers can be removed without interrupting the flow and no sludge removal is required, minimising operation and maintenance costs.

Performance: Jacopa’s™ Copa® SAF has a proven performance record, supported by over twenty years of development and many installations throughout the worldwide wastewater industry. The Copa® SAF has an immediate effect on BOD reduction, and the system can be 100% effective within four weeks of start-up.