A Novel Reverse Unidirectional Flushing (R-UDF) Method to Mobilize Iron Oxide Particles from PVC Pipes of a Full-Scale Laboratory System

The aim of the present work is to test a novel Reverse Unidirectional Flushing (R-UDF) approach to achieve an enhanced removal rate of iron oxide particles from drinking water pipes. The project utilized a full-scale PVC pipe loop laboratory system to successfully isolate direction as a particle mobilization factor. Even after successive flushing operations in one direction, a subsequent flush in the opposite direction mobilized new particles from the pipe wall surface. This shows that there are some areas in the pipe loop system that may protect deposited particles from flushing shear stresses in a determined flow direction.