Patent ID: 8329037

Claim:
A method of removing organic waste from a liquid waste stream in a filter apparatus including an annular microfilter having a plurality of circumferentially spaced filter pores, comprising the following steps: reducing the size of the filter pores to less than one micron; treating the liquid waste stream to cross-link or form aggregates of the organic waste having a size greater than the pore size of the annular microfilter while drawing the liquid waste stream upwardly in an axial waste treatment chamber of a filtration apparatus; driving the treated liquid waste stream radially through the annular microfilter into an annular filtrate chamber surrounding the annular microfilter collecting organic waste on the microfilter having a particle size greater than a pore size of the microfilter; removing liquid filtrate from the annular filtrate chamber; increasing the size of the filter pores to a size greater than the cross-sections of the particulates and particulate fractions of the organic waste collected on the annular microfilter; and removing the organic waste from a surface of the annular microfilter by backwashing the annular microfilter.