Patent ID: 7157010

Claim:
A method of filtering colloidal silt from a water flow, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a filtration barrier for impeding a water flow, the filtration barrier comprising: a support frame; a first geo-fabric sheet, the first geo-fabric sheet having an influent filtering surface and an interior surface; a second geo-fabric sheet, the second geo-fabric sheet adapted to filter entrained non-colloidal particles from a flow of water, the second geo-fabric sheet having an floc filtering surface and an effluent surface the second geo-fabric sheet fixedly disposed adjacent to the first geo-fabric sheet such that the interior surface and the floc filtering surface form at least one cavity; and a flocculant material, the flocculant material disposed within the at least one cavity, the flocculant material reactive with waterborne colloidal particles so as to cause waterborne colloidal particles to coagulate and form flocs, wherein at least one of the first and second geo-fabric sheets is affixed to the support frame so as to form a filtration barrier; (b) positioning the filtration barrier transverse to the water flow so as to form an influent stream of water flow directed through the influent surface and so as to form a corresponding effluent stream of water flow emitted from the effluent surface, the influent stream comprising colloidal silt; (c) flowing the influent stream through the influent surface so as to form a treatment stream; (d) flowing the treatment stream through the flocculant material so as to coagulate a portion of the colloidal silt and form flocs; and (e) flowing the treatment stream through the floc filtering surface so as to remove at least a portion of the flocs and to form an effluent stream.