AFM Activated Filter Material
What is AFM®?
AFM® stands for Activated Filter Material, a revolutionary green glass filtration material developed and produced by Dryden Aqua.
AFM® exceeds the performance of quartz sand and glass sand, filtering approximately 30% more organic compounds.
AFM® is a bio-resistant and self-sterilizing material, which means that no biofilm is formed inside the filter bed. This important feature makes pool operation safer, healthier, greener and more economical.
AFM® has been successfully used in more than 100,000 public and private pools worldwide.
AFM® is produced to ISO 9001-2008 specifications and is certified to European standards for swimming pools and drinking water and is also NSF50 and NSF61 certified.
AFM® is a trademark and the material is produced exclusively by Dryden Aqua.
Your advantages at a glance
- Crystal water - AFM® achieves much better filtration than quartz or plain glass sand.
- Lower chlorine consumption - Whatever is filtered no longer needs to be oxidised.
- Absence of chlorine odour - The absence of heterotrophic bacteria means the absence of trichloramines and therefore the absence of the annoying and harmful chlorine odour.
- Protection from Legionella - Legionella and many other pathogens grow under the protection of the biofilm. The absence of biofilm means the absence of legionella.
- Economy and environmental protection - AFM® and the Dryden Aqua Integrated System help to save resources such as water, chlorine and energy.
What makes AFM® so effective?
- Pure green glass:
The raw material used for AFM® is necessarily a very specific quality of glass. AFM® is manufactured only from pure green glass, the only one containing the appropriate metal oxides that make AFM® a self-sterilizing material. - Ideal hydraulic properties:
The raw material is broken down to the optimum grain size and shape. The correct shape is crucial for the excellent hydraulic characteristics of AFM®.
Glass beads, as well as glass tiles, are not suitable for clean water applications. For safety reasons, dangerous glass fragments are also not allowed in the filter material. Dryden Aqua's ISO certified production process ensures the high quality and purity of the material. - Activation process:
The AFM® activation process creates a mesoporous structure with a huge area of catalytic surface area.
Conventional crushed glass and sand have a surface area of 3,000 m2 per cubic meter (m3), while the activated AFM® material has a surface area of more than 1,000,000 m2 per cubic meter (m3), which is more than 300 times the surface area for adsorption and catalytic reactions. Hydroxyl groups on its surface give AFM® a strong negative charge, known as zeta potential, which attracts heavy metals and organic molecules.
In the presence of oxygen or oxidizing agents, this catalytic surface produces free radicals that make AFM® a self-sterilizing material with high protection against bacteria.
Conclusions:
The chemical composition of the glass, the shape of the grain and especially the activation process, give AFM® these important properties which clearly outperform quartz sand and plain glass sand filters.
Its large surface area has a strong negative charge to attract organic substances and small particles.
This surface also has metal oxide catalysts that produce free radicals and therefore a high redox potential is produced.
Therefore, AFM® is a self-sterilising material.
It prevents the growth of bacteria and is a unique, bio-resistant filtering material.
Who is Dryden Aqua?
We are a marine biosystems company specialising in water quality and innovative, sustainable treatment technologies.
The unique combination of our expertise and analytical understanding of biological as well as physico-chemical reactions has allowed us to develop a highly innovative range of products for aquariums and swimming pools.
This has given us a leading position in water treatment for public and private swimming pools.
Our mission is: crystal clear and healthy water, without any chlorine smell.
Today, over 100,000 pools around the world use our system.