Challenge

When the makers of James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic needed an outdoor water filming tank, they built their own as part of a new 40-acre ocean-front studio in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.

But they needed to clarify the water in the tank for filming underwater scenes, and time is money in the film-making business, so the project required quick turnaround.

Solution

Paramount Studios turned to Siemens Water Technologies for their water clarification needs, and installed Hydro-Clear sand filters to clarify water in the eight-acre, 17-million-gallon filming tank.

Raw water is drawn from the Pacific Ocean into an equalization basin where it is mixed with chemical flocculants. The flow is then directed to a concrete tank Hydro-Clear filter where it passes through a bed of fine grain sand that removes small particles and turbidity.

The filter is a model KK 12 x 25 (6 cells) designed for a flow rate of 6,000 gallons per minute. Each cell contains a shallow bed of fine grained sand and an underdrain design that permits periodic "pulsing" of the filter bed to dislodge trapped solids and prolong filter runs between backwashes.

The water tank held a near full-scale model of the ship and, for filming purposes, the water needed to have visual clarity to a depth of 30 feet.

The order was placed on July 17, 1996, and the filter equipment was shipped from Siemens Water Technologies in Wisconsin the week of August 26. Filter startup occurred in mid-October.

Result

The filters worked according to design, and the movie went on to surpass the $1 billion mark in global box-office receipts, win 11 Academy Awards including best picture and director and produce the best-selling movie soundtrack of all time.