When a slow sand filter is first put into operation or after it is "cleaned", a living "community" of aquatic aerobic, predatory microscopic organisms grow in the top 5 to 10 cm of wet sand and form what is called a "Schmutzdecke" or "biolayer" made of exocelluar polymers (complex proteins and carbohydrates) and living organisms consisting of diatoms, algae, bacteria, and zooplankton. This sand and biolayer must always be submerged under oxygen rich water (the filter must ALWAYS have water in it up to and covering all of the sand), and it is very effective at mechanically filtering very small particles out of the water flowing through it. Also, the living organisms in the biolayer literally "eat" pathogens in the water that get caught in the biolayer from a process know as "biological flocculation" (they stick to the biofilm). Some filtering also occurs because of the physical action of the sand below the biolayer. And additionally, the organisms in the biolayer produce substances that are toxic to pathogenic viruses and bacteria found in the water flowing through the filter. 58 (270-273; 424-432), 59, 60 Water must not flow through the filter faster than the biological action occurs in the Schmutzdecke. The organisms in the biolayer are also present at lower levels in the filter sand but they are not as numerous and don't form a biofilm. In small versions of slow sand filters the drainpipes at the bottom connect to a (usually pvc) pipe that runs out and up to an outlet several inches above the top of the sand. This way water drains slowly and never leaves the surface of the sand exposed to open air (this will kill the biolayer very quickly). The action of water seeking its own level is a key part of the filtering operation as it helps to regulate the speed and pressure at which the water passes through the sand. Although slow sand filters have been in operation since the early 1800's and have been studied extensively by modern scientists, the complete extent of the biological activity enabling their operation is not fully understood yet; however extensive tests have shown that slow sand filters remove viruses, bacteria, and chemicals as well as, and in some cases better than, modern complex filtering systems (slow sand filters are the most effective way to remove "Beaver fever organisms" from water).