MXPA04012523A

MXPA04012523A - Water purification system.

Info

Publication number: MXPA04012523A
Application number: MXPA04012523A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Janardhan Nair Pradeep
Original assignee: Unilever Nv
Priority date: 2002-06-19
Filing date: 2003-05-22
Publication date: 2005-02-17
Also published as: WO2004000732A1; RU2005101082A; BR0311779A; RU2344085C2; PL375198A1; AU2003240707A1; MY130646A; CN1662449A; AR039681A1; PL212324B1; CN1331762C

Abstract

The invention provides a gravity fed water purification system comprising a filtration unit adapted to filter particulate material, and a chemical purifying unit containing a chemical purifying agent, in which the chemical purifying unit is housed in a sealed chamber and is in fluid communication with the filtration unit such that water treated by the filtration unit is then gravity fed into the chemical purifying unit and retained therein for a predetermined period, after which the water exits the system via a scavenger means which is adapted to recover leached chemical purifying agent. The system ensures the delivery of microbiologically pure water of high quality whilst maintaining the simplicity and advantages of gravity fed filtration systems.

Description

WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a water purification system and in particular to a water purification system fed by gravity for the generation and dispensing of purified water of superior quality.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART It is very important to improve the technology that refers to the purification of water as water supplies are becoming increasingly contaminated. Many bodies of water have been contaminated to a greater degree and thus require superior water purification systems. The presence of unwanted and potentially harmful contaminants in water, especially water for drinking, is of concern to many people. This concern creates a desire for water treatment devices in the home and elsewhere. Many water treatment devices and methods have been developed to remove or neutralize chemical and particulate contaminants. Some of these devices and methods incorporate chemically active materials to treat water. For example, activated carbon is able to remove the bad taste and odor of water as well as chlorine and other reactive chemicals. Ion exchange resins are useful for removing metal and other ions from water. However, no material or chemical has been found to remove all contaminants. In addition to chemical and particulate contaminants, water frequently contains biological contaminants. These contaminants often can not be completely removed by activated carbon, ion exchange resins or other chemically active water purifiers. Biological contaminants may be susceptible to harsher chemical treatment, but such chemicals are usually contaminants by themselves or can not be easily incorporated into gravity-fed treatment devices, especially those for home use. In addition to being resistant to removal by standard chemical means, dead of these biological contaminants, such as protozoan cysts such as cryptosporidium, are only a few microns in size. Various water purification systems are available. Tablets for purification, boiling, etc., are commonly used. Water treatment devices are well known in the art. Such devices are used directly in a water system, either online or at the terminal end, or in self-contained batch systems. An example of an online system is one under the counter device, which filters the water before reaching the key. Terminal devices include key mounted filtration and the top of the counter. The self-contained batch systems include gravity-fed systems or decanter units. Iodine resin systems have also been used to disinfect drinking water. These systems involve iodide molecules in a resin bed, formed from beads of iodide molecules tightly bound to a base copolymer, ion exchange resin, usually a styrene / divinyl benzene copolymer (QVB). The water that passes through the resin bed becomes turbulent. Turbulence forces microbes, such as bacteria, protozoan cysts and viruses, into substantial contact with iodized pearls. As a result of these contacts, iodine is transferred to the microbes as molecular iodine, where it undergoes a redox reaction with the microbes deactivating them. Iodine is also levigated in water in minute amounts, usually about 0.5 parts per million (ppm). The exact amount of residual iodine given is a function of residence time, temperature, flow velocity, as well as the level and type of ions in the incoming water. US 5518613 (Harrison First International, Inc. 1996), describes a device for purifying and drinking portable water, which is designed to eliminate potentially harmful parasites 1-2 micrometres in size from the water to be purified. The device includes a chemical purifying agent and a residence chamber that allows an induction period for purification to take place. This operation of this device is dependent on the pressure drop required to move the fluid through the conduit, which is in the range of 0.0703-0.3515kg / cm2 (generated by the user's mouth by suction). The use of carbon blocks to filter the cysts is also known as a means of purification.

W09529878 (Recovery Engineering Inc. 1995), describes a water purification device, comprising a disinfection unit comprising an iodized resin unit and an activated carbon unit. The basic principle is that the volume and liquid flow velocity dimensions in the time-out chamber are maintained to deactivate bacteria, viruses and other contaminants. It is also essential that the liquid stream proceed uniformly so that the first portion of liquid entering the unit conducts the liquid stream and does not mix with liquid that entered before or after it. However, it has been experienced that it is not possible to achieve the desired removal of cysts by using iodinated resin and by only maintaining the plug flow and manipulating the waiting time. In this way, despite the previous available knowledge and various forms of filtration / purification media currently known, it has not been possible to achieve the high microbiological purity desired in simple gravity fed filtration systems. The present invention provides a simple and cost effective gravity fed water purification system with the desired high microbiological purity. The system is conveniently adaptable for home / residential use in variable dimensions according to the user's requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a gravity-fed water purification system comprising a filter unit adapted to filter particulate material and a chemical purification unit containing a chemical purification agent, in which the unit The chemical purification is housed in a sealed chamber and is in fluid communication with the filtration unit, so that the water treated by the filtration unit is then fed by gravity to the chemical purification unit and is held there for a predetermined period. , after which the water leaves the system via a trapping medium which is adapted to recover the leached chemical purification agent. Advantageously, the system of the invention effectively combines a filtration unit for particulate material and a chemical purification unit, so that not only the particulates (normally those greater than 2 microns in size) are separated, but also the water Free of particulate filtrate is subjected to subsequent treatment with a chemical purification agent for a sufficient period to ensure the delivery of high quality microbiologically pure water while maintaining the simplicity and advantages of filtration systems fed by gravity.

Detailed description and preferred embodiments The gravity-fed water purification system of the invention typically comprises a purification unit comprising an upper chamber and a lower chamber, which are separated by a division. The filtration unit is normally secured to the division and is housed in the upper chamber and the chemical purification unit is housed in the lower chamber. Preferably, the filtration unit comprises a carbon block. In order to facilitate effective treatment, it is important that the water reside for a sufficient time in the chemical purification unit. Normally, this is achieved by positioning a water outlet passage from the chemical purification unit in such a configuration that water does not exit through the water outlet passage until it has resided for a defined time in the chemical purification unit . Preferably, the water outlet passage comprises one or more pipes, which have an inlet that is positioned just below the division between the upper and lower chambers. The water outlet passage is connected to the trapping means, which is adapted to recover the leached chemical purification agent. Preferably, the trapping means comprises bacteriostatic activated carbon enclosed by a collection chamber. Specific examples of a water purification system according to the invention are illustrated in Figures 1 to 3. As illustrated in Figure 1, the system comprises a purification unit having an upper chamber (TC) and a chamber lower (BC) separated by a division (PR). A carbon block (CB) is fitted on the upper side of the partition, which is in fluid communication with a resin cartridge (CR) in the lower chamber (BC). The resin cartridge (CR) contains a chemical purification agent. The lower chamber (BC) is provided with pipes (P) arising from the lower sealed side (BS), which extends to a level just below the division (PR). The dimensions and arrangement of the pipes (P) govern the residence time of the water in the lower chamber (BC) and in this way its exposure to the purification agent in the resin cartridge (CR). The water that comes out of the resin cartridge (CR) is guided by a cylindrical descent tube (J). Water is collected in the chamber (BC) until the water level has reached the entrance (I) of the pipes (P) and flows down to the common header (H), which then leads to the trapezoidal unit ( SC), which is hanging in the dispensing chamber (DC). The water collected in the collection chamber (CC) can be dispensed through a tap (T) for use. Figure 2 is another embodiment of the invention where the system comprises a purification unit with an upper chamber (TC) and a lower chamber (BC) separated by a division (PR). A carbon block (CB) is fitted on the upper side of the division (PR) and in fluid communication with a resin cartridge (CR) located on the lower side of the division (PR). Water collected in the lower chamber (BC) is transported down to a collection chamber (CC) until the water level has reached the trapezoidal unit (SC), which is in fluid communication with the collection chamber ( DC). The water after passing through the trapezoidal unit (SC) is collected in the dispensing chamber (DC) and can be dispensed through a tap (T) for use.

Figure 3 is a further embodiment of the invention, which can be adjusted to a top bubble dispenser with a pressure equalizing device. As illustrated in Figure 3, the system comprises a purification unit having an upper chamber (TC) and a lower chamber (BC), which are maintained in sealed air-tight conditions and separated by a division (PR). A block of carbon (CB) provides filtration of particulate matter and a cartridge (CR) provides chemical purification. To maintain equal pressure between the upper part of the lower chamber and the upper part of the upper chamber, a pressure equalizing valve / device (PV) is provided. The chamber (C) is provided with pipes (P) emerging from the lower sealed side (BS), which extend to a level just below the division (PR). The water is collected in the chamber (C) until the water level has reached the inlet (I) of the pipe and flows down to a common header (H), which then leads to the trapera unit (SC), which is hanging in the lower chamber (BC). The purification unit detailed above is installed in the upper part of the dispensing chamber (DC) and is maintained in operative communication with a dispenser via a central opening in the lower chamber, which further extends in the form of a nozzle (NZ). ) towards the top of the dispenser. The dispenser is provided with a tap (T) through which the regulated supply of the purified water can be achieved. The operation of the system according to the invention is as follows: The purification system comprises an upper chamber fitted with a pre-filter made of a coarse sediment filter and activated carbon to allow the removal of chlorine, organics, particulate matter and cysts pathogenic The filtered water then goes through a chemical purification unit, which has a chemical purification agent such as iodine or chlorine suitably impregnated on an inert carrier, such as an ion exchange resin. As the water passes through the chemical purification unit, it lees a certain amount of the chemical purification agent from the resin. The chemical purification agent is then trapped by passing the water through a unit comprising bacteriostatic activated carbon and / or ion exchange resin or any other known means after a residence time, which is a period of not less 30 minutes of his departure from the chemical purification unit. It is preferable that the residence time be in the range of 30 to 300 minutes and more preferably 60-180 minutes.

Demonstration of microbial death and removal of cysts: 1200 liters of municipal Umbai water supply were contaminated with 1 07 counts / ml of bacteriophages, 105 counts / l of cysts and 108 counts / m of bacteria, to have only one type of microorganism at a time. The water was filtered through the water purifier according to the invention as described in Figure 1 (Example 1). In Example 2, the construction of the water purifier was according to Example 1, but the carbon block was not introduced. In Example 3, a conventional type filter was used.

Table 1 The data presented in table 1 show that the purifier according to the invention achieves complete microbial death.

Claims

eleven REIVI NDICATIONS

1 . A gravity-fed water purification system comprising a filter unit adapted to filter particulate material and a chemical purification unit containing a chemical purification agent, in which the chemical purification unit is housed in a chemical purification unit. a sealed chamber and is in fluid communication with the filtration unit, so that the water treated by the filtration unit is then fed by gravity into the chemical purification unit and is held there for a predetermined period, after which the water leaves the system via a trapping medium, which is adapted to recover the leached chemical purification agent.

2. A water purification system according to claim 1, which comprises a purification unit comprising an upper chamber and a lower chamber, which are separated by a division and in which the filtration unit is secured to the division and lodged in the upper chamber and the chemical purification unit is lowered in the lower chamber.

3. A water purification system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the filtration unit comprises a carbon block.

4. A water purification system according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein a water outlet passage of the chemical purification unit is provided in such a configuration that water can not exit. through the exit step of ag ua until he has resided 12 for a defined time in the unit of chemical purification.