Online biological monitoring in decentralized non-potable water system
AssigneeNatural Systems Utilities, LLC
InventorsZach F. Gallagher, Sheng Chu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A total biological count associated with treated water produced by a wastewater treatment system may be monitored online in a decentralized non-potable water system. Preventative and/or corrective action can be taken in response to a deviation from a predetermined threshold level.
Claims34
A method for online biological monitoring in a decentralized non-potable water reuse system, comprising:
- accessing a wastewater treatment system of the decentralized non-potable water reuse system, the decentralized non-potable water reuse system configured to locally collect, treat and store water associated with a single building or a group of buildings in close proximity, the wastewater treatment system configured to treat at least graywater associated with the decentralized non-potable water reuse system;
- establishing a baseline of a total biological count of treated water at an outlet of the wastewater treatment system, the established baseline being site-specific to the decentralized non-potable water reuse system;
- and
- performing online monitoring of the total biological count associated with treated water discharged from the wastewater treatment system relative to the established baseline to, in turn, monitor for any change in an operational condition of the decentralized non-potable water reuse system.
A system, comprising:
- a decentralized non-potable water reuse system including a wastewater treatment system, the decentralized non-potable water reuse system configured to locally collect, treat and store water associated with a single building or a group of buildings in close proximity, the wastewater treatment system configured to treat at least graywater associated with the decentralized non-potable water reuse system;
- an online analyzer constructed and arranged to monitor a total biological count associated with treated water discharged from the wastewater treatment system;
- and
- a closed-loop control system in communication with the online analyzer and configured to provide a notification to a system operator if the monitored total biological count exceeds a predetermined threshold level in terms of deviation from a site-specific baseline.
A method of retrofitting a decentralized non-potable water reuse system configured to locally collect, treat and store water associated with a single building or a group of buildings in close proximity, comprising:
- installing an online biological analyzer downstream of a wastewater treatment system and upstream of a point of use in the decentralized non-potable water reuse system, the online biological analyzer constructed and arranged to monitor a total biological count associated with treated water produced by the wastewater treatment system;
- establishing a baseline of a total biological count of treated water at an outlet of the wastewater treatment system, the baseline being site-specific to the decentralized non-potable water reuse system;
- and
- interconnecting the online biological analyzer with a closed-loop controller configured to perform a preventative or corrective action in response to the monitored total biological count exceeding a predetermined threshold level in terms of deviation from the site-specific baseline.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.