US 2004/0104157 A1 · PURIFIED WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

Abstract

A system (11) for providing purified water comprises a plurality of individual modules, each of which includes a separable head (13) and a canister (17), which modules are joined one to another via these heads to create a composite manifold (15). The heads and canisters are respectively of substantially identical construction, and the hollow canisters include the following units: preheater, prefilter (25), pump (27), membrane purification (29), postfilter (31), and UV treatment. The overall system is monitored by a control unit (131) that is regularly interrogated by an off-site, headquarters computer, and both the control unit (131) and the headquarters computer are proactive in detecting potential difficulties that may be able to be readily remedied by promptly dispatching a serviceperson with a replacement for the canister containing the operating unit that requires replacement. The system itself is designed for extended term operation using a spirally wound, RO membrane purification element (29) by automatically and repeatedly flushing the feed passageways in the RO element whenever the storage tank (123) is full of purified water, using a purified water feed from an auxiliary purification unit (85) for such flushing.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system for providing purified water to a point of use (POU) from a municipal water source or the like, which system comprises:

a plurality of individual modules each of which includes a separable head and a canister, each of said heads having liquid inlet and outlet passageways, and
means joining said heads of said plurality of modules one to another to create a composite manifold,
said heads being of substantially identical construction and said canisters being of substantially identical construction so that such can be inexpensively manufactured,
said canisters being hollow and having at least two interengaging sections including an upper section which mates with said head and a lower section,
said hollow canisters containing different operating units, with at least one of said units being a pump and another being a purification unit,
said upper section of each of said canisters containing an adaptor that creates a desired liquid flow arrangement between said inlet and outlet passageways in said head and the respective operating unit in said canister, and
said modules in said composite manifold being interconnected for liquid flow between adjacent modules and being arranged so that said module containing said pump is upstream of said module containing said purification unit,
whereby any canister of any module, including that containing said pump, can be easily and quickly replaced with a substitute.

5 more elements

A system for providing purified water to a point of use (POU) from a municipal water source or the like, which system comprises:

a plurality of individual modules, each of which includes a separable head and a canister, each said head having liquid inlet and outlet passageways,
means joining said heads of said plurality of modules one to another to create a composite manifold,
said modules containing different operating units with said canister of one module containing a pump and drive motor and another said canister containing a main purification unit that includes a spirally wound crossflow reverse osmosis (RO) membrane element having a spiral feed passageway for feed flow axially therethrough, which element produces a product water stream and a concentrate stream,
an auxiliary water purification device designed to operate on municipal water pressure to produce a stream of purified water,
a storage tank for storing purified water from said main purification unit when more purified water is being produced than is being removed from the system at the POU,
conduit means for delivering purified water from the outlet passageway in the head of said purification unit module to said storage tank,
a reject conduit leading to drain which is connected to carry at least some of the concentrate stream from the RO element,
means for determining when said storage tank is substantially full,
an inflow conduit network for supplying water from the source to the module containing said pump and to said auxiliary purification device,
a flush conduit connecting a purified water outlet from said auxiliary purification device to an inlet passageway in the head of the module containing the main purification unit, and
a control unit interconnected with said determining means and said pump drive motor, which control unit is designed to, upon receipt of a signal from said determining means that said tank is full, halt operation of said pump motor, and initiate flow of water from said source to said auxiliary purification device, whereby purified water from said auxiliary purification device flows through said flush conduit and axially through said spirally wound membrane element to flush the feed passageways.

8 more elements

A system for providing purified water to a point of use (POU) from a municipal water source or the like, which system comprises:

a pump and drive motor which are connected to supply water from such source to a main purification unit that includes a spirally wound crossflow reverse osmosis (RO) membrane element having a spiral feed passageway for feed flow axially therethrough, which element produces a product water stream and a concentrate stream,
an auxiliary water purification device designed to operate on municipal water pressure to produce a stream of purified water,
a storage tank for storing purified water from said main purification unit when more purified water is being produced than is being removed from the system at the POU,
product conduit means for delivering purified water from said main purification module to said storage tank and to said POU,
means for determining when said storage tank is substantially full, and
control means for halting operation of said pump motor and initiating flow of water from said source to said auxiliary purification device upon such determination, whereby purified water from said auxiliary purification device is then caused to flow axially through said spirally wound membrane element to flush the feed passageway therein.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Purified water supply system

Life of this patent

Purified water supply system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20