Water treatment feeder device and a water treatment feeder system

A water treatment feeder system for treating water using water treatment granules in a structure operative to circulate water thereabout, the structure including a water basin containing the water at a water level, circulation piping, a pump interposed in the circulation piping for pumping the water from the water basin and circulating the water back to the water basin, the water treatment granules containing at least one water treatment chemical, the water treatment feeder system comprising:

• a water treatment feeder device disposed downstream of the pump and including:
• a hopper forming a granule-receiving compartment with the water treatment granules contained therein and having an upper hopper portion and a lower V-shaped hopper portion connected to the upper hopper portion, the upper hopper portion including a pair of first pair of hopper side walls disposed apart from each other and a second pair of hopper side walls disposed apart from each other and connected to the first pair of hopper side walls to form an upper granule-receiving sub-compartment of the granule-receiving compartment, each one of the first pair of walls and the second pair of walls fabricated from a water-impenetrable material, the lower V-shaped hopper portion fabricated from a porous material having a plurality of pores sized to at least substantially retain the water treatment granules in the lower V-shaped hopper portion, the lower V-shaped hopper portion forming a lower V-shaped granule-receiving sub-compartment of the granule-receiving compartment in communication with the upper granule-receiving compartment;
• and
• a receptacle having an upper opening and fabricated from a water-impenetrable material, the receptacle including a pair of first pair of receptacle side walls disposed apart from each other, a second pair of receptacle side walls disposed apart from each other and connected to the first pair of receptacle side walls and a bottom part connected to the first pair of receptacle side walls and the second pair of receptacle side walls to define water-receiving compartment, the bottom part having a water inlet and a water outlet disposed apart from the water inlet, the receptacle including a weir disposed in the water-receiving compartment between the water inlet and the water outlet to divide the water-receiving compartment into a water inlet sub-compartment and a water outlet sub-compartment, the water inlet sub-compartment sized to receive the hopper therein through the upper opening with an apex of the lower V-shaped hopper portion positioned at least adjacent the bottom part,
• wherein, when the pump is energized, a portion of the water flowing downstream of the pump is directed to the water inlet of the receptacle to fill the receptacle so that the water flows over the weir and thereafter to the water outlet of the receptacle for the water to flow out of the receptacle so that the water flowing through the receptacle subsequently discharges into the water basin and
• wherein, upon contact with the water, the water treatment granules dissolve in a time-release manner, which, in turn, results in the water being infused with the at least one water treatment chemical thereby producing a chemically-treated water.

A method for dissolving water treatment granules in water, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a hopper and a receptacle, the hopper having a granule-receiving compartment defined by an upper hopper portion and a lower V-shaped hopper portion connected to the upper hopper portion, the lower V-shaped hopper portion fabricated from a porous material having a plurality of pores sized to at least substantially retain the water treatment granules in the lower V-shaped hopper portion, the receptacle having a water-receiving compartment with a weir disposed therein to divide the water-receiving compartment into a water inlet sub-compartment and a water outlet sub-compartment, the water inlet sub-compartment sized to receive the hopper;
• inserting the hopper containing the water treatment granules into the water inlet sub-compartment of the receptacle;
• providing the water at one end portion of the water inlet sub-compartment;
• causing the water to flow from the one end portion of the water inlet sub-compartment to the weir located at an opposite end portion of the water inlet sub-compartment while the hopper containing the water treatment granules is immersed in the flowing water at least at a depth sufficient to immerse the lower V-shaped hopper portion so that the water treatment granules contact and dissolve in the water flowing across the water inlet sub-compartment and at least partially along the lower V-shaped hopper portion to yield treated water;
• permitting overflow of the treated water in the water inlet sub-compartment to flow over the weir and into the water outlet sub-compartment;
• and
• discharging the treated water from the water outlet sub-compartment.