Water Softener With Closed-Pressure Aeration
OwnerScott R. Handyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A water conditioning system that both softens and improves the smell of water by removing dissolved ferrous iron and hydrogen sulfide from the water includes: a water softening tank, a cation exchange media situated in the water softening tank, a brine tank, a programmable control valve which regulates flow through the system and the periodic rejuvenation of the cation exchange media using flow from the brine tank, a valve that assists in providing a flow of aerated, pressurized water to the system, and an adapter with a bottom portion and a flow control valve that control the volume of the gaseous pocket that is created in the top portion of the water softening tank.
Claims16
An improved water conditioning system that softens and improves the smell of water by removing dissolved ferrous iron and hydrogen sulfide from the water, said system of the type having a water softening tank having top and bottom portions and a specified interior volume, and wherein said top portion having proximate its highest point a first tank opening that serves as a tank inlet, a cation exchange media situated in said water softening tank, a conduit that is configured to bring water to and supply pressurized water through said first tank opening, a brine tank that contains a brine solution, a programmable control valve having a plurality of inlets and outlets and which is configured to regulate the flow of said pressurized water to and from said water softening tank and to allow for the periodic rejuvenation of said cation exchange media using said brine solution, said system improvement comprising:
- a means configured to connect with said conduit and introduce air into said pressurized water that flows through said means so as to yield pressurized, aerated water flowing downstream from said means and through said system,
- a second opening in said water softening tank top portion,
- an adapter having top, middle and bottom portions and a passage that extends between said top and bottom portions and is configured to allow for gaseous flow through said adapter and whose intersections with said passage bottom and top portions form a respective inlet and outlet for said passage, and said adapter middle portion having an outer surface that is configured to connect to and provide a water-tight seal between said tank second opening and said adapter middle portion outer surface,
- wherein said adapter bottom portion configured so as to have a length that extends said passage inlet downward into said water softening tank to a depth such that the portion of the interior volume of said water softening tank that is above said passage inlet defines said top portion of said water softening tank and contributes to creating an air space in said water softening tank top portion that allows for sufficient mixing of said aerated, pressurized water with the surrounding air in said water softening tank top portion so as to adequately remove dissolved ferrous iron and hydrogen sulfide from said aerated, pressurized water that flows through said system.
A water conditioning system that softens and improves the smell of water by removing dissolved ferrous iron and hydrogen sulfide from the water, said system comprising:
- a water softening tank having top and bottom portions and a specified interior volume, and wherein said top portion having proximate its highest point a first tank opening that serves as a tank inlet,
- a cation exchange media situated in said water softening tank,
- a conduit that is configured to bring water to and supply pressurized water through said first tank opening,
- a brine tank that contains a brine solution,
- a programmable control valve having a plurality of inlets and outlets and which is configured to regulate the flow of said pressurized water to and from said water softening tank and to allow for the periodic rejuvenation of said cation exchange media using said brine solution,
- a means configured to connect with said conduit and introduce air into said pressurized water that flows through said means so as to yield pressurized, aerated water flowing downstream from said means and through said system,
- a second opening in said water softening tank top portion,
- an adapter having top, middle and bottom portions and a passage that extends between said top and bottom portions and is configured to allow for gaseous flow through said adapter and whose intersections with said passage bottom and top portions form a respective inlet and outlet for said passage, and said adapter middle portion having an outer surface that is configured to connect to and provide a water-tight seal between said tank second opening and said adapter middle portion outer surface,
- wherein said adapter bottom portion configured so as to have a length that extends said passage inlet downward into said water softening tank to a depth such that the portion of the interior volume of said water softening tank that is above said passage inlet defines said top portion of said water softening tank and contributes to creating an air space in said water softening tank top portion that allows for sufficient mixing of said aerated, pressurized water with the surrounding air in said water softening tank top portion so as to adequately remove dissolved ferrous iron and hydrogen sulfide from said aerated, pressurized water that flows through said system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.