US 2022/0033279 A1Published application

Method and apparatus to monitor and control a water system

AssigneeEvoqua Water Technologies LLC

InventorsScott Branum, Erich Hoefferle

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Abstract

A system for providing treated water includes a water treatment unit including an inlet water quality probe, a worker bed, a probe to measure a parameter of water from the worker bed, a polisher bed connected downstream from the worker bed and having a probe to measure a parameter of water from the polisher bed, and a flow meter upstream of the worker bed or downstream of the polisher bed. A controller in communication with the flow meter and the probes is configured to receive data from same. A remote server in communication with the local water treatment unit is configured to receive data from the local water treatment unit. The controller or the server may determine a cumulative flow total, a billing cycle flow total, a current exchange flow total, a contaminant load, or a remaining capacity of the water treatment unit.

Claims33

Dependent claims

A system for providing treated water, the system comprising:

a local water treatment unit including
an inlet water quality probe disposed to measure at least one inlet water parameter of feedwater to be treated, the inlet water quality probe including a conductivity sensor and a temperature sensor,
a worker bed having ion exchange media contained therein, and disposed to receive the feedwater to be treated,
a worker probe disposed to measure at least one worker water parameter of water from the worker bed, the worker probe including a worker conductivity sensor and a worker temperature sensor,
a polisher bed having ion exchange media contained therein, and fluidly connected downstream from the worker bed,
a polisher probe disposed to measure at least one polisher water parameter of water from the polisher bed, the polisher probe including a polisher conductivity sensor and a polisher temperature sensor,
a flow meter positioned at least one of upstream of the worker bed and downstream of the polisher bed and configured to measure flow data of water introduced into the first local water treatment unit,
a controller in communication with the flow meter, the inlet water quality probe, the worker probe, and the polisher probe, the controller configured to receive the flow data from the flow meter, the at least one measured inlet water parameter from the inlet water quality probe, the at least one worker water parameter from the worker probe, and the at least one polisher water parameter from the polisher probe;
a server remote from and in communication with the local water treatment unit, the server configured to receive from the local water treatment unit, at least one of the flow data, the at least one measured inlet water parameter, the at least one worker water parameter, and the at least one polisher water parameter, at least one of the controller and the server further configured to determine at least one of a cumulative flow total based on an aggregate of the flow data, a billing cycle flow total based on the flow data during a billing cycle through the local water treatment unit, a current exchange flow total based on the flow data during a current service period of the worker bed, a contaminant load based on the at least one inlet water parameter, and a remaining capacity of the local water treatment unit based at least on the contaminant load.

6 more elements

A method for providing treated water for a predetermined period of time, the method comprising:

treating water in a water treatment unit during the predetermined period of time to produce treated water;
during the predetermined period of time, measuring a volume of the provided treated water utilizing a sensor positioned in the water treatment unit;
during the predetermined period of time, monitoring a parameter of water to be treated in the water treatment unit utilizing a water quality sensor positioned in the water treatment unit;
calculating a difference between the measured volume of the provided treated water during the predetermined period of time and a baseline volume of treated water to be provided during the predetermined period of time;
and
determining a fee adjustment for providing the treated water based on the calculated difference between the measured volume of the provided treated water and the baseline volume of treated water to be provided.

3 more elements

A method for providing treated water over a first predetermined period of time, the method comprising:

directing a first feedwater to be treated through a first water treatment unit to produce a first treated water, the first water treatment unit including ion exchange media;
during the first predetermined period of time, monitoring a parameter of the first feedwater;
during the first predetermined period of time, monitoring at least one of a volume of the first feedwater directed through the water treatment unit and the first treated water;
transmitting to a server disposed remotely from the first water treatment unit, data indicative of at least one of the volume of the first feedwater and the volume of the first treated water, and data indicative of the monitored parameter;
determining a base fee for providing the first treated water during the first predetermined period of time based on at least one of an expected volume of the first feedwater to be treated during the first predetermined period of time and an expected value of the parameter of the water to be treated during the first predetermined period of time, and
determining a fee adjustment based on the base fee and a difference between the monitored volume of the first feedwater and the expected volume of the first feedwater to be treated.

3 more elements

A method of remotely monitoring water treatment units, the method comprising:

receiving at a central server, data from a first water treatment unit that produces a first treated water delivered to a first facility disposed remotely from the central server, the data representative of at least one of a volume of a first feedwater to be treated in the first water treatment unit, a volume of the first treated water, and a conductivity of the first feedwater, during a first predetermined period;
receiving at the central server, data from a second water treatment unit that produces a second treated water delivered to a second facility that is disposed remotely from the first facility and the central server, the data representative of at least one of a volume of a second feedwater to be treated in the second water treatment unit, a volume of the second treated water, and a conductivity of the second feedwater, during a second predetermined period;
determining a first base fee for providing the first treated water over the first predetermined period based on at least one of an expected volume of the first feedwater to be treated and an expected value of the conductivity of the first feedwater;
determining a second base fee for providing the second treated water over the second predetermined period based on at least one of an expected volume of the second feedwater to be treated and an expected value of the conductivity of the second feedwater;
determining a first fee adjustment for providing the first treated water based on the first base fee and a difference between an actual and the expected volume of the first feedwater;
and
determining a second fee adjustment for providing the second treated water based on the second base fee and a difference between an actual and the expected volume of the second feedwater.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/387,976Filed 28 Jul 2021
Priority: 12 Oct 2017
Published: 3 Feb 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification32 codes

C02F 1/008
Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage: control or steering systems not provided for elsewhere in subclass C02F
C02F 1/42
Treatment of water, waste water, or sewage: by ion-exchange
G01N 33/18
Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00: water
G06Q 20/14
Payment architectures: specially adapted for billing systems

Family

Application62/571,521Us provisional application · filed 12 Oct 2017
Application16/118,112Continuation · filed 30 Aug 2018
Application16/243,917Continuation · filed 9 Jan 2019
Application17/387,976Continuation
US 10,273,165 B1Related patent
US 11,053,136 B2Related patent
US 2019/0112201 A1Published application
US 2019/0144301 A1Published application
US 2022/0033279 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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