Water processing apparatus

A water processing system comprising:

• a fluid transport conduit for directing a water flow;
• a mixer injector in fluid communication with said fluid transport conduit and configured for introducing supplemental gas bubbles into the water flow, said injector comprising an injector inlet in fluid communication with a supplemental gas source and the water flow inside said mixer injector;
• and
• a water processor in fluid communication with said fluid transport conduit downstream of said mixer injector, said water processor comprising:
• a housing having an inlet and an outlet opposite said inlet;
• a conditioning element disposed inside of said housing between said inlet and said outlet, said conditioning element comprising:
• a plurality of first flow-directing plates in spaced arrangement and each defining a plurality of first plate flow-directing apertures arranged in a first plate configuration;
• and
• a plurality of second flow-directing plates in alternating spaced arrangement with said first plates, and each of said second plates defining a plurality of second plate flow-directing apertures arranged in a second plate configuration;
• wherein a total opening surface area of said plurality of first plate apertures is different than a total opening surface area of said plurality of second plate apertures;
• and
• wherein each of said first plate apertures and said second plate apertures comprises an edge configuration for splitting larger sized gas bubbles into smaller sized bubbles.

A method of splitting larger suspended gas bubbles in a water flow into smaller bubbles, said method comprising:

• routing the water flow through an upstream fluid transport conduit toward a water processor that is in-line with and downstream of the upstream conduit, the water processor having a conditioning element comprising a plurality of flow-directing plates disposed in spaced arrangement with one another, each plate including a plurality of flow-directing apertures arranged in spaced arrangement, and each of the apertures having an edge configuration for splitting larger sized gas bubbles into smaller sized bubbles;
• introducing a supplemental gas into the water flow upstream of and proximate the water processor to increase the quantity of larger gas bubbles in the water flow;
• processing the water flow with increased quantity of larger bubbles, with the water processor, by splitting the larger bubbles into smaller bubbles;
• and
• routing the water flow with the split, smaller bubbles from the water processor to a downstream fluid transport conduit that is in-line with and downstream of the water processor.