Process for water disinfection and carbonation

Abstract

A process and system is described for rapid disinfection of contaminated water particularly for use in post-mix carbonated beverage systems. The major components of the system include sequentially a water supply, carbonator pump, injector device, carbonator and dispenser. Moreover, as optional components, a reservoir and filter may be incorporated in the system between the carbonator and dispenser for safety factor purposes. The process comprises the introduction of chlorine into an available water supply line immediately before, or during carbonation, thereby reducing or eliminating the conversion of the chlorine present in the system to less active compounds. The process of carbonating the water results in chemically lowering the pH from alkaline (> pH of 7.0) through neutral (pH 7.0) to acidic (< pH of 7.0) thus affording the system of a more rapid and effective kill of pathogenic micro-organisms upon a controlled and effective injection of a liquid disinfectant, such as sodium hypochlorite, which may be used as the source of chlorine for the system. By introducing the liquid disinfectant at an acidic pH, a more instantaneous kill results without the necessity of using either an excessive quantity of disinfectant (chlorine) or large and expensive residence chambers requiring long residence times. The improved post-mix system provides dependable performance when used in conjunction with different water conditions throughout the world and permits the disinfected carbonated water to be dispensed along with a beverage syrup to produce a high quality carbonated beverage.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.