Method and inlet device for charging shallow grit chambers or settling tanks

An inlet device for charging shallow grit chambers with waste water comprising:

• a tank having a plurality of wall means defining a volume thereof, said tank defining thereby said shallow grit chamber;
• an inlet chamber on an inlet end of said tank, said inlet chamber having a waste water feed line directed substantially horizontal and orthogonal to direction of gravitational forces, said gravitational forces being vertical and downwardly directed, into said inlet chamber, said inlet chamber having a bottom defined by a substantially horizontally disposed base plate, a control plate horizontally adjustably attached to an end of said base plate, a terminating wall and an upper quadrant deflection cylinder wall contiguous with a bottom edge of said terminating wall, said base plate, terminating wall and upper quadrant deflection cylinder wall, in combination with at least some of said plurality of wall means defining said tank, creating said inlet chamber;
• an outlet gap situated at an outlet of said inlet chamber, said outlet gap defined by one edge of said control plate and an adjacent surface of said upper quadrant deflection cylinder wall adjacent to said one edge of said control plate, said outlet gap having width defined by said adjustably attached control plate and said adjacent surface of said upper quadrant deflection cylinder wall and having a length substantially about equal to said width of said tank;
• a substantially semicircular deflection cylinder wall continuous with said adjacent surface of said upper quadrant deflection cylinder wall and below said outlet gap, said substantially semicircular cylinder wall having a radius of curvature effective to cause a deflection of a downwardly directed flow of said waste water from said downward direction to substantially an upward direction creating thereby deflected waste water, said radius of curvature, a center line of said radius being substantially horizontal and substantially parallel to said one edge of said control plate;
• and
• a deflection angle defined by a number of degrees of rotation from said adjacent surface to where said deflected waste water is undeflected, said deflection angle number of degrees being between about 90.degree. and about 180.degree..

An inlet device for charging a settling tank with waste water comprising:

• a plurality of wall means defining a height, width and depth and defining thereby a volume of said settling tank;
• a feed channel positioned at an input end of said settling tank;
• at least one inlet pipe in waste water flow communication with said feed channel and an inlet chamber within said settling tank at said inlet end of said settling tank, said inlet chamber having a bottom, front and top walls defining a volume of said inlet chamber said at least one inlet pipe directed substantially horizontally and orthogonal to direction of gravitational forces, said gravitational forces being vertical and downwardly directed;
• said top of said inlet chamber defined by a substantially horizontally disposed base plate, a control plate horizontally adjustably attached to an end of said base plate;
• and
• an outlet gap situated at an outlet of said inlet chamber, said outlet gap and width thereof defined by one edge of said control plate and a horizontally directed surface of a curved deflection plate adjacent to said one edge of said control plate, said outlet gap having a length substantially about equal to said width of said settling tank and wherein said curved deflection plate curves in a manner such that a deflection angle of directed tangent lines to a deflection surface of said curved deflection plate smoothly changes from being vertically upwardly directed at said outlet gap toward substantially horizontally directed away from said inlet end of said settling tank substantially at a waste water detachment end of said curved deflection plate.