Method and system for cleaning a water basin floor

A system for cleaning sediment from the sandy, underwater floor of a water seepage basin, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled apparatus for traversing the underwater floor;
• a vacuum hood, coupled to the apparatus, for selectively suctioning sediment in preference to sand particles from the underwater floor;
• a pump, coupled to the hood, for providing a suction force to the hood;
• a navigational system, coupled to the submersible apparatus, for indicating the location of the apparatus;
• and
• a remote control console, coupled to the navigational system and the submersible apparatus, for receiving apparatus position data from the navigational unit and controlling the movement of the apparatus.

A system for cleaning sediment from the sandy, underwater floor of a water seepage basin, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled apparatus for traversing the underwater floor;
• a vacuum hood, coupled to the apparatus, for selectively suctioning sediment in preference to sand particles from the underwater floor;
• a pump, coupled to the hood, for providing a suction force to the hood;
• a second pump, coupled to the submersible apparatus;
• and
• a plurality of rake tines, coupled to said second pump and laterally dispersed across said vacuum hood, wherein said plurality of rake tines extend to penetrate a specified distance into a bottom layer of the underwater floor, and wherein said plurality of rake tines eject pressurized water received from the second pump to fluidize fine sediment particles from the underwater floor.

A system for cleaning sediment from the sandy, underwater floor of a water seepage basin, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled apparatus for traversing the underwater floor;
• a vacuum hood, coupled to the apparatus, for selectively suctioning sediment in preference to sand particles from the underwater floor;
• wherein said vacuum hood encloses a chamber, the chamber comprising:
• a receiving section for initially receiving suctioned particles from the underwater floor;
• a return section, located immediately behind the receiving section, for allowing particles to fall to the underwater floor, wherein a separation wall, laterally disposed across an internal, bottom portion of said vacuum hood separates said receiving section and said return section;
• a settling section, located immediately above the receiving section and the return section, wherein heavier particles fall from the settling section to the return section and settle back onto the underwater floor;
• an outlet valve coupled to said first pump;
• and
• an exit section, located immediately above the settling section, wherein any suspended particles reaching the exit section are propelled through the exit section to an outlet valve;
• and
• a pump, coupled to the hood, for providing a suction force to the hood.

A system for clearing sediment from the sandy, underwater floor of a water seepage basin, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled apparatus for traversing the underwater floor;
• a vacuum hood, coupled to the apparatus, for selectively suctioning sediment in preference to sand particles from the underwater floor;
• a pump, coupled to the hood, for providing a suction force to the hood;
• and
• a wear plate, coupled to a leading, bottom portion of said vacuum hood, for smoothing a path to be traversed by said vacuum hood.

A system for cleaning sediment from the sandy, underwater floor of a water seepage basin, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled apparatus for traversing the underwater floor;
• a vacuum hood, coupled to the apparatus, for selectively suctioning sediment in preference to sand particles from the underwater floor;
• a pump, coupled to the hood, for providing a suction force to the hood;
• a second vacuum hood coupled to an opposite end of said submersible vehicle in relation to said vacuum hood;
• and
• a valve for selectively coupling said first pump selectively to said first and second vacuum hoods.

An underwater cleaning vehicle, comprising:

• a chassis having a front portion, a rear portion and two side portions;
• an archimedean screw rotor rotatably coupled to the chassis for providing mobility to the vehicle;
• and
• a first vacuum hood, coupled to the chassis.

A system for cleaning an underwater floor, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled vehicle for traversing the underwater floor;
• an enclosure, coupled to said submersible vehicle, for containing sediment particles from the underwater floor;
• a pump attached to said enclosure for selectively removing sediment in preference to sand from said enclosure;
• a navigation system for indicating the location of the vehicle;
• and
• a steering system for controlling the movement of the vehicle.

A system for cleaning an underwater floor, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled vehicle for traversing the underwater floor;
• an enclosure, coupled to said submersible vehicle, for containing sediment particles from the underwater floor;
• a pump attached to said enclosure for selectively removing sediment in preference to sand from said enclosure;
• and
• a plane positioned to smooth a path to be traversed by said submersible vehicle.

A system for cleaning an underwater floor, comprising:

• a submersible, self-propelled vehicle for traversing the underwater floor;
• an enclosure, coupled to said submersible vehicle, for containing sediment particles from the underwater floor;
• a pump attached to said enclosure for selectively removing sediment in preference to sand from said enclosure;
• a second enclosure coupled to an opposite end of said submersible vehicle in relation to said first enclosure;
• a first agitator coupled to said enclosure for fluidizing said sediment particles resting on the underwater floor;
• and
• a second agitator coupled to said second enclosure for fluidizing said sediment particles resting on the underwater floor.

An underwater cleaning vehicle, comprising:

• a drive system for providing mobility to the vehicle on an underwater floor;
• a first vacuum for suctioning sediment particles from the basin floor;
• a second vacuum for suctioning sediment particles from the basin floor;
• and
• a vacuum control to selectively operate said first and second vacuum in accordance with the direction of travel of said vehicle.

A method of cleaning an underwater floor, comprising:

• submerging a vehicle such that it comes to rest on the underwater floor;
• directing the vehicle to traverse the underwater floor;
• selectively suctioning sediment particles from the underwater floor while leaving sand and gravel in place as the vehicle traverses the floor;
• and
• providing a suction force to the vehicle.

Apparatus for removing sediment from the submerged granular walls of a percolation source of an underground aquifier, comprising:

• an agitator designed to disrupt a surface layer of said submerged granular walls;
• wherein said agitator comprises at least one water jet member which ejects pressurized water onto said surface layer of said submerged granular walls, thereby disrupting said sediment and material within the surface layer,
• a separator which cooperates with said agitator to divide said sediment from the material of said granular walls;
• and
• a collector which cooperates with said separator to remove divided sediment.

Apparatus for removing sediment from the submerged granular walls of a percolation source of an underground aquifier, comprising:

• an agitator designed to disrupt a surface layer of said submerged granular walls,
• a separator which cooperates with said agitator to divide said sediment from the material of said granular walls, wherein said separator comprises a vacuum hood having a chamber therein, wherein said sediment and material of said granular walls enters into said vacuum hood and are separated by an upward flow which propels smaller sediment particles upwardly toward an outlet valve of the hood and by gravity which forces larger material particles to fall toward said submerged granular walls;
• and
• a collector which cooperates with said separator to remove divided sediment.

Apparatus for removing sediment from the submerged granular walls of a percolation source of an underground aquifier, comprising:

• an agitator designed to disrupt a surface layer of said submerged granular walls;
• a separator which cooperates with said agitator to divide said sediment from the material of said granular walls;
• and
• a collector which cooperates with said separator to remove divided sediment, wherein said collector comprises a first pump coupled to a vacuum hood having a chamber in which said sediment is divided from said material of said granular walls, wherein the first pump suctions the divided sediment from the chamber.