Chemical feeder

A chemical feeder comprising:

• (a) a housing having a housing base and a housing sidewall that together define a housing chamber within said housing;
• (b) a sieve plate having an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of sieve plate apertures extending from said lower surface to said upper surface of said sieve plate, wherein said sieve plate is positioned within said housing chamber and above an inner surface of said housing base;
• (c) a funnel comprising an upper funnel end defining an upper funnel opening, a lower funnel end defining a lower funnel opening, and a funnel sidewall extending from said upper funnel end to said lower funnel end, wherein said upper funnel opening is larger than said lower funnel opening, said funnel sidewall comprises at least one funnel sidewall aperture located in a lower portion of said funnel sidewall, said funnel sidewall defines an interior funnel space, said funnel is positioned within said housing chamber, said lower funnel end is positioned on said upper surface of said sieve plate, and at least some of said plurality of sieve plate apertures are in fluid communication with said interior funnel space through said lower funnel opening;
• (d) at least one inlet in said housing through which a feed liquid is introduced into said housing, said inlet being positioned below said sieve plate;
• and
• (e) at least one outlet in said housing through which a treated liquid comprising dissolved chemical material is removed from said housing,
• wherein at least some of said feed liquid introduced into said housing chamber through said inlet passes up through at least some of said plurality of sieve plate apertures that are in fluid communication with said interior funnel space where said feed liquid contacts a solid chemical material residing within said interior funnel space so as to form said treated liquid, and at least a portion of said treated liquid passes through said funnel sidewall aperture and is removed from said housing through said outlet,
• wherein a surface area of the lower funnel opening of the funnel is less than a surface area of the upper surface of the sieve plate, and
• wherein said sieve plate has an outer sieve plate edge, and said outer sieve plate edge is spaced from an inner surface of said housing sidewall, said outer sieve plate edge and said inner surface of said housing sidewall together defining a sieve plate annular space, said sieve plate annular space being in fluid communication with said outlet, and at least a portion of said treated liquid passes through said sieve plate annular space.