Abstract: An in-line contactor adapted to bring about intimate contact between a disinfectant and a wastewater stream to produce a reaction between the disinfectant and pathogens effecting kills in a manner minimizing unwanted side effects. The wastewater stream is pumped through the successive stages of the contactor, the first of which is an input section having a converging nozzle that projects the stream at high velocity into a throat. The throat feeds the stream in a highly turbulent state through a mixing section, the resultant vacuum created within the throat acting to draw a disinfectant such as aqueous or gaseous chlorine from a disinfectant supply into the mixing section where it is thoroughly intermingled with the turbulent stream before the stream is discharged from the contactor through a diverging pressure-recovery output section.

Abstract: A gravity flow disinfectant contactor adapted to enhance contact between a disinfectant solution such as chlorine and the water to be treated to effect a more rapid and efficient disinfection activity. The contactor is constituted by a rectangular conduit having a cross-sectional diffusion plane adjacent its inlet within which is an array of evenly-spaced diffuser tubes supplied with the disinfectant solution. The tubes each have a row of equi-spaced holes drilled diametrically therethrough to produce side-by-side opposing jets of disinfectant in the diffusion plane at right angles to the cross-flowing water stream. As a consequence, the water flowing through the conduit is subjected to a dense cross fire of multiple jets of disinfectant that are uniformly distributed throughout the diffusion plane and quickly interact with the water within a relatively short downstream distance.