Water Handling System
A water handling system features collapsible containers which have ports on either side. The ports allow multiple containers to be connected together so that they can be filled in sequential order. The ports have quick-connect fittings by means of which a cap, an inter-container connector, and/or a spout member can be connected to the containers. Dissolving electrolyte-providing members are suitably provided to be inserted into the containers so that pure water collected, e.g., from an atmospheric moisture harvester can be remineralized.
This invention was made with Governmental Support under Contract Number N00014-05-C-0378 dated Sep. 14, 2005, and issued by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The Government has certain rights in the invention.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to the handling, storage, and local transport of fluid, particularly water from atmospheric water harvesters or other slow drip sources.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONContainer-based water handling systems are indispensable for the distribution of water where no piped infrastructure or mechanical transport exists, because water is heavy. Manual distribution of water is especially important in remote areas and disaster relief situations.
The hidden costs of bottled water production and distribution including the increased cost of transport, and the costs of the bottles themselves and their collection and disposal in economic and environmental terms is considerable. The economic cost to supply water bottles for the more than 8 billion gallons of water in the United States alone is on the order of 17 million barrels of oil (Pacific Institute, 2007). This is enough energy to fuel more than 1 million American cars and trucks for a year and is a continuing cost to the economy and the environment. The carbon footprint of the bottled water industry, which is an integrated measure of energy and combustible material used, is relatively high.
Water harvesting is a Point Of Use (POU) system for producing potable drinking water and is an alternative to the provision of water in bottles. In contrast to piped systems, it requires no delivery infrastructure. Because it does not require water bottles in direct proportion to the amount of water produced, water harvesting is advantageous both economically and environmentally, especially when used with either direct pipe or hose delivery or by using a series of reusable containers. Because some local governments are banning plastic water bottles, and others are considering doing so, the provision of POU high quality potable water via an atmospheric water harvester is a viable alternative to bottled water.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA system of water containers and connecters and other fittings as described herein has the potential to significantly reduce the requirement for plastic water bottles. The container-connector-based water handling system described herein allows for robust, safe local storage and minimal handling and transport issues during use. It also has a relatively low carbon footprint.
More particularly, the invention features a system of standardized water containers, valves, connectors, and other peripheral equipment that improve on the existing situation for manual handling of water—particularly where large amounts of water are collected over a relatively long period of time—without the need for an attendant. The invention minimizes the requirement for an operator to be present while ensuring that provision is made for the collection of variable amounts of water without spillage in safe and sanitary conditions. In addition, the containers detach easily from the water production apparatus and enable easy manual transport.
The invention will now be described in greater detail in connection with the drawings, in which:
Containers 10 according to the invention are supplied compressed and expand as fluid is flowed into them, especially where the fluid is produced intermittently and in a situation where constant attention is not possible or desired. More particularly, the invention provides a system of containers, connectors, and ancillary items such as caps and remineralization strips, amongst other things, which may be used as a portable system for automatically capturing water. In a situation where the water collection system will be unattended for longer than it would normally take to fill one container, the system allows a number of containers to be filled. Suitably, the system containers may be used with an atmospheric moisture harvesting system.
This inventive system is based on durable but flexible waterproof containers, made, for instance, from fabric or plastic. These are compressed or folded flat before use. They are used with a series of fixtures having a common quick-fit connection by which water can be introduced and withdrawn from the containers and by which they may be connected to one another and to hoses, pipes, and other water handling equipment. The containers expand as the water floods the containers.
The container 10 is fabricated from material that is flexible along its continuous sides (top, back side, bottom, and front side 15) but that may be more rigid or semi-flexible on its flat sides 16. Two holes or ports 20 are provided that are opposed to each other on the upper corner of the container (only the port on the facing side is shown). The desired liquid volume of the container is reached about at the bottom of the ports, leaving an air gap above.
Each of the ports 20 in the containers 10 is fitted with a rapid fitting assembly that will allow for a cap to close it off or for a number of different connectors to be fitted to it. A wide variety of fittings can be used; a partially threaded fitting, a clamp-type fitting, a bayonet fitting, or a ring-type snap-type fitting, for instance, are among the types available. A bayonet fitting is used here to demonstrate the preferred mode of operation of the system, although other types could be used. This type of fitting consists of a male fitting, which is inserted into female fitting and coupled by turning one against the other; a slight override or a mechanical clip may fix it in place and resist accidental uncoupling. The male fitting is shown as part of the container, and the female on the attachment, but this could be reversed. In a preferred mode, the male fitting, in the most common embodiment (
The handles, flat sides, narrow sides, as well as the port fittings, may be made from different materials and bonded together.
A cap 65 (
This connector fitting 75 allows a number of water containers 10 to be linked together as is depicted in
The upstream connector 90 into which water flows first may be affixed to an atmospheric water harvester or other water-producing or collecting system that has an appropriate male fitting on its output port (not shown). The furthest downstream termination 65, on the other hand, may be firmly closed or left slightly open to allow for air equilibration, which would be more important on a reused water container. The advantage to being able to temporarily link water containers in this way is that they can be left unattended, and this allows for the collection of variable amounts of water without spillage. Removal of full containers is a simple matter of manipulating the quick-fit connection and manually removing any full container and replacing full water containers with empty ones.
Pouring spouts having a standard attachment fitting (
Spouts can also serve as upright spigots or faucets (
Water treatment for purification will normally be carried out prior to water being put into the containers. However, where an atmospheric water harvester produces the water, it will have the character of distilled water and will be very low in dissolved solids. For well-known health and safety reasons, drinking water should not have too low a level of electrolytes. Therefore, water treatment dissolving “electrolyte strips” 17 (
Where water is to be removed from a container for use, a simple faucet or valve similar to those presently supplied on larger bottled water containers (not shown) but having the standard male fitting, is inserted into either or both of the water container ports 20 and the container inverted on a table or counter top. As the water is removed, the containers naturally recompress for easy handling. They are then ready for immediate re-use. They may also be dried by air inflation and recompressed manually where longer storage between uses is required. Capped connectors 65 (
Although the invention can be applied to the handling of all fluids, it particularly applies to water, and more particularly to water produced by atmospheric water harvesting. Any fluids having a similar time/volume profile of collection could be treated in the same manner. Thus it is understood that all descriptions herein that refer specifically to water produced by water gathering methods or through atmospheric water harvesting also encompass other fluids and their handling by similar means.
Claims
1. A container for receiving and holding liquid therein, comprising:
- a plurality of sides defining a liquid-receiving, liquid-retaining enclosure, at least some of the sides being configured to allow the container to be compressed to a reduced dimension and to expand upon introduction of liquid into the container;
- a pair of ports on opposite sides of the container by means of which liquid can be introduced into and removed from the container, the ports having attachment fittings; and
- at least one cap securable to the container via one of the attachment fittings.
2. The container of claim 1, wherein the attachment fittings comprise bayonet fittings.
3. The container of claim 1, further comprising a handle for lifting and manipulating the container.
4. The container of claim 1, wherein the container holds on the order of about five gallons of liquid.
5. The container of claim 1, further comprising a dissolving electrolyte-providing member disposed therein.
6. The container of claim 1, further comprising a dissolving chlorine-providing member disposed therein.
7. A system for collecting water, comprising:
- at least two containers, each comprising a plurality of sides and having a pair of ports on opposite sides by means of which liquid can be introduced into and removed from the container, the ports having attachment fittings;
- at least one cap securable to one of the containers via one of the attachment fittings; and
- at least one inter-container connector configured to attach to the attachment fittings to join the at least two containers together in fluid communication.
8. The system of claim 7, further comprising one or more spout members attachable to the attachment fittings.
9. The system of claim 7, further comprising dissolving electrolyte-providing members disposable within the containers.
10. The system of claim 7, further comprising a dissolving chlorine-providing member disposed therein.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 30, 2008
Publication Date: Dec 31, 2009
Inventor: Michael D. Max (St. Pete Beach, FL)
Application Number: 12/164,206
International Classification: B65D 30/20 (20060101);