METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING POTABLE WATER IN MUNICIPAL AND SIMILAR WATER TANKS
Method and apparatus for treating potable water in municipal and similar tanks to reduce and remove undesirable disinfectant byproducts such as trihalomethanes from the water by providing a water circulation system to create circulation patterns in the tank water and an air flow system for creating an air flow pattern in the headspace region of the enclosed tank above the water surface. In operation, a portion of the tank water is drawn-up a draft tube from the tank floor to above the water surface and sprayed through a nozzle outwardly about a vertical axis and slightly downwardly toward the surface of remaining tank water. The air flow system creates and directs a high volume of air through the tank above the water surface to volatize undesirable trihalomethanes in the drawn-up water portion to gaseous state to enter the air flow pattern and exit the tank into ambient air.
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/763,379 filed Feb. 8, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference and the benefit of which is hereby claimed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates to the field of systems for treating potable water in municipal and similar tanks to reduce and remove undesirable disinfectant byproducts from the water.
2. Discussion of the BackgroundPotable bodies of water and in particular municipal and other water sources intended for drinking are commonly treated with disinfectants such as chlorine and chloramines. These disinfectants very efficiently and effectively eliminate harmful agents in the water making the water potable and suitable for drinking. However, such disinfectants can and usually do create undesirable disinfectant byproducts such as chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform which are all forms of trihalomethanes (THM's). In very small amounts (e.g., very low parts per billion), these THM's are not believed to be a serious threat to health but reduction of them in potable water reservoirs such as municipal water tanks is always desirable and is increasingly being mandated by law.
With this and other problems in mind, the present invention was developed. In it, a water circulation system and an air flow system are each created within an enclosed tank to interact and intersect with each other to greatly enhance the volatizing of undesirable disinfectant byproducts such as THM's in liquid state in the water to gaseous state to then be vented out of the tank.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention involves a method and apparatus for treating potable water in municipal and similar tanks to reduce and remove undesirable disinfectant byproducts such as trihalomethanes from the water. The method and apparatus include providing a water circulation system to create a circulation pattern in the tank water and an air flow system for creating an air flow pattern in the air gap or headspace region of the enclosed tank above the water surface.
In operation, a portion of the tank water is drawn-up a draft tube from essentially at the tank floor to a first location above the water surface. In the preferred embodiment, the drawn-up water portion is then sprayed through a nozzle at the first location outwardly about a vertical axis and slightly downwardly toward the surface of the remaining water in the tank. In doing so, a driving pattern is established in the remaining water in the tank that initially moves radially outwardly from the nozzle toward the tank side walls, downwardly along the side walls, radially inwardly across the tank floor toward the inlet of the draft tube, and up the draft tube to the nozzle. This driving pattern in turn induces a secondary circulation pattern within it to very effectively and thoroughly mix or blend all of the water in the entire tank.
The air flow system in turn creates a high volume of air passing into and out of the tank in the air gap or headspace region above the water surface. The air flow system of the preferred embodiment drives ambient air through a tank inlet downwardly toward the water surface with at least a portion of the air flow pattern directed toward and into the spray pattern of the nozzle. The undesirable trihalomethanes in liquid state in the drawn-up water portion are then exposed in the spray pattern to air and volatize to gaseous state where they enter the air flow pattern and exit the tank through the tank outlet into ambient air. Other portions of the air in the flow pattern passing across the surface of the tank water also aid in volatizing the undesirable trihalomethanes.
The method and apparatus of the present invention are primarily designed for use in a municipal or similar, potable water tanks such as 2 in
As schematically shown in
The spray nozzle 11 of
The present invention also includes an air flow system (
Such a high volume of change-out air is desirable to keep the air gap region 20 particularly near the nozzle spray pattern 13 and water surface 18″ from becoming saturated with gaseous THM that might then condense and return to the water. Also, the volatilization process of the liquid state THM to gaseous state consumes heat from the air thereby reducing the air and water temperatures. The reduced temperatures in turn reduce the efficiency of the volatilization process wherein the preferred, relatively high air change-out rate then desirably adds heat to the air in the air gap region 20 to thereby increase the rate and efficiency of the volatilization process. Similarly, it is noted that the motor 9′ for the pump 9 in
In this manner, the volatizing or conversion of undesirable byproducts such as trihalomethanes (THM) from a liquid state in the tank water to a gaseous state in the air gap region 20 is greatly enhanced. That is and as perhaps best seen in
The discharge of pressurized, ambient air exiting the hose 36 in
It is noted that the water circulation system 1 of the present invention is a paramount feature. This is the case particularly as the system 1 draws up water essentially at the tank floor 8 (e.g., within a foot or so and preferably within six or fewer inches) as in
It is also noted that the flotation platform 3 of
The modified nozzle 11′ as shown in
The above disclosure sets forth a number of embodiments of the present invention described in detail with respect to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in this art will appreciate that various changes, modifications, other structural arrangements, and other embodiments could be practiced under the teachings of the present invention without departing from the scope of this invention as set forth in the following claims. In particular, it is noted that the undesirable byproducts to be treated by the present invention have been primarily described as being trihalomethanes (THM) resulting from disinfecting processes that use chlorine and chloramines. Such THM exist in liquid state in the processed water and have a relatively high vapor pressure while having a relatively low aqueous solubility. Consequently, THM in liquid state in water easily and quickly volatizes to a gaseous state when exposed to air. However, the method and apparatus of the present invention are meant to equally encompass treating similar byproducts from other disinfecting processes in which the processed water has undesirable byproducts with similar properties to THM including a relatively high vapor pressure so it easily and quickly volatizes into air. It is also noted that the word substantially is utilized herein to represent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed to any quantitative comparison, value, measurement or other representation. This term is also utilized herein to represent the degree by which a quantitative representation may vary from a stated reference without resulting in a change in the basic function of the subject matter involved.
Claims
1. A method for treating water laden with trihalomethanes (THM) in liquid state in an enclosed tank having a ceiling, floor, and side walls extending between the ceiling and floor to contain the water therein with the surface of the water spaced at least a first distance below the ceiling of the tank to create an air gap region between the ceiling and the surface of the water therebelow, said method including the steps of:
- (a) providing a water circulation system for creating a circulation pattern of the water laden with THM in said tank (1) by continuously moving up a portion of the water from the depths of the tank into an inlet of a draft tube and up through said draft tube to a first location above the surface of the remaining water and (2) by thereafter spraying the upwardly moved portion of the water into the air gap region in a spray pattern (i) outwardly above the surface of the remaining water in the tank about a vertical axis toward the side walls of the tank and (ii) with at least a portion of said spray pattern directed slightly downwardly toward the surface of the remaining water thereby continuously circulating the remaining water in the tank radially outwardly of and about said vertical axis adjacent the surface of the water in the tank toward said tank side walls, downwardly along the tank side walls, and inwardly across the floor toward the inlet to the draft tube with said portion thereof moved upwardly through said draft tube to said first location above the surface of the remaining water in the tank and sprayed outwardly into said air gap region toward the surface of the remaining water wherein the upwardly moved water portion laden with THM sprayed into the air gap region is exposed to the air in said air gap region and the THM in liquid state therein volatized by the air exposure to a gaseous state in said air gap region and
- (b) providing an air flow system for creating a continuous air flow pattern directed above and across the surface of the remaining water in the tank from ambient, atmospheric air outside of the tank continuously through the tank from an inlet in the tank into the air gap region above the surface of the remaining water in the tank and back out of the air gap region above the surface of the remaining water in the tank through an air outlet in the tank into the ambient, atmospheric air by establishing a pressure differential between the air inlet and the air outlet of the tank, and further including the step that said provided air flow system is further capable of directing at least a portion of said air flow pattern toward and into the spray pattern of step (a)(2) of the upwardly moved water portion above the surface of the remaining water in the tank wherein the THM in liquid state upwardly moved through the draft tube and volatized to gaseous state in the air gap region above the surface of the remaining water in the tank enters the air flow pattern in the tank above the surface of the remaining water in the tank and exits the tank with the air flow pattern through the air outlet of the tank.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of maintaining said first location of said upwardly moved portion of the water at a predetermined distance above the surface of said remaining water.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of varying the distance of the surface of the remaining water in the tank below the ceiling of the tank and maintaining said first location of said upwardly moved portion of the water at a predetermined distance above the surface of said remaining water.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system further includes a flotation platform capable of supporting the draft tube with said first location of the upwardly moved water portion therethrough at a predetermined distance above the surface of the remaining water in the tank.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of directing substantially all of the upwardly moved water portion downwardly in step (a)(2).
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of directing the spray pattern of step (a)(2) downwardly about the vertical axis substantially in the shape of an inverted cone.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of directing the spray pattern of step (a)(2)(ii) downwardly substantially between 25 and 35 degrees to the horizontal.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system in step (a)(2) includes the further limitations of providing a perforated sheet configured in an inverted, substantially conical shape with the sides of the cone inclined upwardly and outwardly relative to the vertical axis and the provided water circulation system is capable of spraying the upwardly moved water portion of step (a)((2)(ii) slightly downwardly toward the surface of the remaining water through the perforations of the sheet.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of spraying the upwardly moved water portion through said perforations slightly downwardly in step (a)(2)(ii) between 25 and 35 degrees to the horizontal.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the provided sheet is about 0.1 inches thick and has between 5,000 and 30,000 perforations therethrough of about 0.01 inches in diameter.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the upwardly moved water portion of the provided water circulation system is capable of being drawn into the inlet of the draft tube substantially radially across the tank floor.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the inlet to the draft tube of the provided water circulation system is capable of being positioned less than a foot from the tank floor.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the volume of the upwardly moved water portion per minute of the provided water circulation system is capable of being less than one thousandth the volume of the water in the tank.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the pump of the provided water circulation system is driven by a motor positioned in the draft tube in the upwardly moved water portion wherein the upwardly moved water portion of the provided water circulation system is capable of cooling the motor and conversely heating the upwardly moved water portion to aid in the rate and efficiency of the subsequent volatilization of the THM.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided air flow system is capable of directing said portion of the air flow pattern downwardly through a hose toward and into the spray pattern of step (a)(2).
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided air flow system further includes a hose capable of depending downwardly to adjacent the surface of the remaining water in said tank and the provided air circulation system is capable of directing said portion of the air flow pattern through said hose downwardly toward said surface.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the provided air flow system is further capable of depending said hose downwardly from the ceiling of the tank.
18. The method of claim 16 wherein the provided air flow system is further capable of depending said hose downwardly substantially along and about said vertical axis of said spray pattern.
19. The method of claim 16 wherein the provided air flow system is further capable of depending said hose downwardly to a second location closer to said tank ceiling than said first location of said drawn-up water portion of step (a)(1) of the provided water circulation system.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided air flow system is further capable of establishing said pressure differential between the air inlet of the tank and the air outlet of the tank by pressuring the ambient air entering the air inlet to above atmospheric.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided air flow system is capable of having the air flow of step (b) in cubic feet per minute between the tank inlet and outlet to be between 15 and 30 times the flow of the upwardly moved water portion of step (a)(1) of the provided water circulation system in cubic feet per minute.
22. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of maintaining said first location of said upwardly moved portion of water at a predetermined, fixed distance below the ceiling of the tank.
23. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system is further capable of varying the distance of the surface of the remaining water in the tank and maintaining said first location of said upwardly moved portion of water at a predetermined, fixed distance below the ceiling of the tank.
24. The method of claim 1 wherein the provided water circulation system further includes a perforated hose substantially concentrically surrounding said draft tube substantially at said first location and the provided air flow system is capable of directing said air portion of step (b) into the space between the draft tube and surrounding, perforated hose.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 24, 2018
Publication Date: Oct 25, 2018
Inventors: Corey M. Simnioniw (Belfield, ND), Jonathan L. Zent (Dickinson, ND), Willard R. Tormaschy (Dickinson, ND), Joel J. Bleth (Dickinson, ND), Gary A. Kudrna (Dickinson, ND), Douglas P. Walter (Dickinson, ND)
Application Number: 16/016,631