Water treatment device

Abstract

Provided concerns a device for treating water of the kind intended for treating running water from a domestic water supply system or other sources of pressurized water, to obtain filtered or treated water, for example, of drinking water quality.

Claims

1. A water treatment device for treating running water from a pressurized water source, comprising a housing with a running water inlet and a treated water outlet, the housing defining: two or more cylindrical water treatment compartments, each having a longitudinal axis and having a water compartment inlet and a water compartment outlet, the treatment compartments being arranged in parallel one to the other; a water inlet-manifold having an inlet-manifold ingress in liquid communication with said running water inlet, and at least two inlet-manifold egresses, each of the egresses being in liquid communication with one of the water compartment inlets; a water outlet-manifold having an outlet-manifold egress in liquid communication with the treated water outlet, and at least two outlet-manifold ingresses, each of the ingresses being in liquid communication with the water compartment outlets; each of the two or more water treatment compartments comprising treatment media that comprises: a first water treatment medium in the form of a tubular porous block made of a first composition and having a tubular block diameter, and formed about an axial lumen having a lumen diameter, the ratio between the block diameter and the lumen diameter being between 1.5 and 2, and a second water treatment medium enveloping the first water treatment medium, the second water treatment media being in the form of a pleated fibrous sheet; in each of the two or more water treatment compartments, the water compartment inlet feeds water into a space formed between the second water treatment medium and an internal face of the compartment, such that the water flows (i) radially through the second water treatment medium, then (ii) radially through the first water treatment medium and into the axial lumen.

2. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein the axial lumen of each of the first water treatment medium in each of the two or more compartments is in liquid communication with the water compartment outlet.

3. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein the water compartment inlet feed water leads into a space formed between the second water treatment medium and an internal face of the compartment.

4. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein the first composition comprises activated carbon, at least one zeolite, at least one quaternary amine polymer, and silver bromide.

5. The water treatment device of claim 4, wherein the activated carbon, at least one zeolite, at least one quaternary amine polymer, and silver bromide are provided in a substantially homogenous mixture.

6. The water treatment device of claim 4, wherein the first water treatment medium further comprises a polyphosphate.

7. The water treatment device of claim 6, wherein the polyphosphate is present in the first water treatment medium at a concentration of between about 0.5 and 5 ppm.

8. A water treatment device for treating running water from a pressurized water source, comprising a housing with a running water inlet and a treated water outlet, the housing defining: two or more cylindrical water treatment compartments, each having a longitudinal axis and having a water compartment inlet and a water compartment outlet, the treatment compartments being arranged in parallel one to the other; a water inlet-manifold having an inlet-manifold ingress in liquid communication with said running water inlet, and at least two inlet-manifold egresses, each of the egresses being in liquid communication with one of the water compartment inlets; a water outlet-manifold having an outlet-manifold egress in liquid communication with the treated water outlet, and at least two outlet-manifold ingresses, each of the ingresses being in liquid communication with the water compartment outlets; each of the two or more water treatment compartments comprising treatment media that consists of: a first water treatment medium in the form of a tubular porous block having a tubular block diameter, and formed about an axial lumen having a lumen diameter, the ratio between the block diameter and the lumen diameter being between 1.5 and 2, a second water treatment medium enveloping the first water treatment medium, the second water treatment media being in the form of a pleated fibrous sheet, and a third water treatment medium that comprises polyphosphate and positioned within the axial lumen, such that the axial lumen envelops said third water treatment medium; in each of the two or more water treatment compartments, the water compartment inlet feeds water into a space formed between the second water treatment medium and an internal face of the compartment, such that the water flows (i) radially through the second water treatment medium, then (ii) radially through the first water treatment medium and into the axial lumen, and then (iii) through the third water treatment medium positioned within the axial lumen.

9. The water treatment device of claim 8, wherein the third water treatment medium is in the form of a layer, coating an internal face of the axial lumen.

10. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein the pleated fibrous sheet comprises cellulose fibers mixed, coated or impregnated with at least one of activated carbon, a zeolite, a quaternary amine polymer, and silver bromide.

11. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein the first water treatment medium and the second water treatment medium in each compartment are axis-symmetrical.

12. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein block diameter is between about 30 mm and 35 mm and the axial lumen diameter is between about 15 mm and 20 mm.

13. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein block diameter is between about 32 mm and 35 mm and the axial lumen diameter is between about 17 mm and 20 mm.

14. The water treatment device of claim 1, wherein the two or more cylindrical water treatment compartments are identical one to the other.

15. The water treatment device of claim 8, wherein the third water treatment medium is in the form of a cylinder or a tubular block.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a water treatment device according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

(3) FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the water treatment device of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective cross-section view along line III-III in FIG. 1.

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective cross-section view along line IV-IV in FIG. 1.

(6) FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-section along line V-V in FIG. 1.

(7) FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-section of a water treatment device that further comprises a third water treatment medium.

(8) FIGS. 7A and 7B are pictures of heating units of electric kettles in which untreated water (FIG. 7A) and treated water (FIG. 7B) were boiled to estimate scale formation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(9) In the following description a specific embodiment of the invention for filtering and purifying source water into potable water will be described. It should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this embodiment and the filter of the invention may be used for filtering and purifying any other liquid.

(10) Reference is first being made to FIGS. 1-5 showing a water treatment device 100 according to an embodiment of this disclosure. In the description below, the device 100 will be exemplified with two treatment compartments, however it is appreciated that more than two compartments arranged in parallel one to the other may be used (e.g. 3, 4, 5 or more).

(11) Device 100 comprises a housing 102, that defines, in this exemplified device, two symmetrical water treatment compartments 104A and 104B. The device further comprises a lid 106, the function of which will be described in more details in connection with FIG. 4. Also seen in FIG. 1 is running water inlet 108, that allows connecting the device to a running water source. The treated water outlet 110 is not seen in this Figure, however can be seen in FIG. 3.

(12) As seen in FIGS. 2-3, each of the water treatment compartments 104A and 104B contains first water treatment media in the form of tubular solid blocks 114A and 114B, respectively, each enveloped by a pleated sheet 112A and 112B, respectively, of a second water treatment media. Each of the tubular solid porous blocks 114A, 114B had a tubular block diameter D, and defines an axial lumen 116A, 116B with a lumen diameter d, such that the ratio between the block diameter and the lumen diameter (D/d) being between 1.5 and 2. The inventors of the present invention have found that such a diameter ratio provides high water outflow flux (e.g. about 2 L/min) and also maintains effective removal of the contaminants from the water.

(13) In each compartment 104A, 104B, the water compartment inlet 118A and 118B, is defined as the space formed between the pleated sheet 112A and 112B and the inner face 120A, 120B of compartments 104A and 104B, respectively. The compartment outlet 122A, 122B are defined by lumens 116A, 116B, respectively.

(14) FIG. 4 shows a cross-section through the lid 106. The lid 106 is a generally planar element, and defines therein, e.g. in the form of recesses, a water inlet-manifold 124 and a water outlet-manifold 126. Water fed into the device 100 through running water inlet 108, enter the inlet-manifold 124 through inlet-manifold ingress 128. In the inlet-manifold, the water is split into two streams (indicated by arrows 130A and 130B) and exists towards the compartments 104A, 104B through inlet-manifold egresses 132A and 132B, respectively. Inlet-manifold egresses 132A and 132B are in fluid communication with the water compartment inlet 118A and 118B. After water is treated by the first and second treatment medium, treated water are collected in lumens 116A, 116B, and exit the treatment compartments through compartment outlet 122A, 122B, respectively. The compartment outlet 122A, 122B are in liquid communication with outlet-manifold ingresses 134A, 134B, respectively, which feed treated water into outlet-manifold 126. In outlet-manifold 126, the treated water streams (indicated by arrows 136A and 136B) are unified, and drained through outlet-manifold egress 138 towards treated water outlet 110.

(15) In operation, water is fed into the device 100 from the running water source through the running water inlet 108 which is in liquid communication with the inlet-manifold ingress 128. The water is split within the inlet-manifold 124 into at least two streams, which drain from the inlet-manifold through the inlet-manifold egresses 132A, 132B to the water compartment inlets 118A and 118B. The water is then being treated within the compartments by the second treatment media 112A and 112B and then by the first treatment media 114A, 114B, and exists the compartments through the compartment outlets 122A, 122B defined by lumens 116A, 116B, respectively. The compartment outlets 122A, 122B are in liquid communication with the outlet-manifold ingresses 134A, 134B, and hence treated water is collected within the outlet-manifold 126 and unified to a single treated water stream. The treated water exists the outlet-manifold 126 through the outlet-manifold egress 138 and from there egresses from the device through the treated water outlet 110.

(16) The water flow path within the device is schematically shown in FIG. 5.

(17) FIG. 6 shows a device 200, similar to the device 100, however also comprising a third water treatment medium, for example comprising or consisting of polyphosphate. In the exemplified embodiment, the third water treatment medium is in the form of cylindrical blocks 260A, 260B, positioned within the lumens of first treatment medium cylindrical blocks 214A, 214B, respectively. Thus, water is treated by second treatment medium (pleated sheet) 212A, 212B, then by the first water treatment medium 214A, 214B, and finally by the third water treatment medium 260A, 260B. Typically, the third water treatment medium comprises or consists of a polyphosphate. However, other substances may be utilized as a third water treatment medium, such as flavoring agents or nutrients that are released into the water from the third water treatment medium.

(18) A device comprising a first water treatment media containing a mixture of activated carbon, zeolite, quaternary amine polymer, silver bromide and polyphosphate and a second water treatment media containing cellulose fibers impregnated with activated carbon particles, zeolite, quaternary amine polymer, and silver bromide was tested to assess its performance according to various standards.

(19) First, the devices was tested for microbiology performance test according to the P231 (TW1) standard for bacterial and virus surrogate; the results are shown in Table 1.

(20) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Microbiology performance according to P231 (TW1) standard R. terrigena (CFU/100 mL) MS-2 Phage (PFU/mL) Sample Log Log point Influent Effluent reduction Influent Effluent reduction 0  5.3 × 10.sup.8 <1 >8.7 2.1 × 10.sup.5 <1 >5.3 25% 5.0 × 10.sup.7 <1 >7.7 5.5 × 10.sup.4 <1 >4.7 50% 4.4 × 10.sup.7 <1 >7.6 5.5 × 10.sup.4 <1 >4.7 1.sup.st 48 hr. — <1 — — <1 — stagnation 60% 3.7 × 10.sup.7 <1 >7.6 9.2 × 10.sup.4 <1 >5.0 75% 1.8 × 10.sup.7 5  6.6 6.5 × 10.sup.4 <1 >4.8 2.sup.nd 48 hr. — <1 — — <1 — stagnation 100%  4.2 × 10.sup.7 <1 >7.6 2.0 × 10.sup.4 <1 >4.3

(21) As evident from Table 1, the treatment device meets the requirements defined in the P231 (TW1) formal standard requirements. Namely, reduction and elimination of the tested bacteria was observed throughout the test period of device; no growth of bacteria was observed during stagnation periods of the device.

(22) The device was also tested for heavy metals and VOC (volatile organic compounds) reduction according to NSF 53 standard for reduction of asbestos and atrazine. The results are shown in Tables 2-1 and 2-2, respectively, in which the reduction was measured for each of the filtering unit in the device individually (marked in the Tables as “unit 1” and “unit 2”).

(23) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2-1 Asbestos reduction according to NSF 53 standard Asbestos concentration (MFL*) Sample point Influent Unit 1 Unit 2 4.sup.th cycle 100 0.18 0.18 25% flow decrease 100 0.18 0.18 50% flow decrease 100 0.18 0.18 75% flow decrease 100 0.18 0.18 *MFL = million fibers per liter

(24) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 2-2 Atrazine reduction according to NSF 53 standard Atrazine concentration (μg/L)* Sample point Gallons Influent Unit 1 Unit 2 initiation 2.0 9.9 <0.2 <0.2 25% 132 9.9 <0.2 <0.2 50% 264 9.9 <0.2 <0.2 75% 396 9.9 <0.2 <0.2 100%  528 9.21 <0.2 <0.2 120%  634 9.28 0.228 <0.2 *Detection limit—0.2 μg/L

(25) Mercury and lead reduction was also tested according to NSF 53 standard, at a flow rate of 2 L/min, for a total filtration capacity of 2000 L, as shown in Tables 2-3 and 2-4, respectively.

(26) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 2-3 Mercury reduction according to NSF 53 standard Mercury concentration (μg/L)* Sample point Liters Influent Unit 1 Unit 2  5% 100 6.24 <1.4 <1.4 25% 500 6.29 <1.4 <1.4 50% 1000 5.84 1.24 <1.4 75% 1500 6.78 <1.4 <1.4 100%  2000 5.61 1.13 1.14 120%  2400 6.67 1.53 1.37 *Detection limit—1.4 μg/L

(27) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 2-4 Lead reduction according to NSF 53 standard Lead concentration (μg/L)* Sample point Liters Influent Unit 1 Unit 2  5% 100 149.4 <4 <4 25% 500 155.2 <4 <4 50% 1000 161.8 <4 <4 75% 1500 167.2 <4 <4 100%  2000 150.5 <4 <4 120%  2400 155.9 <4 <4 *Detection limit—4 μg/L

(28) Finally, the device was tested to evaluate the scale-formation preventing. More than 1600 liters of water were passed through the filtering device, and boiled after egressing the device to estimate the formation of scale when boiling the treated water. FIG. 7A shows a heating unit of an electric kettle in which regular water were boiled, while FIG. 7B shows a heating unit of an identical electric kettle in which treated water was boiled. As evident from this comparison, water that were treated by the filtering device of the present disclosure did not show any scale formation at boiling, in comparison to scale formation that result when boiling untreated water.