DRINKING AND SERVICE WATER SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FLUSHING SAME

Abstract

The present invention refers to a drinking and service water system with a connection (2) to the public water supply network, at least one supply line (4, 6) leading to at least one consumer (8), a flushing valve (10) downstream of the consumer (8) in the flow direction for draining water from the drinking and service water system, a control unit (12) connected to the flushing valve (10) in terms of control, and a first temperature sensor (18) upstream of the consumer (8) in the flow direction, the control unit (12) comprising a flushing module which determines flushing processes to the control unit (12) at specific times and/or at specific time intervals. This invention is intended to provide a drinking and service water system which, with an efficient flushing device, fulfills the hygienic requirements placed on a drinking water system. To solve the problem, a second temperature sensor (20) is arranged between the consumer (8) and the flushing valve (10) and the control unit (12) is arranged to decide whether the predetermined flushing operation is to be suspended or postponed on the basis of a temperature difference between a measured value of the first temperature sensor (18) and a measured value of the second temperature sensor (20). In a secondary aspect, the present invention provides a method for flushing such a system.

Claims

1. Drinking and service water system with a connection (2) to the public water supply network, at least one supply line (4, 6) leading to at least one consumer (8), a flushing valve (10), which is arranged downstream of the consumer (8) in the flow direction, for draining water from the drinking and service water system, a control unit (12) connected in terms of control to the flushing valve (10) and a first temperature sensor (18) arranged upstream of the consumer (8) in the flow direction, the control unit (12) comprising a flushing module which specifies flushing processes to the control unit (12) at specific times and/or at specific time intervals and/or as a function of a measured temperature, characterized in that a second temperature sensor (20) is arranged between the consumer (8) and the flushing valve (10), and in that the control unit (12) is adapted to decide, on the basis of a temperature difference between a measured value of the first temperature sensor (18) and a measured value of the second temperature sensor (20), whether the specified flushing operation is to be carried out, omitted or postponed.

2. Drinking and service water system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit (12) is adapted to form a difference between the measured value of the first temperature sensor (18) and the measured value of the second temperature sensor at predetermined time intervals and to store it for a defined minimum duration.

3. Drinking and service water system according to claim 2, characterized in that the control unit (12) is adapted to determine a duration of a tapping operation from the chronological sequence of the difference.

4. Drinking and service water system according to claim 3, characterized in that the control unit (12) is adapted in such a way that a specified flushing operation can be suspended or postponed if the sum of the duration of all tapping operations in a specific time interval before a scheduled start time of the specified flushing operation reaches or exceeds a fixed limit value.

5. Drinking and service water system according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two consumers (8) are connected to the supply line (4, 6) and in that a further temperature sensor (22) is arranged between these consumers (8).

6. Drinking and service water system according to claim 1, characterized in that the supply line (4, 6) comprises at least one story pipeline (4) and a plurality of floor pipelines (6) and in that in each floor pipeline (6) at least one consumer (8), a temperature sensor (18) arranged upstream the consumer (8) in flow direction and a flushing valve (10) arranged downstream of the consumer (8) in flow direction are arranged.

7. Drinking and service water system according to claim 2, characterized in that the control unit is adapted to compare the difference between the measured value of the first temperature sensor and the measured value of the second temperature sensor with a reference value and to suspend, postpone or stop a specified flushing operation if the difference is greater than the reference value.

8. Drinking and service water system according to claim 7, characterized in that the reference value is a constant, in particular 2.5 C., 3 C., 3.5 C. or 4 C.

9. Drinking and service water system according to claim 7, characterized in that the reference value is a reference temperature difference which corresponds to a stored difference between the measured value of the first temperature sensor and the measured value of the second temperature sensor.

10. Drinking and service water system according to claim 7, characterized in that the reference value is a reference temperature difference which corresponds to the median of a plurality of difference values.

11. Drinking and service water system according to claim 7, characterized in that the reference value is a reference temperature difference which corresponds to the mean value of a plurality of difference values.

12. Drinking and service water system according to claim 11, characterized in that the oldest difference value, which finds entry into the calculation of the mean value, dates back at most 24 hours.

13. Drinking and service water system according to claim 12, characterized in that the mean value is calculated at a preset time.

14. Drinking and service water system according to claim 11, characterized in that the mean value is formed from the determined values of the previous day.

15. Method for flushing a drinking water and service water system, in which a temperature difference is formed between a temperature measured in an area upstream of a flushing valve and a temperature measured in an area upstream of a consumer, on the basis of which a control unit connected to the flushing valve in terms of control decides whether a flushing process is carried out, omitted or postponed.

Description

[0038] Further details and advantages of the present invention result from the following description of an embodiment in connection with FIG. 1, which shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of the invention drinking and service water system.

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a drinking and service water system of a building not shown in detail. The drinking and service water system of the building has a connection 2 to the public water supply network in order to supply the building with fresh water. This fresh water is usually cold water. Connection 2 feeds a supply line that includes a story pipeline 4. The story pipeline 4 extends vertically from the basement or ground floor to a second floor. The first and second floors are each supplied with water by a floor pipeline 6, which is connected to a story pipeline 4 and runs horizontally on each floor. On each floor, three consumers 8 are connected to the floor line 6 via a ring installation. A flushing valve 10 is arranged at each end of the floor pipeline 6 downstream of the consumers 8 in the flow direction. The flushing valves 10 are connected to a control unit 12 for control purposes.

[0040] The control unit 12 contains a time module that gives the control unit 12 times at which the control unit opens the flushing valves 10. When the flushing valves 10 are open, water flows out of the drinking and service water system via a free drain 14 into a waste water pipeline 16. In floor pipeline 6, a first temperature sensor 18 is arranged upstream of the ring installation, upstream of the consumers 8 in the flow direction. The first temperature sensor 18 measures the water temperature in the floor pipeline 6 upstream of the consumers 8 and sends the measured temperature to the control unit 12. Fresh cold water flows through a tapping process of a consumer 8 from connection 2 via the story pipeline 4 into the floor pipeline 6. The fresh cold water flowing in usually has a lower temperature than the stale water in the floor pipeline. The measured temperature of the first temperature sensor 18 therefore usually drops in the event of a tapping of the consumer 8. A second temperature sensor 20 is assigned to the flushing valve 10 and is directly upstream of it in the flow direction. The second temperature sensor 20 also continuously measures the water temperature and sends the measured values to the control unit 12. The measured temperature of the second temperature sensor 20 usually changes on a different time scale than that of the first temperature sensor 18 during a tapping process of a consumer 8, since the fresh cold water does not flow directly through the pipe section in which the second temperature sensor 20 is located, as is the case with the first temperature sensor 18. The control unit 12 can therefore determine with an integrated logic that during a tapping process of a consumer 8 a temperature difference between the first temperature sensor 18 and the second temperature sensor 20 is set. If the temperature difference exceeds a preset limit value, e.g. 4 C., the control unit can suspend or postpone a flushing process specified by the time module. The control unit 12 may be adapted such that a plurality of such tapping processes in which the limit value is exceeded must be registered in a fixed time window of for example 4 hours before the scheduled start time of a specified flushing process to decide to suspend or postpone the specified flushing process.

[0041] In the floor pipeline 6 of the first floor, two further temperature sensors 22 are provided, each arranged between two consumers 8. The other temperature sensors 22 also continuously measure the water temperature and send the measured values to the control unit 12. The control unit 12 can compare the measured values of the further temperature sensors 22 with the measured temperatures of the second temperature sensor 20 in each case in order to create a separate usage profile for each individual consumer 8.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0042] 2 Connection to the public water supply network [0043] 4 Story pipeline [0044] 6 Floor pipeline [0045] 8 Consumer [0046] 10 Flushing valve [0047] 12 Control unit [0048] 14 Free drain [0049] 16 Sewer pipeline [0050] 18 First temperature sensor [0051] 20 Second temperature sensor [0052] 22 Further temperature sensor