Dual cylinder water well filter and method of using the same

Details Dual cylinder water well filter and method of using the same Dual cylinder water well filter and method of using the same

1999-06-30

2001-03-20

Bagnell, David (Department: 3672)

Wells

Screens

Concentric pipes

C166S228000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06202750

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of water well filters.
2. Description of Prior Art
In certain geographical areas, aquifer layers containing water exist beneath the surface layers of the earth. Wells may be provided to access the aquifer layers and a filtering device may be inserted into the well to extract and filter the water in the aquifer layers. Water from the aquifer layers naturally contain a substantial amount of particulate matter. Such water when satisfactorily filtered and extracted can be used for a number of beneficial purposes.
Screened metal pipes have been used to filter water in wells. Metal pipes, however, tend to be heavy which presents a problem for workers who have to manually insert and lower the pipes into the wells. Metal pipes also deteriorate quickly in the water well environment, which can lead to weakness in the vertical pipe column. As a result of prolonged contact with water, detritus may develop and cause the metal to rust, allowing bacteria to develop and contaminate the water.
Screened plastic pipes have also been used to filter water in wells. However, both plastic and metal filters consist of pipes attached end to end to form a single conduit having only a single wall between the exterior and the interior of the conduit. Thus, the single-walled filters tend to allow particulate matter in the water which are smaller than the size of the screen to pass through into the water distribution system inside the filter.
Significant water flow into the pipe is important since the water will have to be moved up along the pipe. Typically, this is accomplished with a pump disposed inside and at the bottom of the pipe. If insufficient water flows into the pipe, the pump will be unable to move the water up along the pipe to its intended destination. To increase water flow, more screens can be formed into the pipes. However, creating more screens will weaken the pipe and decrease its longevity.
Therefore, what is needed is a water well filter that:
1) is lighter so that workers can more easily use the filter;
2) will last longer than current filters;
3) will allow significant water flow throughput without compromising filter strength; and
4) will filter fine particulate matter in the water.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is a water well filter. An outer pipe is concentric with an inner pipe. The outer pipe has an outer plurality of water passage apertures, or slots, while the inner pipe has an inner plurality of water passage apertures, or slots. Both the inner and outer plurality of water passage apertures extend from an outer surface to an inner surface of their respective pipe. The outer pipe has a length that is shorter than that of the inner pipe, but long enough to cover the entire inner plurality of water passage apertures. The inner pipe has an internally threaded portion at either the upper or lower end, and an externally threaded portion at an opposite end. Therefore, the upper end of the inner pipe may be attached to the lower end of another inner pipe of another water well filter, or at least the lower end of another pipe. The outer pipe is attached to nonapertured portions of the inner pipe by upper and lower sealing rings disposed at upper and lower ends of the outer pipe, respectively. The outer pipe is attached to the inner pipe so as to form an annular gap between the outer surface of the inner pipe and the inner surface of the outer pipe.
A permeable, granulated filter material fills the gap. Thus, the sealing rings serve to close the gap and seal the granulated filter material. The granulated filter material may include a bonding mechanism so that the filter granules are bonded together. The filter granules may also be bonded to the outer surface of the inner pipe and the inner surface of the outer pipe. A permeable cover comprising nylon mesh is disposed on the outer surface of the inner pipe. The permeable cover has openings with an opening cross-dimension less than the granule cross-dimension of the filter granules so that the filter granules cannot reach the inner plurality of water passage apertures.
The outer pipe, inner pipe, sealing rings and granulated filter material all comprise unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (“UPVC”). Therefore, the sealing rings may be welded onto the outer and inner pipes.
The invention also comprises a method for filtering out particulate matter from water in a well, the method comprising: passing the water through a first plurality of apertures in a first barrier; blocking an initial portion of the particulate matter with the first barrier; passing the water through filter granules; blocking a first intermediate portion of the particulate matter with filter granules; passing the water through a second plurality of apertures in a second barrier; and blocking a final portion of the particulate matter with the second barrier. The method may further comprise: disposing a permeable cover with a plurality of openings onto the second barrier; passing the water through the plurality of openings in the cover; and blocking a second intermediate portion of the particulate matter with the cover.
The invention, now having been briefly summarized, may be better visualized by turning to the following drawings wherein like elements are referenced by like numerals.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3357564 (1967-12-01), Medford, Jr. et al.
patent: 4014387 (1977-03-01), Fink
patent: 4624319 (1986-11-01), Van Der Borght
patent: 4649996 (1987-03-01), Kojicic
patent: 5642781 (1997-07-01), Richard
patent: 5855242 (1999-01-01), Johnson

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