Hydraulic and earth engineering – Drainage or irrigation – Porous or apertured pipe – flume – or tileway
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-18
2001-09-18
Bagnell, David (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Drainage or irrigation
Porous or apertured pipe, flume, or tileway
C405S051000, C210S170050
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290429
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems for leaching liquid waste, particularly waste water. More particularly this invention relates to a system of configuring cylindrical conduit used in leaching systems. Even more particularly the invention relates to the use of multiple levels of cylindrical conduit. The material within which the conduit is located may either disperse moisture away from the conduit through capillary action, wicking into the surrounding material or fluid may be extracted from contaminated fluid which is within or a part of a material surrounding the conduit, the extracted fluid being more free of the contaminants which may be in the contaminated fluid. A perforated cylindrical conduit is one method permitting wicking. The surrounding material provides capillary action to transmit moisture away from the cylinder and prevents the effluent from traveling directly from the pipes of the upper level to the conduits of the lower levels. Examples of these materials include sand, gravel, plastic fibers, wood products, slag, and ash. A fabric or other material may surround the cylindrical conduit. The cylindrical conduit may be either smooth walled or corrugated. For septic systems, this includes any graveless systems such as the SB
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, ENVIRO-SEPTIC and GEO-FLOW systems. Other applications of this invention include treatment of oil-contaminated water and chemically contaminated water, in addition to septic tank effluent.
The multi-level configuration of the present invention creates a larger leaching surface in a fixed surface area than a single level leaching system. This larger leaching surface area is beneficial for increasing bacterial concentration and installation of systems in small spaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Leaching systems typically utilize substantially two-dimensional stone beds or chambers. The multiple layering of leach beds, chambers and conduits has not been feasible up to now. One problem is that liquid from one leach area would return to the system through a lower leach area. Another problem is the difficulty in constructing multiple layers using traditional methods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention most fundamentally is a leaching system substantially comprised of subsystems of liquid permeable conduit, serial or parallel interconnected for the serial or parallel flow of fluid being processed. Fluid flow is within subsystems and between subsystems from one level to another level. I.e., the subsystems of which the system is comprised are located at different depths one above the other within a “leach bed” or within the volume designed to process the contaminated/leached fluid.
The present invention, is a leaching system having at least two (2) leaching subsystems wherein each of the at least two leaching subsystems is planarly located at a different depth within the leaching field having the leaching system installed therein. The leaching subsystems are fluid flow connected such that fluid being leached either flows; (1.) sequentially or serially through one of the subsystems and then sequentially or serially through another of the subsystems and subsequently through yet another subsystem until the last of the subsystems; or (2.) the fluid being leached is divided such that the divided portions flow in a parallel paths or substantially simultaneously through one of the subsystems and then subsequently through the remaining subsystems either simultaneously or sequentially and in either sequential flow or parallel flow within the components of the subsystems. Each of the leaching subsystems has at least one liquid permeable conduit with means for providing for fluid flow connection at an input end and an output end, fluid flow being into the input end and out through the output end. The means for providing for fluid flow connection provides interconnection of each of the liquid permeable conduits which are members of a subsystem, in either serial or parallel flow configuration and for connection of one of the subsystems to another of the subsystems at a different depth.
The present invention, in its most simple embodiment, is a multi-level leaching system for leaching liquid waste comprising a plurality of leaching subsystems each of which is planarly positioned at a different depth, the leaching subsystems being fluid flow connected such that fluid being leached is caused to flow into and through each of the leaching subsystems. The invention, the multi-level leaching system, leaches waste liquid through at least one liquid permeable conduits, preferably cylindrical conduits, which conduits are members of the subsystems which subsystems are planarly arranged in multiple levels. The number of leaching subsystems and the number of conduits within each subsystem will depend upon the magnitude or the volume of fluid which is to be processed by leaching.
The present invention is composed minimally of two leaching cylinders with each cylinder arranged in two substantially horizontal planes. The uppermost plane contains the first leaching cylinder, which is supplied waste liquid by a source pipe. The lowermost plane contains the final leaching cylinder, which is connected to the first leaching cylinder by a pipe. The first and final leaching cylinders may be horizontally arranged with respect to one another by any angle.
More preferably, the system includes a plurality of leaching conduits/cylinders with the cylinders arranged in two or more substantially horizontal planes, in reference to the axial direction of the leaching cylinders or conduit, thereby forming leaching subsystems. The plane created by orthogonals through the axial center-lines of the leaching conduit need not be substantially horizontal, i.e., the plane formed by the leaching subsystems is substantially horizontal in the direction of the axial center-lines but may be other than horizontal in the direction of the orthogonals to the centerlines. The uppermost leaching subsystem,preferably planarly configured, contains the first leaching cylinder, which is supplied waste by a source pipe, and may contain one or more intermediate cylinders. The lowermost leaching subsystem, again preferably planarly configured, contains the final leaching cylinder, which is connected to the preceding intermediate leaching cylinder, and may also contain one or more intermediate cylinders. The region between the uppermost and lowermost leaching subsystems may contain one or more intermediate cylinders, which are each connected to the preceding leaching cylinder, respectively.
Even more preferably, a liquid dispersing material surrounds the leaching cylinders of the system. The liquid dispersing material may be one or more of the following, including but not limited to, sand, gravel, plastic fibers, wood products, slag, and ash. The material surrounds the cylinders a given distance. The distance for a 12-inch cylinder is about 6 inches. Other distances are acceptable when capillary action disperses the liquid away from the leaching cylinder and not back into the system.
One advantage of the present invention is the multi-level system is greater leaching volume in a fixed surface area than a single level system. The additional leaching levels of system allow more leaching surface area to be utilized than a single level system.
Another advantage of the present invention is the present invention may be used to treat a variety of liquid waste including, but not limited to, septic tank effluent, strong waste water having high BOD and suspended solids concentrations, oil contaminated water, and chemically contaminated water. The contaminated fluid may pass through the liquid permeable conduit from within to without the conduit or it may be drawn from outside the conduit to within the conduit as a processed fluid more free of the contaminants.
Yet, another advantage of the present invention is that any type of cylindrical conduit may be used with the multi-level leaching system. For septic purposes, this includes any graveless system such as the SB
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Bagnell David
Dishong George W.
Mayo Tara L.
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