Liquid purification or separation – Serially connected distinct treating with or without storage... – One unit inside another
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-22
2004-03-02
Upton, Christopher (Department: 1724)
Liquid purification or separation
Serially connected distinct treating with or without storage...
One unit inside another
C210S452000, C210S299000, C210S416100, C210S532200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06699387
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
A deficiency of many current septic tank waste water filter designs is the difficulty that arises in servicing the filters. Many waste water filter designs include filter cartridges or elements which are disposed within a housing or shield. Unfiltered waste water enters the shield at inlet locations and must pass through the filter element to proceed to an outlet. In other waste water filter designs, the housing or shield includes apertures or other inlet openings that are sized to restrict the entry of solids that are larger than the openings. In these filter designs, the apertures or inlet openings provide a first filter through which the waste water must pass before advancing through the filter element within the housing and proceeding to the outlet.
In many filter designs, removal of the filter element for servicing leaves the outlet exposed to unfiltered or inadequately filtered waste water. Such filter element removal is periodically required in many waste water filters, particularly in filters not providing self cleaning characteristics, to remove accumulated solids on the filter surfaces and within the housing.
As there is no provision in these filters to restrict the entry of waste water into the filter housing or shield, unfiltered or inadequately filtered waste water will pass unobstructed to the outlet. There are several detrimental effects caused by the passage of unfiltered or inadequately filtered waste water to downstream waste water components as well as to groundwater resources. These detrimental effects are in many cases severe and exist for waste water filters which are gravity flow as well as those which utilize a pump.
In gravity flow filters, solids passing unobstructed through the filter housing to the outlet may accumulate in the modulating orifices in the filter as well as in the outlet pipes causing lower operational efficiencies or blockages. Similar decreases in efficiencies as well as blockages will also occur in sand filters and drain fields as solids accumulate in these waste water system components.
In filters utilizing pumps, unfiltered waste water or inadequately filtered waste water passing unobstructed through the filter housing would enter an outlet reservoir or pump inducer either within the housing or shield or attached to it. These solids may plug and possibly destroy a pump once the pump is activated. Solids which do not plug the pump will be discharged to downstream waste water system components with previously described detrimental effects. In some waste water filters of this type, the outlet opening that feeds the outlet reservoir or pump inducer is beneath the bottom of the filter element. As the filter element is reinstalled after cleaning, the filter element serves to trap solids that have entered into the shield interior at the bottom of the housing or shield. Or, the reinstallation of the filter element will push these solids directly into the outlet reservoir or pump inducer. These solids, having no other exit, will be discharged from the filter through the pump. These solids are responsible for significant damage to pumps as well as causing the previously described problems to downstream system components and downstream water sources.
In some filter designs, particularly filter designs having pump inducers which are attached to the housing or shield, the pump may be allowed to operate while the filter element is removed. In these designs, a large amount of solids could actually be discharged while servicing of the filter element is occurring, if the service technician has not deactivated the pump.
If servicing the filter element requires the deactivation or removal of the pump, solids that have entered into the shield or housing will still be allowed in many instances to pass unobstructed to the pump chamber while the filter element is removed. These solids may accumulate within the shield or pump chamber and be subsequently discharged through the pump causing similar problems to the pump and down stream waste water system components.
Another problem associated with the discharge of unfiltered solids is that undigested solids containing biological hazards would be included within the solids that are inadvertently discharged. These undigested solids pose substantial health threats and have been responsible for illnesses in humans as well as the degradation of wildlife habitat. Accordingly, most waste water regulations are drawn to the discharge of undigested solids.
For the foregoing reasons there is a need for a waste water filter that includes easily removable filter elements that allow for the easy servicing of the waste water filter elements. In these waste water filters there is a need for either ensuring that unfiltered or inadequately filtered waste water will not be discharged from the filter during the servicing of the filter element or restricting the discharge of unfiltered or inadequately filtered waste water. In waste water filters utilizing pumps there is a need that unfiltered or inadequately filtered waste water will not be allowed to enter a pump chamber, or be restricted from entering the pump chamber, while the filter element is removed for servicing or be restricted from entering the pump. This ensures that solids which are known to damage pump components will not be passed through the pump upon activation of the pump.
There is yet another need for a waste water filter that protects downstream waste water treatment system components such as pipes, sand filters, drain fields, and lagoons from inadvertently discharged solids which may accumulate within these components causing decreased operational efficiencies and blockages. There is a further need for a waste water filter that protects ground water supplies from the inadvertent discharge of undigested solids which pose a health hazard to humans and wildlife.
There are also significant deficiencies associated with the filter elements used within current septic tank waste water filter designs.
A first deficiency in existing filter elements is the lack of self cleaning characteristics. Many existing waste water filter elements require the use of a closed bottom shield. In these filters, waste water solids that enter the shield inlet openings have no exit and will accumulate within the shield. Other existing waste water filters use an open bottomed shield which encloses a filter element having multiple stacked disk dam filter sections. The accumulation of solids in these filters is on horizontal surfaces which retain the solids until the element is removed for cleaning. There is no provision for self cleaning in either of these filter designs. Solids will accumulate within the filter during the filtering of waste water. These solids will remain within the filter until they degrade or are removed during a cleaning process. The presence of accumulated solids within the filter results in a decrease in filter efficiency. In many cases, the cleaning will not be performed until plugging is detected.
A second deficiency of existing filters is the difficulty encountered in removing the filter element for cleaning or replacement.
Many existing filters do not allow for the easy removal of the filter element from the shield, and require the entire waste water filter to be removed from the septic tank so that the filter surface or filter element can be cleaned. These filter designs may accumulate a large quantity of solids within the filter. These solids along with the waste water within the filter require the person servicing the filter to lift a substantial amount of weight when removing the filter from the septic tank.
Some existing filters may also restrict the removal process by disposing float switches, pumps, and piping within the interior of the filter element. These filter components must be removed from the element interior before the element can be removed from the shield. Removal of pumps and piping may require the difficult disassembly of threaded fittings.
Another deficiency of previous filter designs is a result of the manner that waste water is
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