Chemistry: analytical and immunological testing – Halogen containing – In aqueous solution
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-15
2004-06-22
Drodge, Joseph W. (Department: 1723)
Chemistry: analytical and immunological testing
Halogen containing
In aqueous solution
C004S638000, C210S094000, C250S493100, C422S082050, C422S119000, C436S164000, C073S863010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06753186
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to water monitoring systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for monitoring the quality of tap water using a drinking water impurity detection system that simultaneously transmits and records water quality data, with interactive web-interface to facilitate user sign-up processes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The demand for purer water products is generally increasing. Government agencies need to produce higher quality water products, of the kind derived using chlorine in particular, in order to meet increasingly stringent safety and environmental standards, as well as to improve general operations. Additionally, due to the demand for purer tap water by its millions of household users worldwide, public health authorities are being increasingly compelled to monitor the various contaminants in the water stream during the various processes such as, for example, desalination, to ensure that the water meets the demand for purity and to be able to take rapid corrective measures to detect and/or reduce the contaminants when they do begin to appear. Particular contaminants, which may be present in the water and more particularly, in the chlorine content, are halocarbons, including methylene chloride, chloroform. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,201 discloses a representative chlorine quality monitoring system.) In order to monitor the water contaminants and have the ability to take corrective action, it is necessary that a suitable system and method be available which will accurately detect and measure such contaminants and which can also be used on-line at the household site, taking samples directly from its tap stream.
The primary causes of water pollution include household waste, industrial waste, farm pesticide(s) and the animal waste produced by hog and poultry farms which can result in the notorious
E. coli
strain of bacteria, responsible for a number of recent fatalities. As the pollution problems threatening the source of our drinking water such as the river become increasingly worrisome, people lose their confidence in the quality of the drinking water provided by the local water company and/or government ministries. In addition, people's anxiety about the quality of their drinking water is further aggravated by the fact that the conditions of the water supplying pipes and reservoirs are often found to be unsatisfactory. Accordingly, a variety of water-treating devices such as water-filtering devices, water purifying devices, water softening devices, etc., have become ubiquitous in offices, homes, factories, schools, religious institutions and so on.
The conventional systems for water purification have now become passé, creating the requirement for a new detection device and system, as opposed to a filter, that will serve this need to warn the average household user of a potential health hazard not only in the household, but quite possibly and much more probably, in the community at large. Existing systems, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,991, can be used to warn individual consumers but fail to integrate water quality information from a plurality of consumers; such integration not only helps to identify the overall scope of an existing water contamination problem but also enables consumers to be pre-warned of potential problems through notification of surrounding water quality readings.
Even in the case of the average carbon or reverse-osmosis filters that are currently on the market, the purifying elements used there are generally replaced after a predetermined period of time of usage without knowing the actual condition of the elements themselves. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,867 discloses a water filter that displays the state of the life span of a filter cartridge therein, based on the amount of water which has passed through the filter. This approach assumes a relatively constant contaminant level in the incoming water and does not account for actual contamination which may increase in response to environmental or other changes. Hence, in many cases, overused purifying elements are not replaced in a timely manner, thus resulting in the consumer unknowingly drinking the poor quality water produced by such an ineffective water purification system. This scenario actually provides an excellent environment for bacteria and fungi to grow. Such overused and clogged elements would contaminate the water passing through the systems instead of purifying it. This illustrates the need not only for a filtration element, but more importantly perhaps, an impurity and contaminant identifier.
Representatively, U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,863 is directed to the detection of contaminants in water supplies of municipal utilities, industrial processes and surrounding water supply systems. Ground, surface or industrial water is pumped into a storage chamber and preconditioned for analysis. The water analysis structure is highly complex, including such elements as hydraulic module, fuzzy logic correlator and controller, neural network, etc., and does not represent a system that may be easily and effectively implemented within the household environment of a typical consumer for immediate tap water quality verification and which enables the consumer to receive feedback through a centralized monitoring station over a distributed computer network.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,573 teaches a water purification monitoring system for a beverage processing system. Various system characteristics are monitored using sensors, with data being transmitted to a remotely located computer for diagnosis. The system is designed to operate at the municipal water supply level for monitoring a primary water source, and is not a practical solution for residential water quality monitoring requirements on an individualized basis.
Previously, a common practice in home water monitoring has been to send an individual sample of water to be tested by way of a water-sampling laboratory, litmus tests, etc. It has become important, however, for public health bacteriologists to have a faster, more accurate way of measuring certain selected characteristics possessed by a single simple sample of common tap water. In addition, it is important to note that a single sample is of limited value. The most a single sample can show is the water quality at the time and place of sampling. Therefore, a system is needed whereby repeat samplings may be performed, such as every few weeks.
Whether one sample or many, the whole process generally needs to be expedited from a customer's standpoint. Having an electronic file transfer of information pertaining to the above allows costs to be kept to a minimum. Although the traditional paper contract serves the purpose of security well, nowadays authentication systems have been developed specifically to ensure the enforceability of electronic contracts, as mentioned later in this document. One such method of authenticating electronic contracts in order to make them legally enforceable is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,613, which utilizes digital signatures.
There exists therefore, a significant need for further improvements: 1) in expediting the whole water monitoring process on an individual basis; 2) in water quality monitors for testing and indicating the relative quality of a tap water system, particularly a water quality monitor made responsive to the predetermined values of the unit so that accurate and reliable test readings will result in a more spontaneous fashion; 3) in regularly repeating the water sampling process in a convenient, cost-effective way; and 4) in integrating water quality data from a plurality of consumers through the means of today's available technology to transmit information across vast distances, if necessary, to a Central Monitoring Station (CMS) through which customer feedback information is provided over a distributed computer network.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In light of the above, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved system a
Drodge Joseph W.
eWaterTek Inc.
Jacobson & Holman PLLC
LandOfFree
Water quality monitoring and transmission system and method does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Water quality monitoring and transmission system and method, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Water quality monitoring and transmission system and method will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3294253