Claims: WE CLAIM:

1. An efficient water purification system reducing the amount of reject water and enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s comprising:
a) plurality of filtration unit/s comprising atleast a first reverse osmosis membrane (102) configured to receive the feed water through atleast a first solenoid valve (111) for the purification/ filtration wherein said first reverse osmosis membrane filter/purifies water to produce atleast a permeate-1 water (105) to be stored in a storage tank (120) and a reject water (104) flowing through plurality of sensor/s (106) and a third solenoid valve (113) to enter atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) through atleast a fourth solenoid valve (114) or pass through a drain line through atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115);
b) atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane configured to purify the reject water received from said first reverse osmosis membrane to produce atleast a permeate-2 water (108) to be stored in said storage tank (120) and a reject water (104) passing to drain line through atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116);
wherein said first solenoid valve (111) through atleast a third solenoid valve (113), atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), all being in open position, while second solenoid valve (112) and fourth solenoid valve (114) being in closed position, configures flow path for the auto-flushing of said first reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time;

wherein atleast a second solenoid valve (112) through atleast a fourth solenoid valve (114) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), all being in open position, while first solenoid valve (111), third solenoid valve (113) and fifth solenoid valve (115) being closed for the auto-flushing of said second reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sensor (106) measures real time value of the physical characteristics of the reject water (104) and compares it with respect to an already set threshold value for determining the flow of reject water (104) from said first reverse osmosis membrane to enter atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) or pass to drain through atleast a sixth check valve (116).

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system operates in a fixed time, continuous or pre-defined interval.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sensor comprises TDS sensor, conductivity sensor.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein threshold value of said TDS comprises up to 2000 ppm or more.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said filtration unit/s is selected from a group comprising of sediment filter, pre-carbon filter, scale control media, reverse osmosis membrane, nano filtration membrane, mineralizer/alkalizer, post carbon UV membrane, post carbon ultra filtration membrane, charged membrane or combinations thereof.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system comprises circuit board/s and other electronic controllers.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said drain line comprises atleast a flow restrictor (110).
9. A method of operation of an efficient water purification system reducing the amount of reject water and enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps of:
a) receiving the water by atleast said first reverse osmosis membrane through atleast a first solenoid valve (111) and purifying to result into atleast a permeate-1 water (105) to be stored in a storage tank (120) and a reject water (104);
b) sensing said reject water (104) for measuring real time value of its physical and chemical characteristics by atleast a sensor (106) and comparing with respect to a threshold value for deciding its route to a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) or to the drain line (109) wherein said reject water (104) is routed to second reverse osmosis membrane in case of real value being lesser than the threshold value while said reject water (104) is sent to drain line in case of real value being more than the threshold value of said physical characteristic of the reject water;
c) activating the periodic auto-flushing mechanism for the first reverse osmosis membrane and second reverse osmosis membrane;
wherein said first reverse osmosis membrane is auto-flushed through opening of first solenoid valve (111), atleast a third solenoid valve (113), atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), while shutting/closing second solenoid valve (112) and fourth solenoid valve (114) (112), thus configuring flow path for the auto-flushing of said first reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time;
wherein said second reverse osmosis membrane is auto-flushed through opening of second solenoid valve (112), a fourth solenoid valve (114) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), while shutting/closing first solenoid valve (111), third solenoid valve (113) and fifth solenoid valve (115), thus configuring flow path for the auto-flushing of said second reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said first solenoid valve (111), second solenoid valve (113) and fourth solenoid valve (115) is in the open position while said fifth solenoid valve (112), third solenoid valve (114) and sixth solenoid valve (116) is in the closed prosition while routing reject water (104) to drain line.
11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said sensor comprises TDS or conductivity sensor.

12. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said threshold value comprises up to2000ppm or more.
, Description:Field of Invention:
The present invention relates to the field of water purification. Particularly, the invention provides a water purification system with an efficient flushing mechanism and method thereof. The water purifier with efficient flushing mechanism helps in reducing the amount of reject water and preventing the scale formation in the filter membrane.

Background of the invention:
The following background discussion includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

With increasing population, the demand for pure drinking water is growing day by day. Although 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water but the resources of drinking water are limited. There are different technologies available to make the water drinkable. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is one of the best effective and reliable technologies to serve pure drinking water but the conventional domestic RO system waste approximately 60%-75% of the feed water and purify only 40% - 25% of the total water passed through the system.

Moreover, the performance of the RO membrane depends on the hardness of the feed water and if the feed water hardness is more than approx. 500 ppm, there is a potential risk of membrane choking. In India and subcontinent, there are many geographical locations having the ground water hardness more than approx. 500ppm. The reject water contains high TDS when it is re-circulated to feed to the RO membrane, and, thus, subsequently the blend water (feed) TDS will increase affecting the performance and life of the membrane. More the TDS/hardness, lesser is the rejection and so lesser is the life of filter membrane. At present, there is no trustworthy technology available to improve the recovery rate of the conventional water purification system and save gallons of precious water. Hence, there is a need of cost effective and efficient water purifier for reducing the amount of reject water and enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s.

Objective of the Invention:
The primary object of the present invention is to overcome the problem associated with the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient water purification system that can reduce the amount of reject water and thus improve recovery rate of the conventional RO system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient water purification system reducing the wastage of water.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient water purification system enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient water purification system solving the problem of filter membrane/s being over loaded with high TDS, Hardness and deposition of other salts.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient water purification system providing the mechanism of auto- flushing for washing out the deposited salts/impurities/scale forming/silica etc. on the membranes.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a water purification system with a mechanism where RO reject from one filter membrane serves as input for the other filter membrane.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of operation of the water purification system for reducing the amount of reject water.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of operation of the water purification system for auto- flushing of filter membrane/s.

Summary of the invention
In an aspect of the invention, there is provided an efficient water purification system reducing the amount of reject water and enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s comprising:
a) plurality of filtration unit/s comprising atleast a first reverse osmosis membrane (102) configured to receive the feed water through atleast a first solenoid valve (111) for the purification/ filtration wherein said first reverse osmosis membrane filter/purifies water to produce atleast a permeate-1 water (105) to be stored in a storage tank (120) and a reject water (104) flowing through atleast a sensor (106) and a third solenoid valve (113) to enter atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) through atleast a fourth solenoid valve (114) or pass through a drain line through atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115);
b) atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane configured to purify the reject water received from said first reverse osmosis membrane to produce atleast a permeate-2 water (108) to be stored in said storage tank (120) and a reject water (109) passing to drain line through atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116);
wherein said first solenoid valve (111) through atleast a third solenoid valve (113), atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), all being in open position, while second solenoid valve (112) and fourth solenoid valve (112) being in closed position, configures flow path for the auto-flushing of said first reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time;

wherein atleast a second solenoid valve (112) through atleast a fourth solenoid valve (114) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), all being in open position, while first solenoid valve (111), third solenoid valve (113) and fifth solenoid valve (115) being in closed position for the auto-flushing of said second reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.

In another aspect of the Invention, there is provided a method of operation of an efficient water purification system reducing the amount of reject water and enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps of:
a) receiving the water by atleast said first reverse osmosis membrane through atleast a first solenoid valve (111) and purifying to result into atleast a permeate-1 water (105) to be stored in a storage tank (120) and a reject water (104);
b) sensing said reject water (104) for measuring real time value of its physical and chemicalcharacteristics by atleast a sensor (106) and comparing with respect to a threshold value for deciding its route to a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) or to the drain line (109) wherein said reject water (104) is routed to second reverse osmosis membrane in case of real value being lesser than the threshold value while said reject water (104) is sent to drain line in case of real value being more than the threshold value of said physical and chemical characteristic of the reject water;
c) activating the periodic auto-flushing mechanism for the first reverse osmosis membrane and second reverse osmosis membrane;

wherein said first reverse osmosis membrane is auto-flushed through opening of first solenoid valve (111), atleast a third solenoid valve (113), atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), while shutting/closing second solenoid valve (112) and fourth solenoid valve (114) , thus configuring flow path for the auto-flushing of said first reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time;
wherein said first second osmosis membrane is auto-flushed through opening of second solenoid valve (112), a fourth solenoid valve (114) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), while shutting/closing first solenoid valve (111), third solenoid valve (113) and fifth solenoid valve (114) , thus configuring flow path for the auto-flushing of said second reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.

Detailed description of the Drawing:
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, are better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings exemplary constructions of the invention; however, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and system disclosed. In the drawings:
Figure 1: illustrates an embodiment of water purification system described in the present invention
Figure 2: illustrates an embodiment of water purification system described in the present invention
Figure 3: illustrates an embodiment showing the functioning of the system

Detailed description of the invention.:
Some embodiments of this invention, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail.

The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.

It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present invention, the preferred, systems and methods are now described.

It may be understood by a person skilled in the art that although the subject matter disclosed herein is illustrated with reference to certain embodiments, this is in no way to limit the scope of the subject disclosed herein which is limited only and the method and system disclosed may be implemented in embodiments other than those disclosed in this application.

The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms.
The elements illustrated in the Figure inter-operate as explained in more detail below. Before setting forth the detailed explanation, however, it is noted that all of the discussion below, regardless of the particular implementation being described, is exemplary in nature, rather than limiting.

In an aspect of the Invention, there is provided an efficient water purification system to reduce the amount of reject water resulting during the filtration/ purification process. The water purification system addresses the problem of water wastage during the filtration/ purification process along with solving the problem of over burdening of the filter membrane.
The water purification system comprises an efficient mechanism for recirculation or reusing the reject water of first RO membrane as input for another filter membrane.
In an embodiment, the water purification system provides solution for the efficient flushing of all the filtration membranes.
In an embodiment, the first RO/filter membrane reject serves as feed water to another or second RO/ filter membrane. The first and second permeate (Pure water/product water) resulting from the first RO membrane and the second membrane will be blend in tank.
In an embodiment, the water purification system comprises various filtration membrane comprising membrane for sediment filtration, pre-carbon filtration, RO/NF/ RO+NF module/s, Mineralizer/Alkalizer or microbial disinfection, post carbon UV/UF filtration or Charged membrane based microbial filter. The water purification system comprises automatic selection of water flow path achieved by the customized/selected operation of the plurality of solenoid valves positioned at selected places in the flow path of the water purification system.

In an aspect of the Invention, there is provided an efficient water purification system reducing the amount of reject water and enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s.

In an embodiment, the water purification system comprises following components:
a) plurality of filtration unit/s comprising atleast a first reverse osmosis membrane (102) configured to receive the feed water through atleast a first solenoid valve (111) for the purification/ filtration. The first reverse osmosis membrane filter/purifies water to produce atleast a permeate-1 water (105) to be stored in a storage tank (120) and a reject water (104) flowing through plurality of sensor/s (106) and a third solenoid valve (113) to enter atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) through atleast a fourth solenoid valve (114) or pass through a drain line through atleast a fifth solenoid valve (116) ;
b) atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane configured to purify the reject water received from said first reverse osmosis membrane to produce atleast a permeate-2 water (108) to be stored in said storage tank (120) and a reject water (109) passing to drain line through atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116);
In an embodiment, the first solenoid valve (111) through atleast a third solenoid valve (113), atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), all being in open position, while second solenoid valve (112) and fourth solenoid valve (114) being in closed position, configures flow path for the auto-flushing of said first reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.

In an embodiment, the second solenoid valve (112) through atleast a fourth solenoid valve (114) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), all being in open position, while first solenoid valve (111), third solenoid valve (113) and fifth solenoid valve (115) being in closed position, configures flow path for the auto-flushing of said second reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.
In an embodiment, the sensor (106) measures real time value of the physical and chemical characteristics of the reject water (104) and compares it with respect to an already set threshold value for determining the flow of reject water (104) from said first reverse osmosis membrane to enter atleast a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) or pass to drain through atleast a sixth check valve (116).

In an embodiment, the system operates in a fixed time, continuous or pre-defined interval.

In an embodiment, plurality of sensor/s comprises TDS sensor or Conductivity sensor.

In an embodiment, the threshold value of said TDS comprises up to 2000 ppm or more.

In an embodiment, the filtration unit/s is selected from a group comprising of sediment filter, pre-carbon filter, scale control media, reverse osmosis membrane, nano filtration membrane, mineralizer/alkalizer, post carbon UV membrane, post carbon ultra filtration membrane, charged membrane or combinations thereof.

In an embodiment, the Carbon filters are combined with Nano charged fibers based technology.

In an embodiment, the Carbon filters are combined with Zeolite.

In an embodiment, the drain line comprises atleast a flow restrictor (110).

In an embodiment, the water purification system comprises circuit board/s and other electronic controllers.

In another aspect of the Invention, there is provided a method of operation of an efficient water purification system reducing the amount of reject water and enabling auto- flushing of filter membrane/s as described above.
In an embodiment, the method comprises following steps:
a) receiving the water by atleast said first reverse osmosis membrane through atleast a first solenoid valve (111) and purifying to result into atleast a permeate-1 water (105) to be stored in a storage tank (120) and a reject water (104);
b) sensing said reject water (104) for measuring real time value of its physical and chemicalcharacteristics by atleast a sensor (106) and comparing with respect to a threshold value for deciding its route to a second reverse osmosis membrane (103) or to the drain line (109) wherein said reject water (104) is routed to second reverse osmosis membrane in case of real value being lesser than the threshold value while said reject water (104) is sent to drain line in case of real value being more than the threshold value of said physical characteristic of the reject water;
c) activating the periodic auto-flushing mechanism for the first reverse osmosis membrane and second reverse osmosis membrane;
In an embodiment, first reverse osmosis membrane is auto-flushed through opening of first solenoid valve (111), atleast a third solenoid valve (113), atleast a fifth solenoid valve (115) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), while shutting/closing second solenoid valve (112) and fourth solenoid valve (114) , thus configuring flow path for the auto-flushing of said first reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.

In an embodiment, the second reverse osmosis membrane is auto-flushed through opening of second solenoid valve (112), a fourth solenoid valve (114) and atleast a sixth solenoid valve (116), while shutting/closing first solenoid valve (111), third solenoid valve (113) and fifth solenoid valve (115), thus configuring flow path for the auto-flushing of said second reverse osmosis membrane at a pre-determined time.
In an embodiment, the first solenoid valve (111), second solenoid valve (113) and fourth solenoid valve (115) is in the open position while said fifth solenoid valve (112), third solenoid valve (114) and sixth solenoid valve (116) is in the closed position while routing the reject water (104) to drain line.
In an embodiment, the sensor comprises TDS sensor or conductivity sensor.
In an embodiment, the threshold value of the TDS sensor is adjustable as per the requirement. The threshold value of TDS sensor is 2000ppm or more.
In an embodiment, Figure 3 illustrates method steps (300) for purifying water by the system described above. Step 301 shows normal filtration by the water purifying system, which is performed by opening the valve SV-1(111), SV-3(113) and SV-4 (114). The permeate water from first and second RO filter element/s is collected in tank.
Step 302 shows if TDS of the first reject is more than set point, the reject water will not go to second RO. The TDS probe (which is in the first reject line) senses if the TDS is 2000 or more and accordingly causes SV-4(114) to close and SV-5(115) to open, guiding the first reject to go to drain instead of RO membrane-2.
Step 303 shows when TDS of the reject line of first RO filter membrane is less than set point, thus solenoid valve SV-5 (115) closes and SV-4 (114) open causing first reject line (104) to enter into RO membrane -2 (103) for filtration.
Step 304 shows intelligent auto flush mechanism for the flushing of RO membrane-1 by opening of SV-1 SV-3,SV-5 and solenoid SV-6 and closing SV – 2 and SV4 for specified period.
Step 305 shows auto flushing of RO membrane-2 performed by the opening of valve SV-2 SV-4, SV-6 and closing of SV-1, SV-3 and SV-5.
The Invention is described with the help of non-limiting examples:
Example 1:
Referring to the figure 1, the water purifier system 100 has first (102) and second (103) RO filter elements. The filter elements are configured to purify the water coming from a receiving feed line (101) and (107) and producing clean water and reject water. The clean water pass through 105 and 108. The reject water passes through reject line 104 and 109. The reject line of first RO element is connected to the receiving feed line (107) of the second RO filter element. A storage tank (120) placed at the bottom of the system (100) is configured to store the purified water coming from the purified line/s 104 and 108 of first and second RO filter elements. A flow restrictor (110) is connected to the reject line (109) for controlling the recovery ratio of the system (100). The automatic flow path of water purification system comprises sensor unit (106) configured to sense the quality of water flowing through flow path of reject line (104) of first RO filter element. The plurality of solenoid valve (SV1(111), SV-2(112), SV-3(113), SV-4(114), SV-5(115), SV-6(116) connecting the flow path of first and second RO filter elements are responsible for the auto control and flushing of the filter membranes. The solenoid valves operate in fixed time, continuous or at pre-defined intervals.

Example 2:
During normal filtration, SV-1 open, SV-3 open, SV-4 open. The permeate water from RO membranes-1 and RO membrane-2 will be collected in tank. If first reject TDS is more than set point, it will not go to RO membrane-2. The movement TDS probe (which is in the first reject line) senses the TDS is more than 2000 or more or prescriber ppm, SV-4 closes and SV-5 opens and the first reject will go the drain instead of RO membrane-2. When first reject TDS is less than set point, again SV-5 closes and SV-4 open thus first reject will enter in to RO membrane -2 and produce the permeate water from RO membrane-2.
Example 3:
The auto flush mechanism for flushing of RO membrane-1 through fresh water is performed by following selected positions of the solenoid valves for specified period.
Open position – SV -1, 3, 5 and 6
Close position – SV – 2, 4
Example 4:
The auto flush mechanism for flushing of RO membrane-2 through fresh water is performed by following selected positions of the solenoid valves for specified period.
Open position– SV-2, 4 and SV-6
Close position – SV-1, SV-3 and SV-5

Example 5:
The double membrane filtration operation is performed by selecting solenoid valves SV-1, SV-3 and SV-4 in open position.

Example 6:
In case of 1st Reject more than 2000ppm, the TDS probe (sensor) will sense the TDS value and perform following to drain out the reject water
Open solenoid valves– SV-1, SV-3 and SV-5,
Close solenoid valves – SV-2, SV-4 and SV-6