FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
[0001] The present disclosure relates to water purification system, and more particularly
to a reverse osmosis (RO) based water purification system wherein the user is allowed to regulate the Total Salt Dissolved (TDS) level of output water using electronic method as per their choice and to suit their taste.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
[0002] Water available in society comes from various sources such as bore-well,
Municipal Corporation, natural water bodies (river, lakes) and tankers, however there is high possibility that the water may contain several contaminations which can be categorized in chemical (salts, metals etc.), biological (bacteria, virus, protozoa etc.) and physical (dust, color etc.) impurities. Consumption of such contaminated water may be hazardous and may even cause cancer like diseases. Water purification is the process of removing these undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids and gases and similar unwanted particles from water so as to make water suitable for drinking purpose. According to Bureau of Indian Standards (IS 10500: 2012), the upper level acceptable limit of TDS in drinking water has been set as 500 mg/1. Thus, when TDS limit reaches even half of the above-mentioned parameter in water, it is not recognized as suitable for consumer's intake due to unusual taste for which it needs to be put through a water purification process for clean & potable water.
[0003] Over the years, several technologies have been developed to improve water
quality by removing undesired contaminations and bring down TDS level to or below generally acceptable limit. Conventional technologies generally use the process of Reverse Osmosis, popularly known as RO technology to improve water quality by removing chemical and biological impurities from water and also reducing the TDS level of water. Whereas, techniques such as Ultra Violet filtration (UV), Ultra-Filtration (UF), Micro-Filtration (MF) etc. are used to treat water to remove biological contamination. Over the years, the water purification technology has evolved i.e. new purification systems are now available which could help in manipulating TDS level in water. One such technology can even change the TDS level of purified water, however it requires a specialized skills and user may not able to do it on his own. Further, there

exist other technologies which assure to provide an integrated water quality sensor with water purification technology/product identification device for providing from a predetermined selection of water purifiers based on input water quality. Such technology provides consumer with option to control TDS level in output water but is prone to provide inaccurate results after certain period. The integrated water quality sensor detects the input water quality which may contain high concentration of contamination such as excessive salts, chemical etc. and these contaminations have tendency to accumulate/deposit on surface of the probe. Upon deposition of salts/chemical on water quality sensor, the water quality report generated by the system would garner inaccurate data of TDS based on input water quality, thus, leads to malfunctioning.
[0004] Thus, there exist a need for the technology that allow the user to regulate the TDS
level of potable output water as per their preference along with a with high degree of accuracy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
[0005] The present disclosure overcomes one or more shortcomings of the prior art and
provides additional advantages discussed throughout the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.
[0006] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the present application
discloses an electronic TDS controller system comprising a reverse osmosis (RO) unit configured to provide RO purified water by reducing TDS level of input water. The system further comprises a TDS sensor configured to measure the TDS level of RO purified water when the system is initialized and a controller unit operably connected to the TDS sensor and a solenoid valve. Said controller unit is configured to estimate the TDS level of the input water based on the TDS level of the RO purified water and operate the solenoid valve to regulate the TDS level of the RO purified water to a desired level by mixing pre-treated water passed through the solenoid valve with the RO purified water to provide potable output water.
[0007] In another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the system
discloses a booster unit configured to receive pre-treated water at input from a water source and

provide two separate streams of high pressure at output. One of the two streams is sent to the reverse osmosis (RO) unit for RO purification and the other stream is sent to the solenoid valve through a flow resistor tube (FRT).
[0008] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller
unit of said system comprises a display unit configured to display the TDS level of the potable output water, a memory unit configured to store the TDS value of the potable output water and at least one transceiver configured interact with an electronic device for user selection, to regulate the TDS level of the potable output water.
[0009] In still another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller
unit of said system is further coupled to a potable output water tank and the booster unit. In particular, the controller unit is configured to sense the level of potable water in the tank and shut the booster unit immediately the tank is full.
[0010] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller
unit of said system is configured to observe that the TDS value of the RO purified water to regulate the ON/OFF cycle of solenoid valve to maintain desired TDS level as per user selection.
[0011] In another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for
controlling TDS level of potable output water is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of purifying input water to provide RO purified water by reducing TDS level of the input water, measuring the TDS level of RO purified water, when the method is initialized. The method comprises the steps of estimating TDS level of the input water based on the TDS level of RO purified water and operating a solenoid valve for regulating the TDS level of the RO purified water to a desired level by mixing pre-treated water passed through the solenoid valve with the RO purified water for providing the potable output water.
[0012] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, said method
further comprises the steps of splitting pre-treated input water into two separate streams of high pressure. Whereas, one of the two streams is sent to the reverse osmosis (RO) unit for RO purification and the other stream is sent to the solenoid valve through a flow resistor tube (FRT).

[0013] In still another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller
unit of said system is configured to perform the steps of displaying the TDS level of the potable output water, storing the TDS value of the potable output water and interacting with an electronic device for user selection, for regulating the TDS level of the potable output water.
[0014] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller
unit of said system observes the TDS value of the RO purified water for regulating the ON/OFF cycle of the solenoid valve to maintain desired TDS level as per user selection.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
[0015] The main object of the present invention is to provide a water purification system
that allow the user to regulate the TDS level of potable output water using electronic method as per his choice and taste.
[0016] Another main object of the present invention is to provide water purification
system that accurately measure the TDS value of potable output water.
[0017] Yet another object of the present invention is to protect the TDS sensor from
direct contact with contaminations present in water such as hardness, scaling, excessing salts etc. for its prolonged life and consistent water quality results.
[0018] Still another object of the present invention is to continuously monitor the quality
of RO purified water and interrupt the purification process upon sensing water quality reaching beyond permissible TDS level in drinking water based on the output water quality sensed though TDS sensor.
[0019] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide the water purification
system configured to offer a wide range of water TDS selections based on the water quality sensed by the TDS sensor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
[0020] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of
this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to

explain the disclosed embodiments. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0021] Fig. 1 illustrates a system for electronically regulating the TDS level of potable
output water, according to various embodiments.
[0022] Figure 2 flow chart indicating user selection of TDS level in potable output water,
according to various embodiments.
[0023] Figure 3 discloses a method for controlling TDS value of potable output water, by
way of flowchart, according to various embodiments.
[0024] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein
represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
[0025] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as
an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
[0026] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms,
specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all

modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
[0027] The terms "comprises", "comprising", "include(s)", or any other variations
thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, system or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or system or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or apparatus.
[0028] Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a system and a method for
regulating the TDS level of potable output water using electronic method as per user preference. Said system discloses a booster unit configured to receive pre-treated water, from an input water source, as input and provide two streams of high pressure of water as output. The system further discloses a RO purification unit that is configured to receive water from one of the streams as input and provide RO purified water as output. The system also discloses having a TDS sensor that is initially configured to measure the TDS level of RO purified water. Said system further comprises a controller unit that is configured to estimate the TDS level of input water based on TDS level of RO purified water and regulate the opening and closing of solenoid valve to mix the pre-treated water passing through the solenoid valve with RO purified water to provide potable output water of the desired TDS value.
[0029] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure,
reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0030] Figure 1 illustrates system 100 for electronically controlling the TDS level of

water as per user selection. The system 100 may comprise input unit 102 configured to receive unpurified water from one of municipal cooperation, tube wells, borings and various like source that have different concentration of salts dissolved. In particular, the water coming through various sources may have different concentration of Total Salts Dissolved (TDS) dissolved. The un-purified water from the input unit 102 is then passed through one or more pre-filtration units (not shown). In an exemplary embodiment, the one or more pre-filtration units (not shown) placed at output of the input unit 102 may include any filtration process other than RO purification. The system 100 further comprises a booster unit 104 that is configured to receive pre-treated water from the input unit 102. Said booster unit 104 is configured to split the pre-treated water into two streams of high pressure. In particular, the booster unit 104 is configured to receive pre-treated water as input and provide two different streams of water, i.e. stream 1 and stream 2, each of high pressure as output.
[0031] The system 100 disclosed in figure 1, further discusses having a RO unit 106.
Said RO unit 106 is configured to receive water from one of the streams coming from the booster unit 104 as input. In an exemplary embodiment, the RO unit 106 receives stream 2 of water from the booster unit 104 for RO purification using RO membrane (not shown). It is well known that reverse osmosis is an artificial process that is created by passing water containing high concentrated salts, minerals and other contaminations through the RO membrane with pressure to reduce the above said elements from water to a certain limit, usually up to 90%. Further, it is to be noted that the RO unit 106 is also configured to removes bacteria, virus, protozoa, parasites and reduces dissolved salts, hardness, pesticides, heavy metals & fluoride etc. from water. The RO system comprises an activated Carbon filter, a particulate Filter and may include other filters as well. The activated carbon removes chlorine from the water so that the membrane does not plug with chlorine. The particulate filter is a sediment filter that removes most of the particulates at the rated pore size. The elaborated description of these filters is beyond the scope of this full disclosure. The water coming out of the RO membrane is treated water which is used for drinking purpose. Other filters maybe deployed as per the system design and the raw input water quality which are not explained here but would be considered as the scope of present invention.
[0032] Further, the system 100 discloses having a flow restrictor tube II (FRT) 108 that

generates back pressure which helps in eliminating excess salts, minerals and several other contaminations from pre-treated input water and drains off the rejected water. It will be appreciated that the Flow Restrictor Tube II (FRT) is an essential component of all the reverse osmosis process. FRT II is used in RO systems at the outlet of reject water to the drain. Flow restrictor blocks the water outflow from the membrane, which causes pressure increase, thereby initiating the process of reverse osmosis. Also, the flow restrictors create pressure throughout the reverse osmosis membrane element and maintain a desired ratio of reject flow and permeate flow.
[0033] Said system 100 further discloses having a solenoid valve 112 configured for
receiving the other stream of pre-treated water from the booster unit 104. Precisely, solenoid valve 112 is configured to receive water from stream 1 coming from the booster unit 104 via a flow restrictor tube I (FRT) 110, wherein the FRT I is designed to limit the pressure of water entering the solenoid valve 112. Said Solenoid valve 112 helps in regulating the flow of water that is needed to achieve the desired results of the present invention. Said solenoid valve is electronically controlled to switch on and off, which is explained in further detail in below paragraphs of the present disclosure. Said system 100 also discloses having a TDS sensor 114 placed at the output of RO unit 106. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a single TDS sensor 114 is used at the juncture where both water from solenoid valve 112 (also known as blended water) and RO purified water received as output from RO unit 106 (also known as permeate water) meets, thus the TDS sensor 114 may be configured to sense the TDS level of output water as well as input water based on estimation. The TDS sensor 114 would work on the estimation method by controlling the TDS level of the water in two different cases. In the first case, blending line is closed, the RO purified water (permeate water) coming from RO membrane would have up to 90% less TDS from input water. Said TDS Sensor 114 attached at the output junction would sense the TDS level thus estimating the input water quality and intimating the customer. Similarly, when blending line is open, TDS sensor 114 would be able to measure the TDS level of output water accordingly.
[0034] In order to control/regulate and monitor the TDS level of water in any of the
above discussed scenarios a controller unit 116 is discloses in system 100. Said controller unit 116 is operatively connected to the solenoid valve 112 and TDS sensor 114. In an exemplary

embodiment, the controller unit 116 is configured to initially measure the TDS level of RO purified water coming from the RO unit 104 when the system is first initialized. Based on measured TDS level the controller unit 116 is configured to estimate the TDS level of input water, as elaborated in first scenarios discussed above. The controller unit 116 is further configured to compare the TDS level of RO purified water with the user selection of TDS value and regulate the ON/OFF duty cycle of the solenoid valve 112 to regulate the mixing of the pre-treated water passed through the solenoid valve 112 with the RO purified water to provide potable output water with desired TDS level. In an exemplary embodiment, the controller unit 116 may include at least one of a display unit (not shown) to display the TDS level of the potable output water, a memory unit (not shown) to store the TDS level of the potable output water and at least one transceiver (not shown) configured interact with an electronic device for user selection, to regulate the TDS level of the potable output water. In another exemplary embodiment, the transceiver (not shown) of the controller unit may be configured to interact with at least one of mobile, laptop, PDA and like user device for user selection of TDS in potable output water.
[0035] Precisely, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the percentage of blending
is electronically controlled by using the solenoid valve 112, whose ON and OFF time is precisely controlled by a programmable controller unit 116. Thus, the user can select the taste of the output water by changing the on/off duty cycle of solenoid valve through the controller unit 116, either from the attached switch (not shown) in the control panel of the system 100 or from any other mechanism like mobile phone or remote control or remotely through the communication device, discussed in above paragraph. Thus, the system 100 also manages to keep the TDS level of output water around the vicinity of the customer selected value by intelligently varying the on/off cycle of the said solenoid valve 112. If the output TDS value be widely varied from the expected value (either for change of water quality or for any mechanical failure of the filter stages) and found beyond the capabilities of the system 100, then the system 100 may stop working and announce the fault condition. Thus, the system 100 is also able to provide the potable water with desired value of TDS, as per customer's choice. Further, in order to empower user for setting the taste of water as per their choice and resolve the issue of varying TDS in input water, the present disclosure provides user with, but may not necessarily confined to only these selections in future,

three TDS selections.
[0036] The controller unit 116 may further remain connected to a water tank 118 and the
booster pump 104. The controller unit 116 constantly sense the level of potable water in the tank 118 and shut the booster unit 104 immediately the tank is full. In this manner the controller unit stops the wastage of resources by shutting down the booster unit 104 when not required.
[0037] Figure 2 discloses an exemplary embodiment, by way of graphical representation,
for regulating the TDS level of potable output water. In particular, figure 2 shows an ideal condition when a user opts for selection X and the present disclosure functions to keep the TDS limit within the ± TDS range or pre-defined TDS threshold (known as upper permissible and lower permissible limit) for the selection X. For example, let's consider the TDS selection is specified as X wherein this selection sets up the upper permissible TDS in potable output water, and the lower permissible TDS in potable output water, therefore offering a X±AX permissible TDS range for the functioning. Now as per one case, if a user selects X option in purification system 100 containing present discloure then the said solenoid valve 112 will immediately come into the action and start its on/off cycle as per the instructions given by the controller unit 116. Pre-treated water from stream 1 will flow through solenoid valve 112 and RO purified water through RO unit 106 will get mixed at a point where TDS sensor 114 is placed. TDS sensor 114 will sense the TDS of this mixed water (potable output water) and based on the instructions from the controller unit 116, purification system 100 will understand the TDS of input water based on the estimation and sends signal to solenoid valve 112 that would trigger the switching on/off cycle timing. If the TDS of input water is estimated high when user has selected X option, switching on/off cycle of solenoid valve 112 will be less to ensure less quantity of water from booster pump is passed though stream 1. This would ensure the upper permissible TDS limit as per user's selection is maintained by the present disclosure. If at all this TDS value goes beyond the upper permissible limit of selection X then the intelligent/efficient purification system 100 may shut off the purification system 100 and send alarm to the user.
[0038] In other case, when input water TDS is estimated low after user has selected X
option, the switch on/off cycle of the solenoid valve 112 in stream 1 will be increased. Therefore, solenoid valve 112 will allow more pre-treated water to pass though FRT-I and let it blend with

RO purified water to reach to TDS sensor 114. In case the TDS of this stream of blended water is found lower than the lower permissible TDS limit of user selection X, even then the intelligent/efficient purification system 100 will trigger an alert and shut off. Thus, it is specified that each user selection would signal solenoid valve 112 to function switch on/off cycle within upper and lower permissible TDS limit pre-defined for that user selection and in case TDS sensor 114 senses the TDS of output water going out of this range, controller unit 116 will shut off the unit to ensure the legitimacy of the selection.
[0039] Figure 3 discloses a method for regulating the TDS level of potable output water
through a solenoid valve 112 being regulated via the controller unit 116, by way of a flow diagram. The method 300 starts by receiving unpurified water, by input unit 102, from a water source, at step 302. At step 304, the water in sent to the booster unit 104, wherein the water reaching the booster unit 104 is pre-treated, through different purification technologies other the RO purification process. At next step 306, water splits into two different streams, with high pressure, from the output of the booster unit 104. In an embodiment, the booster unit 104 is configured to convert one stream of pre-treated input water into two separate streams, i.e. stream 1 and stream 2, of high pressure as output water, as discussed in detailed disclosure of figure 1. As next step 308, the method discloses sending stream 2 of pre-treated water to the RO unit 106 for purifying pre-treated input water to provide RO purified water. Simultaneously at step 310, the method discloses sending stream 1 of pre-treated input water to FRT1 110 from where it is received by the solenoid valve 112.
[0040] The method 300 further discloses, at step 312 the TDS level of RO purified water
is measured using a TDS sensor 114. Based on this measurement, the controller 116 may then estimate the TDS level of input water at step 314. Based on the above measurement and estimation, the controller 116 starts operating the solenoid valve 112 for regulating the TDS level of the RO purified water to a desired level by mixing pre-treated water passed through the solenoid valve 110 with the RO purified water for proving the potable output water of user choice. In an exemplary embodiment, the controller 116 may be configured to regulate the ON/OFF cycle of the solenoid valve based on the TDS level of the output water and the desired TDS level.

[0041] Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with
reference to figures and certain preferred embodiments thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the present invention should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.

We claim:
1. An electronic TDS controller system, the system comprising:
a reverse osmosis (RO) unit configured to provide RO purified water by reducing TDS
level of input water;
a TDS sensor configured to measure the TDS level of RO purified water when the system
is initialized;
a controller unit operably connected to the TDS sensor and a solenoid valve, wherein the
controller unit is configured to estimate the TDS level of the input water based on the
TDS level of the RO purified water and operate the solenoid valve to regulate the TDS
level of the RO purified water to a desired level by mixing pre-treated water passed
through the solenoid valve with the RO purified water to provide potable output water.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprises:
a booster unit configured to receive pre-treated water at input from a water source and provide two separate streams of high pressure at output, wherein one of the two streams is sent to the reverse osmosis (RO) unit for RO purification and the other stream is sent to the solenoid valve through a flow resistor tube (FRT).
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller unit comprises:
a display unit to display the TDS level of the potable output water;
a memory unit to store the TDS level of the potable output water; and
at least one transceiver configured interact with an electronic device for user selection, to
regulate the TDS level of the potable output water.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller unit is further coupled to a
potable output water tank and the booster unit;
wherein the controller unit is configured to sense the level of potable water in the tank and shut the booster unit immediately the tank is full.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller unit observes that the TDS level of the RO purified water to regulate the ON/OFF cycle of the solenoid valve to maintain desired TDS level as per user selection.
6. A method for controlling TDS level of potable output water, the method comprising: purifying, by a reverse osmosis (RO) unit, input water to provide RO purified water by reducing TDS level of the input water;
measuring, by a TDS sensor, the TDS level of RO purified water, when the method is
initialized;
estimating, by a controller unit, TDS level of the input water based on the TDS level of
RO purified water; and
operating, by the controller unit, a solenoid valve for regulating the TDS level of the RO
purified water to a desired level by mixing pre-treated water passed through the solenoid
valve with the RO purified water for providing the potable output water.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, further comprises:
splitting, by a booster unit, pre-treated input water into two separate streams of high pressure, wherein one of the two streams is sent to the reverse osmosis (RO) unit for RO purification and the other stream is sent to the solenoid valve through a flow resistor tube (FRT).
8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller unit is further configured for:
displaying, by a display unit, the TDS level of the potable output water;
storing, by a memory unit, the TDS level of the potable output water; and
interacting, by at least one transceiver, with an electronic device for user selection, for
regulating the TDS level of the potable output water.
9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller unit observes the TDS level of
the RO purified water for regulating the ON/OFF cycle of the solenoid valve to maintain
desired TDS level as per user selection.