BACKGROUND

[0001] Water purification systems are known and required in areas where water needs to be treated either for impurities or for softening. Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, materials and biological contaminants from contaminated water. These conventional systems are used to render supply water fit for human consumption, industrial or pharmaceutical use where salt content is reduced, and germs, viruses and bacteria are terminated.

[0002] Depending on the type of water, a Reverse Osmosis system (RO), an Ultraviolet filtration system (UV filtration), an ultrafiltration system, or the like is used. For instance, in an area of hard water, say with water hardness in the range of 250 - 1000 ppm, particularly above 600 ppm, ISO regulation states that this is not fit for human consumption. Water hardness or softness is a measure of mineral content in water typically measured in parts per million (ppm) or mg/L. In such situations, the conventional RO systems are used to reduce the water hardness. These systems effectively reduce the hardness of water by approximately 90 %. For instance, for a hard water level of 600 ppm, the RO system will reduce the hardness level to 54 ppm. These RO systems are also effective in removing viruses, bacteria, and many other pollutants, which are harmful to health.

[0003] Inhabitants in areas of soft water supply with water hardness in the range of 100 -200 ppm may use standard water filters and treatment systems such as the UV or the ultra filtration systems etc. These systems perform under these soft water conditions without issue. However, if the person was to move into a locality with hard water with hardness in the range of say 250 - 1000 ppm, then the same filter or purification system will not perform as efficiently. Additional water softening treatment solutions or the RO systems are required.

SUMMARY

[0004] The present subject matter described herein relates to a water treatment system. The water treatment system includes a first treatment unit, a second treatment unit, coupled to the first treatment unit, and a flow control device. The flow control device is provided between an outlet of the first treatment unit and an inlet of the second treatment unit. Furthermore, the flow control device is configured to selectively allow input from the first treatment unit to the second treatment unit based on a quality of input water.

[0005] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present subject matter will be better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] The above and other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will be better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

[0007] Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a water treatment system according an implementation of the present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0008] The subject matter described herein relates to a water treatment system.

[0009] Water purification systems are known and required in areas where water needs to be treated either for impurities or for softening. Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, materials and biological contaminants from contaminated water. These conventional systems are used to render supply water fit for human consumption, industrial or pharmaceutical use where salt content is reduced, and germs, viruses and bacteria are terminated.

[00010] In conventional RO systems, salts from the water are deposited on an RO membrane of the RO system, and it is necessary to backwash the RO membrane to clean the salt deposits. Backwashing the RO membrane includes passing some portion of the incoming water in the same direction as fluid flow during operation through a flow valve of the RO system. Without this periodic maintenance, the deposited salts block the pores in the RO membrane and render it non-functional. Therefore, in the time it takes for the technician to clean and repair the RO membrane, effective water purification is not feasible.

[00011] Furthermore, a customer moving from an area of hard water supply to an area of soft water supply will most probably continue to use his RO system as a cost effective solution. The RO system in this case will reduce the water hardness to substantially low ranges such as 5 to 6 ppm, which is not recommended for good health. It is desirable to have trace amounts of salt in the potable water.

[00012] Certain customers who use bore wells as additional sources of water also need to rely on water softening systems as well as purification systems. In these cases, ample amounts of water is wasted and drained. Consumable water, i.e. water used for household purposes or human consumption is becoming a rare commodity and its conservation is of paramount importance, hence these wasteful treatment processes are not desirable.

[00013] Furthermore, inhabitants in areas of soft water supply with water hardness in the range of 100 - 200 ppm may use standard water filters and treatment systems such as the UV or the ultra filtration systems etc. These systems perform under these soft water conditions without issue. However, if the person was to move into a locality with hard water with hardness in the range of say 250 - 1000 ppm, then the same filter or purification system will not perform as efficiently. Additional water softening treatment solutions or the RO systems are required.

[00014] According to the present subject matter, systems for purifying water are described. The system according to the present subject matter is flexible in nature to be utilized in areas of a variety of hardness levels. Therefore a user of the system need not invest money and time in installing separate water treatment systems depending on the area of residence and the corresponding water hardness level.

[00015] The system according to the present subject matter includes two water treatment units. Particularly in a first treatment unit, an ultrafiltration unit or a UV treatment unit is used, and in a subsequent treatment unit, a Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit is used. Particularly, the two treatment units are sequentially connected; therefore, the ultrafiltration unit or the UV treatment unit, and the RO unit are sequentially coupled. In the examples explained below, the first treatment unit is implemented as the ultrafiltration unit, and the second treatment unit is implemented as the RO unit. However, either the ultrafiltration unit or the UV treatment unit may be used as the first stage of water treatment and the present subject matter is not limited to a use of only one of the units thereof.

[00016] Furthermore, the user is benefitted by the inclusion of a flow control device between the ultrafiltration unit and the RO unit. By the provision of this flow control device, a selective flow of water is facilitated between the two units, i.e. the ultrafiltration unit and the RO unit.

[00017] Moreover, the water treatment system includes a siphoning assembly, at both the ultrafiltration unit and the RO units, in order to extract water from either of the units. For example, in a case where the user is residing in an area of soft water (100 - 200 ppm), the user will not require to use the RO unit. In such case, the user will extract water directly from the ultrafiltration unit siphoning assembly and the subsequent RO unit will be unused.

[00018] Furthermore, according to the present subject matter, the water treatment system includes a pre-treatment unit. The pre-treatment unit is configured to primarily treat the input water for a variety of impurities. Further, the pre-treatment unit may include a plurality of known water purifying components sequentially coupled such as a magnetizer, a pre-filter, a micron filter, a carbon filter and a pump. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the pre-treatment unit is not limited to the above components as the above components are merely providing functionality of a series of pre-filtration steps. These pre-treatment unit components will render the water free of large particulate matter, dissolved chemicals such as chlorine, dirt, mud and unpleasant odors.

[00019] Moreover, according to the present subject matter, the water treatment system includes a post-filtration unit. The post-filtration unit is beneficial in filtering any impurities that remain after the RO unit, such as unpleasant aromas that arise from the water treatment in the treatment units 112 and 118.

[00020] In one implementation, the post-filtration unit is a carbon filter.

[00021] Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a water treatment system 100 according an implementation of the present subject matter.

[00022] In one implementation, the water treatment system 100 includes a first treatment unit 112 and a second treatment unit 118 sequentially coupled to the first treatment unit 112. Hereinafter, the first treatment unit 112 and the second treatment unit 118 may be collectively referred to as the treatment units 112 and 118. The treatment units 112 and 118 are coupled through a flow control device 116. The flow control device 116 is configured to regulate flow of water between the treatment units 112 and 118. In this manner, an independent operation of the first treatment unit 112 is facilitated. Therefore, depending on a quality of input water, particularly the level of hardness, either the first treatment unit 112 alone may be operated, or both the treatment units 118 may be operated.

[00023] In one implementation, the flow control device 116 may be implemented as a stainless steel ball valve.

[00024] In one implementation, the flow control device 116 may be implemented as any suitable flow control valve, such as a ball valve or a butterfly valve.

[00025] Due to the configuration of the flow control device 116, the treatment units 112 and 118 may be operated selectively depending on a water supply type. For example, in a case where a hardness level of the supply water is between 50 ppm to 250 ppm (soft water), only the first treatment unit 112 may be operated. In such case, the flow control device is closed 116. Therefore, the second treatment unit 118 is not utilized in this case.

[00026] Furthermore, in a case where the hardness level of the water supply is between 250 ppm to 1000 ppm (hard water), both the treatment units 112 and 118 are operated and therefore the hard water supply is treated by both the treatment units 112 and 118. In such case, the flow control device 116 is opened, and water is allowed to flow from the first treatment unit 112 to the second treatment unit 118.

[00027] In one implementation, the first treatment unit 112 is embodied as an ultrafiltration unit. In this implementation, the first treatment unit 112, i.e. the ultrafiltration unit may be driven by only a domestic water supply input pressure. This is cost effective in that no electricity is needed to drive the first treatment unit 112. This situation may be particularly applicable in soft water supply areas where the second treatment unit 118 is not required for purification.

[00028] In one implementation, the first treatment unit 112 is embodied as an ultraviolet treatment unit.

[00029] In one implementation, the second treatment unit 118 is embodied as a reverse osmosis (RO) unit. In this implementation, the RO unit functions in a conventional manner. Therefore in the prior mentioned case where the water supply is hard, the flow control device 116 is opened and the RO unit further treats the water after the ultrafiltration unit.

[00030] In one implementation, the water treatment system 100 includes a siphoning assembly at the treatment units 112 and 118. Particularly, the water treatment system 100 includes a first treatment unit siphoning assembly 114 and a second treatment unit siphoning assembly 128, configured to siphon water from the treatment units 112 and 118 after purification of water. For example, in the above case where the supply water is soft, the first treatment unit siphoning assembly 114 will be utilized to siphon purified water from the first treatment unit 112.

[00031] In one implementation, the first treatment unit siphoning assembly 114 and the second treatment unit siphoning assembly 128 are embodied as flow control valves or taps. This facilitates an effective flow control to provide purified water on demand from the treatment units 112 and 118.

[00032] In one implementation, the first treatment unit siphoning assembly 114 and the second treatment unit siphoning assembly 128 are configured at outlets of the treatment units 112 and 118. Furthermore, particularly, the first treatment unit siphoning assembly 114 is configured prior to the flow control device 116.

[00033] In one implementation, the second treatment unit siphoning assembly 128 is configured after a water collection tank 126 for storage of purified water.

[00034] In one implementation, the water collection tank 126 is manufactured with stainless steel. The stainless steel material is beneficial in avoiding plastic contamination otherwise present in plastic storage tanks, as well as prevents mineral deposition. Mineral deposition occurs in plastic tanks where trace amounts of salts such as calcium salts remain, even after the treatment. Due to the lack of turbulence in the tank, there is deposition of salts that results in scale formation. This scale formation needs to be periodically cleaned, and is a time and resource consuming task.

[00035] In one implementation, the water treatment system 100 includes a backwash system. Particularly, the backwash system is provided at an inlet side of the first treatment unit 112, and an outlet side of the second treatment unit 118. The backwash systems of both the treatment units 112 and 118 include backwash system flow control devices 120 and 122. This facilitates an independent cleaning operation of the treatment units with mutual exclusivity.

[00036] The backwash system implements a cleaning function of the treatment units 112 and 118 for period maintenance and repairs. Furthermore, for example if period maintenance is being carried out for the second treatment unit 118, the first treatment unit 112 may be operated to provide purified water. Even in an area of hard water supply, emergency water may be provided for human consumption by utilizing only the first treatment unit 112.

[00037] In one implementation, the backwash system flow control devices 120 and 122 are embodied as conventional flow control valves, such as butterfly valves and ball valves.

[00038] In one implementation, the water treatment system 100 includes a pre-filtration unit coupled to the first treatment unit 112. Furthermore, the pre-filtration unit is configured to primarily treat the input water prior to the treatment of the input water by the first treatment unit 112. This means that input water supply will first be subjected to pre-filtration before it is treated by the first treatment unit 112 and subsequently optionally by the second treatment unit 118.

[00039] In one implementation, the pre-filtration unit includes a plurality of components including, a magnetizer 102, a pre-filter 104 coupled to the magnetizer 102, a micron filter 106 coupled to the pre-filter 104, a carbon filter 108 coupled to the micron filter 106, and a pump 110. According to the present subject matter, all the components 102, 104, 106 and 108 of the pre-filtration unit are coupled sequentially to facilitate sequential treatment of the water.

[00040] The pre-filtration unit is configured to treat the water for large and small impurities such as dust, mud, sand and dirt sediments, to reduce the harmful effects of hard water minerals, to remove dissolved chemicals such as chlorine and to remove volatile organic compounds.

[00041] In one implementation, the pump 110 is utilized in a case of hard water supply or when both the treatment units 112 and 118 need to be utilized. As mentioned earlier, the domestic water supply pressure is sufficient to operate the first treatment unit 112 during independent operation. However, in a case where both the treatment units 112 and 118 need to be utilized, the pump 110 is effective in providing a pressurized flow to the water.

[00042] In one implementation, the water treatment system 100 includes a post-filtration unit couopled to the second treatment unit 118.

[00043] In one implementation, the post-filtration unit may be configured between the water collection tank 126 and the outlet of the second treatment unit 118. This ensures further filtration of the water output from the second treatment unit 118 before the water is stored in the water collection tank 126.

[00044] In one implementation, the post-filtration unit includes at least one carbon filter 124.

[00045] Although the present subject matter has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. As such, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained therein.

I/We claim:

1. A water treatment system (100) comprising:

a first treatment unit (112);

a second treatment unit (118), coupled to the first treatment unit (112); and a flow control device (116) provided between an outlet of the first treatment unit (112) and an inlet of the second treatment unit (118), wherein the flow control device (116) is configured to selectively allow input from the first treatment unit (112) to the second treatment unit (118) based on a quality of input water.

2. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first treatment unit (112) is one of an ultra filtration unit and an ultraviolet treatment unit.

3. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first treatment unit (112) is operated for treating a water supply having a hardness level in a range of about 50 ppm to 250 ppm.

4. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second treatment unit (118) is a reverse osmosis (RO) unit.

5. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first treatment unit (112) and the second treatment unit (118) are operated for treating a water supply having a hardness in a range of about 250 ppm to 1000 ppm.

6. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water treatment system (100) further comprises a siphoning assembly (114, 128) coupled to the outlet of the first treatment unit (112) and an outlet of the second treatment unit (118).

7. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water treatment system (100) further comprises a backwash system coupled on an inlet side of the first treatment unit (112) and at an outlet side of the second treatment unit (118).

8. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the backwash system comprises a backwash system flow control device (120, 122).

9. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water treatment system (100) further comprises a pre-filtration unit coupled to the first treatment unit (112), and wherein the pre-filtration unit is configured to primarily treat the input.

10. The water treatment system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water treatment system (100) comprises a post-filtration unit coupled to the second treatment unit (118), and wherein the post-filtration unit is configured to treat the water from the outlet of the second treatment unit (118).