This invention relates to a readily cleanable water storage system and particularly an improved water storage tank for this system and method of regular cleaning thereof by which high level of cleanliness of water can be maintained with considerable ease in a cost effective manner. This invention further relates to a dual purpose water tank wherein the water content of the lower portion of the tank is kept constantly reserved for use in sprinklers for fire fighting operations and the water content of the upper portion is used for supply of potable grade water to consumers.
Storage of water is essential before distribution to the consumer through a pipeline. To this end, water tanks of various sizes and kinds are used. Tanks made out of metal, brick and mortar are now giving way to those of plastic or synthetic materials due to various reasons like cost effectiveness, ease of installation and maintenance, non-susceptibility to leakages, etc. Wooden water tanks are also in use in certain regions of the world.
However, one cause of concern in all kinds of water tanks currently available is its poor level of cleanliness and that of its contents. Water entering the tank from the city's water source invariably contains some foreign matters. Over a period of time the foreign matters in the form of suspended impurities settles to the bottom of the tank and requires periodic cleaning. It is not unusual for a tank to accumulate anywhere up to an inch or so of muddy sediments over a period of time, a residue that pose severe health hazard for the consumers.
Water tanks have not changed much during the past hundred years or so. Some of the techniques used in their construction have been improved resulting in shorter manufacturing and installation time, but the overall principle of water tanks remains unchanged.
Conventional water tanks in use are either rectangular or cylindrical in shape in general and the outlet for supply of water to consumers is at a point on its sidewall slightly above its bottom. This point is so chosen so as to allow all the suspended contaminants, dirt and muddy substances in the water to settle down on the bottom surface that do not pass into the supply outlet located above the deposited sediments. These impurities some of which hang in the water content keep on depositing on the floor of the tank turning into a sludge over a period of time, which require to be thoroughly scrubbed in order to dislodge it effectively. This cleaning is an elaborate process requiring some preparation and stoppage of water supply to the consumers for a considerable period. Considerable time and effort is spent in scrubbing out those sticky deposited materials. Since the outlet from the tank is a bit above the bottom, all the scrubbed material along with water remaining below this outlet requires to be lifted and thrown out with the help of buckets, mugs, or by other means. This is followed by sponge drying and disinfecting of the bottom surface and inside walls of the tank. All this is a lengthy and cumbersome process and still does not assure a constantly high level of cleanliness. Further, it may leave scratches on the inside surfaces of the tank that may corrode the tank progressively. Also, the lengthiness of the process tends to reduce its frequency, thereby compelling the consumers to consume harmful contaminated water indefinitely.
During the daily chore of filling of tank, the falling mass of water inside the tank dislodges part of the said layer of sediments from the floor and this material rises above to dance and revolve with the agitated mass of water. This continues till the filling of water progresses. It also settles partly on the side walls of the tank thereby dirtying them as well. Most of these foreign matters remain in a suspended state owing to buoyancy for considerable time and continue to pass on to the supply route away from the tank. Till such time the users are forced to continue consuming such contaminated water for various uses in the bath, kitchen, washing, etc., and for drinking. Also, a part of the impurities and dirt, which is soluble, gets dissolved during the swirling agitation of water and may not be detected visually. All this make the supplied water a carrier of impurities which gets thicker and denser with every passing day and good part of it is also deposited on the inside wall of the water supply line thereby reducing the flow rate with passage of time. This is a compulsion everyone lives with which is not realized because the dirty scene of action happens to be away in the closed tank at the top of the building and one cannot make out dirtiness by simply looking at the water at the receiving end.
It is true that some people keep water filters at the users' end in order to get clean potable water. But there are again several factors that decide the quality of water one gets from it. These may be like quality assurance associated with that filter, whether that filter is properly maintained or not with timely replacement of cartridges, candles, etc. Again, water filters are primarily used for the purpose of drinking water only. Bulk of the water supply is directly used during bathing, brushing teeth, washing mouth after meals, food preparation, etc. Therefore, one still remains vulnerable to the dirty water coming from the supply route from that overhead tank.
So, a vast majority of human population, with the exception of those people who live in remote areas where such tanks are not used for storage of potable water, has no way but to consume such contaminated water.
Potable water is a basic necessity of life and deserves the same level of care, cleanliness and respect as any other food item. Every utensil handling food items is given a complete washing in dishwasher or manually and in the same fashion the water storage tank should be maintained with complete renewal of stored water regularly. This does not happen in the conventional tank and total cleanliness is erroneously presumed. With every filling of the tank, certain amount of stale water remains in the bottom along with those muddy sediments. It is happening despite countless people being involved in the business of storage water tank right from design and manufacture, distribution and dealers' network to plumbing and installation and finally to end users. Also, there is a vast network of tank maintenance and cleaning companies and establishments which specialize in the expertise of tank cleaning. These people follow elaborate processes for the job and charge substantially. In spite of the involvement of technical people, the scenario remains the same.
So, an urgent solution was needed so that the regular renewal of the water content in the tank is possible in order to ensure a high cleanliness level of water within the tank in a cost effective, convenient and time-saving manner.
The objective of this invention is to present a solution in the shape of an improved design of a water tank and a method of cleaning the same which ensures a comparatively much higher level of cleanliness of water for the consumers. It ensures complete renewal of the water content of the tank in an extremely convenient method which can be carried out regularly and swiftly with utmost ease in a cost effective manner.
Another objective of this invention is to provide a dual purpose water tank wherein the water content of the lower portion of the tank is kept constantly reserved for non-potable use in sprinklers for fire fighting operations and the water content of the upper portion is used for supply of potable grade water to consumers with rest of water content getting constantly renewed.
The present invention mainly lies in the shape of a water tank which appears more or less similar to conventional water tank from the outside except for the bottom side. The tank may be of cylindrical, rectangular or any other shape and may be made of any material. The major difference lies in the inside bottom of the proposed tank which is inclined with a continuous effective slope so that all the water inside rushes down the slope of the inclined or conical bottom. It has an outlet for complete drain out of water from the said inclined or conical bottom of the tank. This outlet, which may be located anywhere along the periphery at the sloping end of the floor or at the convergence of the cone for a tank with conical bottom, is meant for draining out the water inside the tank completely whenever desired. This draining outlet may be extended through extra pipeline to a convenient place and a stop cock provided at that point to discontinue the discharge of water from drainage outlet. Alternatively, a drainage outlet is provided with electronically operated stopping means that can be remotely controlled for convenience of the cleaning operation. When the said draining outlet is opened, the water from inside the tank starts flowing out and as the water level approaches the bottom of the tank, all of it rushes towards the said exit at the lowest point as no water can remain on the slant surface of the bottom. The draining outlet at the lowest point of slope should not have any protrusions or edges towards the inside, which may obstruct exit of the sediments, impurities, etc. The mouth of the draining outlet should have a smooth converging easy curvature for uninterrupted flow of drainage water therethrough. Bend sections in extended pipeline may be kept at a minimum.
Eventually the tank empties by itself without any special effort made for the purpose in contrast with the conventional tank which requires cleaning personnel to go physically inside and lift water from the bottom with considerable effort. All the sediments and other foreign matter also rush out through the said draining outlet without any external action involved. After the tank empties itself on its own, the water inlet for filling the tank is opened. Water starts falling on the said inclined bottom of the tank which further cleans the bottom and flushes further dirt, if any, towards the said draining outlet and is drained out. Some time is allowed for this process to continue before the said draining outlet is closed and water filling in the tank starts for storage. The outlet for supply to consumers is fixed at a point higher than the said bottom of tank described above so that only clean water goes into the supply line. Therefore, the consumers do not get any contaminated water as in the case of conventional tanks wherein all the sediments and impurities continue to accumulate progressively at the bottom with passage of time that contaminates the water in the supply line as discussed above.
There may appear a wastage of a small amount of water mass which lies between the said supply outlet and the draining outlet in the process of this complete renewal of water. This is only notional, because this water can be directed towards some other utilities where potable grade water is not required, like floor and other type of cleanings, gardening, watering of plants and trees, washing of vehicles, etc.
In one embodiment of the present invention it provides a readily cleanable water storage system with a water tank having an inclined or conical bottom with a continuous and effective slope which automatically rushes all the water content towards the draining outlet located at the end of the said slope or at the convergence of the cone of the conical bottom. The supply outlet for consumers is located at a point well above the draining outlet.
The said draining outlet is optionally extended to a place convenient for the user to operate and a stopping mechanism provided at that point so that the operator can close or open the said draining outlet from that point whenever required. Alternatively, an electronically controlled stopping means can be provided closer to the water tank, with a remote control switch available with the operator for an easy operation especially in case of taller buildings where extending the draining outlet by extra pipeline may not be cost effective or remain trouble-free.
The tank may be emptied regularly/daily or preferably before every filling by opening the said draining outlet, some fresh water allowed through the inlet and allowed to drain out and then fresh water stored by closing the draining outlet.
The small amount of tank water which comes out of the draining outlet, during periodic renewal of water in the tank, may be optionally directed towards non potable usage thereby saving water from wastage, even during the periodic renewal of water in the tank.
The present invention in one embodiment thus provides a readily cleanable water storage system comprising: an overhead water tank for storing potable and other kind of water, wherein said water tank comprises: a floor, at least one inlet for letting water to be filled into said tank, a draining outlet with a stop cock fitted thereto, an overflow outlet, and a consumer supply outlet through which water is supplied to consumers and a pump for pumping water from a water supply source at ground level to the overhead tank for storage of water before supply to consumers, characterized in that the floor of the tank is inclined at a pre-determined continuous and effective slope either towards another point on the periphery to form an inclined floor or from all sides to form a conical bottom and the draining outlet is located at the periphery of the inclined floor at the sloping end or at the convergence of the cone formed by the conical bottom, as the case may be, in order to completely discharge the water stored in the tank when the draining outlet is opened.
The draining outlet may be optionally extended to a place convenient for the user to operate and a stopping mechanism provided at that point so that the operator can dose or open said draining outlet from that point. A remote electronically controlled stopping mechanism may be provided closer to the water tank, with the remote control switch available with the operator for easy operation, particularly in taller buildings. The stop cock or the remote control switch is preferably accessible and capable of being operated from a lower floor of the building such as ground floor by virtue of being fitted in an extended draining outlet pipe closer to the level from which it is desired to be operated. The stop cock or remote control switch for draining outlet is most preferably located close to the pump room housing the pump which supplies water to said tank. The supply outlet for consumers is located at the side wall at a point above the starting end of sloping floor of the tank and the water inlet is located at a point to discharge the water near the starting end of the sloping floor of the tank.
The bottom of the water tank in one embodiment may be inclined from all the sides to make a cone and the supply outlet can be located at the side wall of the tank preferably above the conical bottom of the tank. A draining outlet pipe may be located at the point of convergence of the cone with the draining outlet pipe extending to a convenient place at a lower floor preferably ground floor for cleaning of the water tank through a stop cock. The water inlet(s) is/are located so as to discharge the inlet water on the inclined surface(s) of the conical bottom of the tank.
The present invention in another embodiment provides a method of maintaining cleanliness of water in the overhead tank of a water storage system wherein the overhead tank has a sloping floor or a conical bottom with a drainage outlet at the periphery of the sloping floor at the sloping end or at the convergence of the cone forming the conical bottom comprising the steps of (a) regularly draining out the water held in the tank by opening the stop cock of the draining outlet to completely empty the tank; (b) opening the inlet of tank to dislodge any sediment or deposit still adhering to the floor or bottom of the tank by letting in the jet of one or more water inlet(s) from the water supply line and allowing it to fall on sloping floor or conical bottom of the tank while keeping the drainage outlet still open and (c) refilling the tank with fresh water from the supply inlet after dosing the drainage outlet after some time.
Water from the inlet falls directly on the impurities if any collected at the bottom of the water tank such that those are easily dislodged. Occasionally, a sponge or cloth like cleaner or brush attached to a long handle is used to rub out and clean the bottom and walls of the tank, followed by water being allowed to flow in the said tank for a few minutes through draining outlet for final cleaning before closing the stop cock of the said draining outlet to hold fresh clean water in the tank. The tank may have a conical funnel shaped bottom and the discharge from the inlet is directed to different points on the inclined surfaces of the conical bottom of the tank by manipulating the inlets for pumped water in the tank.
The invention in one embodiment provides for separate outlet for taking out potable water for consumption from an upper level of the stored water and also a sensor to actuate the pump for pumping fresh water after fall in water level to a predetermined level in the water tank, while water from the bottom outlet of inclined floor is diverted for non-potable purposes.
The invention in another embodiment provides a second conical or inclined floor that separates the water tank into two compartments such that the water from the lower compartment is used for non-potable purposes and the water from the upper compartment is used for potable purposes.
This invention is described below with the help of accompanying drawings in which:—
As shown in
It can be seen that the scenario here promotes accumulation of dirt, impurities, sediments etc. in the water content because nearly half of the water content is always retained as stale water every time the tank is topped up by the water filling mechanism. During such operation, fresh water falls down on the stale water content, and all the impurities and dirt get agitated and start moving around and dancing along with the swirling water content. A vertical movement of water, dirt, impurities, germs, bacteria etc. may happen due to other factors too like temperature difference, heavier and lighter contaminants etc. Consumers receive their share of such contaminated waters along with these impurities, as they open their taps. This is repeated everyday as the dirt get multiplied progressively because a water reserve of somewhat like half of the tank's capacity is required to be maintained always and no complete evacuation can take place in this case.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
The funnel shape of the tank helps to draw the water with any suspended material inside the tank towards the convergence point 22 when the draining outlet 30 is opened for draining out the contents of the tank. Flow convergence coupled with gravity plays a prominent role relative to a situation where the draining outlet is situated on the periphery or elsewhere. When the tank is filled, all the dirt and foreign matter are directed towards the outlet 22. This helps in draining out the contaminated water and clean the tank.
It can be seen that as the conventional water tank 10 of
In sharp contrast, the proposed water tank 20 provides comparatively much higher level of cleanliness in water which is almost like the fresh water that is filed into the tank everyday due to the fact that the foreign matter in water does not get enough time to deposit at the inclined bottom 21 due to the slope and is regularly drained out through the outlet 22 situated at its lowest point at the end of the slope. This draining out of all contaminated water can be carried out as frequently as desired because this requires only opening and closing of a tap, which even a child can do. In order to make the job still more convenient, the said draining outlet can be extended to a lower floor of convenience closer to the pump, even to the ground level as in
A typical action for maintenance of this proposed water tank may be to first drain out the contents of the tank by opening the stop cock 27. When it is fully empty the pump is started. Water starts falling on the floor of the tank through the inlet 24 which dislodges most of the sediments and deposits on the sloping floor of the bottom of the tank that drains out through the outlet 22 or 30, as the case may be. Occasionally, at long intervals, a sponge or cloth like cleaner or brush attached to a long handle can be used to rub out clean the bottom and walls of the tank, if so desired, followed by letting inlet water to flow in for a few minutes to clear these materials and finally the stop cock of the said draining outlet is closed. The tank is then ready to fill with fresh clean water.
In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in
It is also observed that a slope of around 15 to 25 degrees to the horizontal of the inclined bottom appears fairy workable for the impurities like a mixture of common soil and sand to move towards the draining outlet if the tank is made of metal. A larger angle will obviously result in a more favourable flow pattern. The material and surface qualities and conditions of the inclined bottom of the tank and the nature of impurities or sediments are also factors that determine the extent of slope for the inclined bottom to make the operation smooth.
This process of complete renewal of water is carried out regularly. As a result, the level of dirt in water is not allowed to rise by accumulation over a period of time. This is in contrast with the current scenario where in a conventional water tank the level of dirt keeps on rising everyday progressively till it is cleaned after a long interval. The level of cleanliness in the invented water tank always remains very high and it very rarely requires a thorough cleaning.
The present invention helps to realize the following advantages:
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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973/KOL/2009 | Jul 2009 | IN | national |
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/383,013 filed on 9 Jan. 2012.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13383013 | Jan 2012 | US |
Child | 14539325 | US |